The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article:
June 2004, Volume 3, Issue 2

Tawadros Tid-Bits: Paid Inclusion Programs: An Essential Part of the Search Engine Marketing Mix

by John Tawadros, VP, Client Services & Technology, iProspect

Paid inclusion (PI) programs, offered by search properties such as Overture, LookSmart and Ask Jeeves, allow website owners to pay to submit their Web pages to these properties for inclusion within the search engines’ indices of Web pages. It is important to note, however, that paying for inclusion does not mean the Web pages will rank highly within the search results on any of these search properties. Paid inclusion programs only guarantee that a Web page will be included within an index of millions, sometimes billions, of other Web pages. Therefore, it is essential that content on each page should be thoroughly optimized in order to rank highly in the results, and subsequently provide increases in visibility, search traffic and conversions.

Pricing models for paid inclusion programs come in several forms — a cost per click model, a cost per URL model and a combination of both.

Participation in a paid inclusion program may be done by submitting your Web pages through an approved reseller of the program or by directly submitting your Web pages to the search properties which offer paid inclusion through their own user friendly interfaces. For select programs, resellers will submit your content via an XML feed to the search property. An XML feed is a structured text file adhering to detailed specifications provided by the search property. This is often referred to as a “feed.” The search property will then review this feed on a schedule that is agreed upon with the reseller. If you only need to submit a few URLs a reseller may not be needed to participate in PI, as resellers are geared toward submitting hundreds or thousands of pages for each of their clients. The benefit of working with a reseller is the assistance they lend, and strategy they provide, to the management of your campaign. However, if you only need to manage a limited number of URLs, submitting directly to the search properties is a better option.

The Benefits of Paid Inclusion

Paid inclusion programs have numerous benefits which make them a logical choice for anyone trying to improve their website’s presence in the major search properties and grow their conversion rate. Some of the main benefits are as follows:

Guaranteed indexing/inclusion and refresh rates — Your Web pages are guaranteed to get indexed within the search property(ies) within days. This differs from the traditional timeframe where you may have to wait weeks for search engine spiders to find and crawl Web pages after you’ve submitted them manually to a search engine.

Fewer technical limitations — The Web pages you submit to PI programs do not have to overcome technical challenges caused by the use of JavaScript, dynamic URLs, flash, frames and other tactics which cause problems for the spiders/crawlers and therefore limit the amount of Web pages you have in the index. These pages can contain these techniques and architectural features without fear of failing to be indexed.

Able to optimize specifically for a given engine without impacting another — Feeds can directly target individual search properties because each search property has its own unique algorithm. You can optimize your pages to meet the requirements of each specific search property.

Able to refresh content quickly — You can submit content detailing special time-sensitive or seasonal offers. For example, if your website has a sale offer that only lasts 3 days — because the pages may be re-indexed every 24-48 hours — the updated feed page will refresh in the index quickly. Without PI you either have to keep the sale going or take the page down. Another advantage is if you have inventory that drops, the last thing you want is to keep paying for visitors who you cannot service. Instead, you can pull that specific content out immediately.

Fixed pricing — There is a fixed cost per URL or per click per category (depending on the pricing model of the program(s) in which you participate) without the unpredictable costs associated with an auction bidding model.

Better tracking — You can assign a tracking URL as well as a display URL (for Overture and LookSmart only) to each page you submit to the paid inclusion program. The tracking URL isn’t seen by the user (they see only the display URL – the URL you intend them to see), but it allows you to track individual campaigns far more accurately all the way through to conversion, with an appropriate Web analytics package. Reports provide information about query terms that resulted in a URL being displayed and subsequently clicked. This is information that you or your reseller have access to and should be using to optimize your feed.

Who Should Invest in a Paid Inclusion Campaign?

Paid Inclusion is extremely beneficial if you need to get specific content onto or off of the search properties extremely quickly and can generate a positive return on the investment required to do so. PI programs are also geared for websites that utilize dynamically-generated pages, and other technical limitations that would prohibit these pages from otherwise being indexed by search engine spiders. Large retail websites are generally dynamically driven, which spiders/crawlers have problems dealing with. Therefore, a PI program becomes extremely advantageous for this type of website.

iProspect highly recommends paid inclusion programs in conjunction with a comprehensive search engine optimization strategy. We have never experienced a situation where it would not make sense to incorporate both elements. Solving the clash of opinion regarding natural search and paid search is simply a matter of providing your marketing team a solution that embraces both.

Click here to subscribe to the Search Marketing Advisor newsletter now.

Learn more about paid inclusion management.

Learn more about search engine marketing.

del.icio.us

Inquire About iProspect's Services

Access FREE White Papers and Webcasts

View Upcoming Events and Webcasts

Read Our Bylined Articles

The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article: June 2004, Volume 3, Issue 2

Tawadros Tid-Bits: Paid Inclusion Programs: An Essential Part of the Search Engine Marketing Mix

The Search Marketing Advisor Newsletter Article:
June 2004, Volume 3, Issue 2