::
Search Engine Promotion ::
:: Part 5 - Submitting through Paid Listings (Overture,
FindWhat, Google,
& LookSmart)
::
Every major search engine with significant traffic accepts
paid listings. This unique form of search engine advertising
means that you can be guaranteed to appear in the top results
for the terms you are interested in within a day or less.
Given this, paid listings are an option that should be explored
by site owners who wish to quickly build visibility. They
may also be a long-term advertising option for some.
Overture (GoTo)
Overture, formerly known as GoTo (as of mid-Oct 2001), allows
sites to "bid" on the terms they wish to appear
for. You agree to pay a certain amount each time someone clicks
on your listing. This is why it is sometimes called a "pay-per-click
search engine."
For instance, let's say you wanted to appear in the top listings
for "running shoes." You might agree to pay 25 cents
per click. If no one agrees to pay more than this, then you
would be in the number one spot. If someone else later decides
to pay 26 cents, then you slip into the number two position.
You could then bid 27 cents and move back on top, if you wanted
to.
While some people go directly to the Overture web site to
search, most people encounter Overture's paid listings via
other search engines. For example, the very top listings for
"running shoes" at Overture would also appear in
the "Sponsored Links" section at the top of AOL
Search's results.
A full list of Overture's wide-ranging partnerships can be
found on the Buying Your Way In page.
If your goal is to build visibility on search engines quickly,
then Overture is an essential option for you to explore. No
other route can put you in the top results of many major search
engines in such a short period of time.
I think it is well worth it for anyone to open an Overture
account and experiment with how paid listings may help them.
An account requires a $50 minimum deposit, and you must spend
at least $20 per month. By carefully selecting targeted terms,
you can stretch that money out for one or two months and get
quality traffic.
When your initial deposit has expired, you may find that
the editorial listings generated by your submissions to directories
and crawlers have kicked in. This may mean that you can eliminate
your ad spend with Overture entirely. On the other hand, you
may find that you want to continue spending and perhaps even
increase your budget, to target terms where you don't receive
good editorial placement.
You can sign-up for Overture's paid listings via the URL
below:
Overture (GoTo) Sign-Up Form
FindWhat
FindWhat is a pay-per-click search engine similar to Overture.
It lacks the distribution that Overture has, however. This
isn't necessarily bad. You may find that the smaller distribution
base still brings in quality traffic and perhaps at less expense
than with Overture.
The main reason to consider FindWhat in terms of the major
search engines is that its listings appear on Excite's search
results page. Because of this, if you want quick visibility
at Excite, paid listings with FindWhat are the easiest way
to do this.
FindWhat requires an initial deposit of $25. However, there
is no monthly minimum spend, so you may be able to stretch
this money out for several months, if you carefully target
your terms.
You can sign-up for FindWhat's paid listings via the URL
below:
FindWhat Sign-Up Form
Google
Google sells paid listings that appear above and to the side
of its regular results. Since it may take time for a new site
to appear within Google, these advertising opportunities offer
a fast way to get listed with the service. Also, as with Overture,
they may be a continuing option you may wish to explore.
Google's self-service "AdWords" program operates
in two ways. The "classic" AdWords program operates
on a "CPM" or "cost per impression" basis.
That means you pay a small amount for each time your ad appears,
rather than for how often someone clicks on it. The AdWords
Select program charges a per click fee, similar to Overture.
The classic AdWords program requires no initial deposit.
AdWords Select charges a $5 activation fee. In either case,
$25 ought to last you at least one month, if you've carefully
selected your terms.
You can sign-up for Google's AdWords Classic program via
the URL below:
Google AdWords
For the pay-per-click AdWords Select program, visit this
URL:
AdWords Select
LookSmart
LookSmart is different than the services described above.
It sells paid listings to commercial web sites, but there
is no guarantee that sites in LookSmart's paid listings program
for small businesses will rank well for particular terms.
Given this, why would you bother with LookSmart? While it
is not guaranteed that you will rank well for anything, you
probably will gain significant traffic by having a LookSmart
listing, especially given that LookSmart provides the main
information used by the popular MSN Search service.
The small business program, LookListings Small Business,
lets you get one URL per web site listed with LookSmart. You
pay a one-time $49 review fee, which gets you a yes or no
answer about being accepted within five days.
Assuming you are accepted, there are more costs. You'll be
charged $0.15 for each click that you receive from your LookSmart
listing at LookSmart or at any of its partners that carry
its listings.
In addition, there is a $15 per month minimum billing charge,
which is equal to 100 clicks. Your account must either generate
at least that much for LookSmart in clickthrough fees in a
given month or they'll simply charge you the full $15 anyway.
This means that for your first year with LookSmart, you'll
spend $230, which includes the initial review fee and $15
per month, for the minimum 100 clicks per month requirement.
It is probably worth it for anyone with commercial content
to try the program for a year at the minimum amount described
above, in order to evaluate the traffic. It may be that you
find LookSmart a cheaper alternative to some of the other
paid listing programs described earlier on this page. If not,
you can always drop out of the program, though you won't get
your initial $49 review fee back.
More information about enrolling in LookListings Small Business
can be found here:
LookListings Small Business|
For larger businesses, the "regular" LookListings
program allows you to have many URLs deeply categorized within
LookSmart. This is likely to bring you much more traffic than
having only one URL listed. However, it comes at a price.
You'll be charged a per click rate, which ranges from $0.15
to over $1, depending on the topics you target. You also must
generate $2,500 per month in clickthrough fees for LookSmart.
LookListings also allows guaranteed placement for an additional
cost at the top of LookSmart's results, though this won't
happen with all LookSmart's partners, such as MSN Search.
More information about the LookListings program can be found
here:
LookListings
Finally, even if you don't choose to get listed in LookSmart's
commercial listings, you may still appear for free in some
of the results that LookSmart licenses from Inktomi. The same
is true for LookSmart's major partner, MSN Search, which also
uses Inktomi results. The earlier Submitting To Crawlers section
of this guide explains how to submit to Inktomi. And if you
have non-commercial content, remember that Zeal allows you
to be included in LookSmart for free, as described on the
Submitting To Directories page.
End Of Search Engine Promotion
That's it to the essentials of search engine submission.
If you've followed the tips listed so far -- even if only
the ones described in Part 3 -- then you'll be receiving traffic
from search engines. However, if you "optimize"
your web site, then you are likely to get even more traffic
from search engines.
(* all prices discussed are in US funds) |
