One of the many options available
to promote a web site is to pay for a "paid inclusion" in
various search engines. Although there
are several different kinds of paid inclusion (including pay-per-click
and "trusted" or "direct" feed programs)
this article deals specifically with the simplest form, in which
an annual fee is paid for each page included in a search engine
index.
Many people are unsure how paid URL inclusion
works, and it is an interesting and sometimes controversial
concept. It is
perhaps easiest to understand by recognizing that in most
cases there are two different ways in which search engines that
offer
paid URL inclusion can find your pages.
"Organic" Spider
Each search engine purports to be the most comprehensive source
of information, and so each has an automated program (commonly
called a "spider") that goes out and indexes all the
pages that it can find on the web. This means that your web site
will eventually get indexed for free by each of the major engines
that offer paid inclusion (provided there is one or more outside
links pointing to your site that the spider can follow). "Eventually",
of course, is the key term.
Paid Spider
When a search engine offers paid URL inclusion, it uses an additional
spider that goes out and indexes only specific pages that
have been paid for. In other words, whereas the "free" spider
would eventually find your site, follow your links, and index
all of your pages, the "paid" spider will only index
the URL's for which you have plunked down an annual fee (but
it will do so immediately).
The Controversy
As you may suspect, these programs create much confusion. Since
the pages that are paid for are indistinguishable from regular
pages within search results, the FCC has recently raised some
concerns, although the outcome of their involvement remains
to be seen. In addition, the fees for paid inclusion are annual.
Even after a company has paid to have some pages included,
logic would dictate that the "organic" spider would
eventually index the pages anyway, making the renewal fees
unnecessary. However, it has been reported with some paid
inclusion engines that once annual fees are not renewed pages
are removed for a period of time. From a business perspective,
this only makes sense - engines that offer paid inclusion
can't very well offer an "annual" fee only to have
everyone discover that they only need to pay it once. From
an ethical perspective, however, it's a questionable practice
(and it remains unproven that this is the policy of any particular
engine).
ADVANTAGES
Fast Inclusion
First, and most importantly, paid inclusion programs give you
the opportunity to have your pages indexed and added to search
results very quickly (usually within a few days). This compares
very favourably with the month or more that it can take to
wait for the "organic" spider to find your pages
on its own (and if you have no incoming links, the "organic" spider
will never find your pages).
Fast Re-indexing
The paid inclusion spider will revisit your pages frequently (some
even daily). This means that you can make tweaks to your pages
designed to improve your rankings and see the results in days
(rather than months). This type of turnaround can give you valuable
insight into the ranking algorithm of each individual engine.
DISADVANTAGES
Costs
The primary disadvantage of paid inclusion is the cost, although
this factor naturally depends on the means of the company.
The following details the first year fees for a ten-page web
site on the most popular paid inclusion programs:
- Altavista*- $US600
- AskJeeves- $US192
- Inktomi- $US264
- Fast/Lycos- $US170
*this is the total first year fee, although the program is
billed in six month increments
Total first year fees for ten page site: $US1,226
Reach
A second disadvantage, perhaps more accurately described as a
limitation, is that Google does not offer paid inclusion (and
maintains that it never will). Since Google currently provides
the primary results for three of the top four engines (Google,
Yahoo, and AOL), engines that offer paid inclusion may only account
for a fraction of your overall site traffic. There is no way to
add your pages to Google's index any faster by paying a fee -
which means that you will be waiting for Google to index your
new (or newly optimised) pages regardless of which paid inclusion
programs you use. Only after Google lists your pages will they
appear in Yahoo and AOL results.
CONSIDERATIONS
There are many factors to consider when examining paid URL
inclusion. The following five are some of the most common:
Are My Pages Already In The Index?
Just because you can't find your pages when you enter search
terms does not mean that your pages haven't been indexed.
To see if your pages have been indexed, go to the engine and
search for each of your exact page URL's. If each page shows
up for the URL search but not for a search of any key phrases
related to the page, paid inclusion will not help your rankings
(your pages are already in the index and have been ranked
according to their perceived value). It would be much more
beneficial to invest some time and/or money in optimising
your pages for better rankings (you can still consider paid
inclusion afterwards if you don't want to wait for the spider
to revisit).
Is It A Good Investment For Me?
Naturally, budgetary constraints can be a primary consideration.
If you can't afford paid inclusion, then it obviously isn't
an option. However, simply because you can afford it does
not mean it is a good investment. For example, a business
that sells a very inexpensive product online that is counting
on volumes of traffic may not see a good return on their investment
(again, 3 of the top 4 engines do not offer paid URL inclusion).
On the other hand, if your business has a high average dollar
sale and you put a high value on each quality lead, you might
consider immediate paid URL inclusion a no-brainer.
Do My Pages Change Frequently? If your web pages are subject
to daily or weekly changes in content, paid inclusion may offer
some additional benefits. When your pages are spidered frequently,
all new content is indexed by the engine soon after it is added
to your pages. This means that your pages will begin to appear
in searches for terms related to the new content much more quickly.
Are My Important Pages Dynamically Generated? Some
search engine spiders have a problem finding and indexing pages
that are dynamically
generated (such pages often have a question mark somewhere in
the URL). By paying to include the important pages of your dynamically
generated web site, you can be sure that they are in the engine's
index, even if the "organic" spider would never find
them on its own.
Do I Need A Guarantee That My Pages Will Remain In
The Index? Although it happens infrequently, one or more of your pages
found by the "organic" spider may be inadvertently
dropped from an engine at some point, usually to reappear within
a month or two. This can happen for a variety of technical reasons.
However, using paid URL inclusion guarantees that each of your
pages will remain in the index for a year (and if your pages
are dropped, the support staff at the search engine will work
to put them back in as soon as possible).
CONCLUSION
Paid inclusion can be a valuable tool in the right set of circumstances.
However, many companies are able to consistently maintain
excellent search engine rankings without paying for a single
URL. Only a careful evaluation of your business, goals, and
web site can help you to determine if it is the right option
for your site.
About The Author
Scott Buresh is Co-founder and Principal of Medium
Blue Internet Marketing.
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