Most search engine optimizers get rather nostalgic when they remember
the “good old days” of paid inclusion programs. Do you remember
when we could submit a Web page for a one-time fee and get it
spidered and indexed within 24 to 48 hours? The page would then
be respidered every 48 hours for an entire year.
We could work on building our on-page and off-page factors
while confidently knowing that the paid inclusion spider would
be back to recrawl our page within that time frame. We didn’t
have to pay any pay-per-click fees. For new pages or Web sites,
or for pages that we had problems getting in the indexes, paid
inclusion programs were ideal. We never minded spending the
money at all.
These days, however, with the exception of a few directory
submissions, true paid inclusion programs are a thing of the
past . . . or are they?
Some Paid Inclusion Programs have Per-Click Fees Attached
as Well
The paid inclusion programs of the past certainly didn’t
come with pay-per-click fees attached, but some of them do now.
Yes, the visibility can be impressive, but the programs come
with definite disadvantages:
* You not only pay to submit the URL, you also pay a per-click
fee, depending on what industry you’re in. So before you rush
into these programs, it would be to your advantage to see how
much you would pay to bid on your keywords through straight
pay-per-click programs.
* It’s important to remember that with these paid inclusion/PPC
programs, you’re simply “paying” to be “included.” You’re not
“paying” for your “rankings.” Therefore, you’re in the rankings
along with all of the free search engine listings, yet you’ve
paid to be there and you’re paying per click through.
* Though I have known a few people who have stopped the paid
inclusion listing (and the per-click fee) and have remained
in the listings, most people totally drop out of the rankings.
So if you get where you want to be, be prepared to pay to stay
there.
A True Paid Inclusion Program –
With Listings Seen
Over 120 Million Times a Month!
The Big Three aren’t the only engines on the block. At 120
million searches a month being conducted across 50 search engines
and directories and through ABCSearch.com, ExactSeek.com’s Featured
Listings are certainly an excellent deal.
The cost? $36 per URL for the first 5 URLs for a year, or
$12 per URL for the first 5 URLs for 3 months. More good news:
no pay-per-click fees and no bidding for keywords.
What search engines are covered? ExactSeek.com, Aesop.com,
OnSeek.com, MaxPromo.com, Best-SearchEngine.com, SitesOnDisplay.com.
and MetaWebSearch.com. View the entire listing at http://www.exactseek.com/featured_listings.html.
These search engines and directories have formed the Independent
Search Engine & Directory Network (ISEDN.org)
for the purpose of providing Web site owners with affordable
and effective search engine advertising.
In fact, the Featured Listings program not only gives you
“paid inclusion,” but it also gives you
"guaranteed
top 10 exposure.” I asked Mel Strocen, CEO of Jayde Online to
explain.
“The sale of any keyword term (word or phrase) is restricted
to 30 buyers. So, for example, a phrase like ‘online games’
can only be purchased 30 times. This is to prevent over sale
of a term. Since the maximum number of paid listing ad boxes
that can appear on a SERP is 10 and 30 is the maximum that can
be sold for any keyword term, we rotate ad boxes within the
SERP and between SERPs for every search on a given term.
“If an advertiser buys a keyword term that has been previously
purchased 10 or fewer times, then that advertiser's paid listing
ad box will appear on the first page of search results every
time the purchased keyword term is searched. If the keyword
term has been purchased between 11 and 20 times, then the advertiser's
PI ad box will appear on the first page of search results one
of every 2 searches performed for that keyword term. And, if
the keyword term has been purchased between 21 and 30 times,
then the advertiser's PI ad box will appear on the first page
of search results one of every 3 searches performed.
“This rotational system gives everyone who has purchased
a keyword term equal exposure.”
According to Strocen, a number of engines and directories
are poised to join the ISEDN, and they’re targeting for a membership
of 100 engines and directories by year-end. This is serious
visibility. Your listings will be added within 6-8 hours to
all of the above search engines. Just like the good old days!
It’s important to note that paid listing results are served
from a separate database. Having a paid listing does not mean
you also have a regular, free listing. To get in their regular,
free results, Webmasters still need to submit their URLs at
http://www.exactseek.com/add.html.
For more information about their paid inclusion program,
visit: http://www.exactseek.com.
Paid Inclusion as an Alternative to PPC
With the rising costs of pay per clicks, when you can find
a paid inclusion model as attractive as ExactSeek.com’s, it’s
time to give it a try.
For example, at the time of writing this article, the top
three bids for “life insurance quotes” at Yahoo!’s Sponsored
Search were going for close to $6 a click through. If you have
one of the top three pay-per-click ads, and if six people click
on your ad, you’ll spend $36 a day.
You could spend the same amount of money one time at ExactSeek.com
and get your URL seen over 120 million times a month for a solid
year. \
Isn’t it worth a try?
In Conclusion
Thank goodness, the days of true paid inclusion programs
aren’t over. ExactSeek has a very attractive program with excellent
visibility . . . just waiting to be tested. Remember: in the
search engine game, testing is the best way to see if something
works. Now, get busy!
Grab
a Free SEO Tip and have it sent to you by e-mail every day - hundreds of
free tips!
Subscribe or unsubscribe as often as you wish.
Robin Nobles teaches SEO strategies through hands-on, search
engine marketing workshops and online SEO training courses. SEW recently launched localized SEO training
centers across the country through the Search Engine Academy. Visit the Workshop Resource
Center, a networking community for search engine marketers.
Copyright 2004-2005 Robin Nobles. All rights reserved.
Click here to go back to the
index of search engine marketing articles
