Enter the World of Paid Submissions
... once you understand the rules, you may
really like the advantages
Part 1

By Robin Nobles

From Yahoo! and LookSmart to Inktomi, the directories and search
engines are entering the paid submissions phase of the indexing
game.

In light of this development, we have to ask ourselves several
questions.

* Can we expect other search engines to follow suit?
* Is paying to submit your site worth the cost?
* How does this affect us - the search engine optimizers? After
all, if all we have to do is "pay," then is optimizing
necessary?

Here's an obvious question...

"Will other engines adopt the 'paid submission' or 'pay
inclusion' model?"

Certainly! Within the framework of the search engines, Inktomi
tested the waters, and GO.com quickly followed the leader. Now
that a workable model has been created, you should expect the
other engines will certainly jump aboard. The question is "when,"
not "if."

Since paying to submit is clearly a reality, the question
becomes,

"Is it worth the cost?"

Shortly, we'll examine each of the engines and directories that
are currently charging for submissions, and we'll outline the
benefits involved on a case by case basis.

So, in light of paid submissions, is it still important to
optimize a site?

Yes! ... actually, more than ever. Getting a site into a search
engine or directory is only a tiny portion of the battle. The
fact that we can now PAY to guarantee indexing is a blessing to
those of us who are tired of having our so-called free
submissions ignored. Now that getting IN is guaranteed (in
exchange for a fee) we can get on with the REAL battle, which
is... getting our site to the top of the rankings!

Now, let's look at the individual engines and directories to see
how they're handling pay submissions.


Inktomi

Advantages:
* Pre-spidered to see if the page is "Inktomi material"
* Accepted into the index within 48 hours
* Respidered every 48 hours, which means you can make
optimization changes and see the results of those changes
within a day or two
* Indexes dynamic URL's and cloaked pages
* Submitted pages get into the main Inktomi index that is used
by all of Inktomi's partners, including HotBot, iWon, AOL,
MSN, and Anzwers.com.
* A likely gain in ranking over the free submissions.

Jim Stob with Position Technologies, Inktomi's partner who is
handling the pay submission program, adds, "I think one of the
most interesting things about the program is how many are
submitting URLs which are excluded by either a robots.txt or
META noindex. These people would be pulling their hair out if
they had used the free submission."

Cost (non-refundable):
Number of pages/Price per URL
1st Page $30
Pages 2-20 $15
Pages 21-1000 $12

You can still submit through their free Add URL form, but your
rankings may suffer temporarily. Inktomi has stated that they'll
be discontinuing their free Add URL service in the future.

By the way, to submit through their pay service, go to...

http://www.positiontech.com

Is it Worth it?

In my opinion, (resoundingly) yes. Inktomi is a major player, and
there's no disputing that fact. Being able to get your site into
the index within 48 hours and having it respidered every 48 hours
is a major plus for any Web site.

Plus, with Inktomi's impressive number of partners, being listed
in that index increases your visibility across numerous engines
-- something that can add substantially to your link popularity.

According to Web Snapshot
(http://websnapshot.mycomputer.com/searchengines.html), a number
of Inktomi powered engines are in the top 20 for popularity,
including #1 MSN, #4 AOL, and #12 HotBot.

Additional Notes:

When Inktomi respiders your site every 48 hours, does it pick up
new links and spider those?

Jim Stob answers, "No, it will only spider the page submitted."

As mentioned above, HotBot is one of the engines using the
Inktomi database. However, another pay-per-click method for
building a stronger presence in HotBot is through GoTo. GoTo's
top results now appear above the regular search results in
HotBot under "Featured Listings."


Yahoo! Directory

Advantages:
At the present time, all commercial sites must be submitted
through Yahoo! Business Express service. So, if you have an
online business and want a presence in Yahoo! Directory, you
don't have a choice -- you have to pay.

Cost: $199 (non-refundable)

For information, and to begin the process of "suggesting" a
site, go to:

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/add

For frequently asked questions, visit:

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/suggest/faq.html.

Is it Worth it?

According to Web Snapshot, Yahoo! is the #2 most popular search
engine/directory, following on the heels of #1 MSN. Assuming that
you are in business to make money, yes, paying $199 for probable
inclusion in this all-important directory is definitely worth it.


LookSmart

Details:
If you want to be listed in LookSmart, you have to pay.

Cost (non-refundable): Their Express Submit service is $199, and
it guarantees a site review within 48 hours. The Basic Submit has
risen to $99, offering a site review in approximately 8 weeks.

To submit, visit: http://submit.looksmart.com/info.jhtml

Is it Worth it?

LookSmart provides directory results to big players like
AltaVista, Excite, MSN, iWon, and more. According to LookSmart,
they, and their partners combined, reach over 83% of the Internet
users compared to 65% with Yahoo, 64% with AOL, and 43%
with Lycos. Source: http://submit.looksmart.com/info.jhtml

According to Web Snapshot, AltaVista is the #5 most popular
search engine, and Excite is the #9. Not bad.

As a general rule, yes, it's worth it. Taking into account the
reach of its partners, LookSmart is a major player.


In Part 2 of this article, we'll discuss some of the other
engines' plans for going with pay inclusion programs.


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.