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True Paid Inclusion Programs Are A Thing Of The Past
- Or Are They?
By Robin Nobles
© 2005
Remember Paid Inclusion Programs? These were very popular few years ago. But
do they still have a part to play in marketing websites? The answer is "yes"!
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 http://www.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!
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