Enter the World of Paid Submissions
...once you understand the rules, you may really like
the advantages
Part 2

By Robin Nobles

In Part 1 of this article, we discussed some of the major engines and
directories that are currently using pay submission or pay inclusion
programs. What, what about the other engines?

Plans of Other Engines?

Now that pay submission programs are here and likely to stay, what are
the plans of some of the other engines? ...will they jump onto the
bandwagon?

AltaVista

Kristi Kaspar with AltaVista responded with the following details on
AltaVista's submission services.

"Currently we provide a few different ways to submit into our index:

"A. You can use the add URL function, which is located on the left
hand navigation bar below the fold. Users have the ability to add
sites to the AltaVista index at absolutely no cost to them.

"B. Another option is to use the LookSmart express submit. This is a
way to add a large amount of sites into the LookSmart directory,
quickly and easily. These sites then automatically get updated not
only into the AltaVista directory but to other sites that use the
LookSmart directory as well. These are directory links, and are
treated with the same relevancy formulas as the rest of the pages
that are submitted to our index.

"C. The next option is to participate in the GoTo model. We are an
affiliate partner of GoTo and list one or two of the top istings at
the top of the AltaVista results page. These sites are added through
GoTo, and those that are most relevant with the query term that the
user has queried are the ones that are returned at the top of the
page.

"These are the only models we currently have."


Excite

Currently, Excite doesn't have a pay submission service, and I
couldn't get them to respond as to what their plans for the future
are. However, if you're looking to get into Excite's directory,
you'll have to submit to LookSmart ...and choose between the $199
and $99 submission options. You can also purchase keywords through
FindWhat, which provides its top results at the bottom of every page
of Excite's results.


Google

What are Google's plans for a pay submission service? Cindy McCaffrey,
Vice President of Corporate Communications with Google, answers:

"Google has no plans for paid submissions. We believe that providing a
search service that delivers objective and unbiased results is most
useful to users."

Google is one of the few major engines that doesn't use either
LookSmart or GoTo results. However, they do offer AdWords, where you
can purchase keywords similarly to the way GoTo operates. Results
appear on the right side of the search results page.

http://www.google.com/ads/index.html


Lycos

Lycos didn't respond to the question about their plans for implementing
a pay submission service. However, GoTo now provides its top three
listings to Lycos in a special section called "Featured Listings" at
the top of the Lycos search results. Interestingly, the Featured
Listings are actually spelled out, versus a link that takes you to
another page that contains those listings/URLs. Also, at least two
additional GoTo listings will appear within the first 10 results in
the "Web Sites" section on Lycos.

So, though you don't have to pay to submit to Lycos, if you have a
problem getting in the engine, you can purchase keywords through GoTo.
You can also submit to the ODP.


Northern Light

Susan Stearns, Director of Marketing with Northern Light, responds to
what their plans are for implementing a pay submission program.

"To my knowledge, we have no plans for such a program. While we often
do priority crawling of certain Web sites, they are ones that are
selected by our editors or are a part of a contractual arrangement
with the site -- usually as a part of a site search agreement."

In Conclusion

For companies who are serious about creating an online presence and
able to maximize the potential of search engine optimization, the pay
for inclusion model is ideal -- provided that the submission fees are
considered "affordable" for you or your company. In most cases, the
cost can be looked at as very cheap, yet effective, advertising.

Now, more than ever, it is important to evaluate which engines and
directories are most effective as traffic sources and focus on
optimizing for those portals first. It's also important to understand
that, without optimization, you may be wasting your entry fees.

This article was written by Robin Nobles, Director of Training at the
Academy of Web Specialists http://www.academywebspecialists.com.
Over the past few years, she has trained over 1000 people in her
online and onsite courses in search engine positioning strategies
and has written three books that can be ordered through Amazon.
Visit the Academy's training Web site to learn more about their
online courses: http://www.onlinewebtraining.com.







Robin Nobles, Director of Training
The Academy of Web Specialists
http://www.onlinewebtraining.com
Offering certified online training and consulting services
in search engine positioning strategies, search engine
ranking tactics, and more--all from experienced specialists
dedicated to helping you achieve success on the Web.
Order my latest books from Amazon:
Web Site Analysis and Reporting, and
Streetwise Maximize Web Site Traffic


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