THE DIRECTORIES

Google - 29.5% of searches*

Google is everyone's favorite search engine, but how do you get your website listed? First there is the submission form, located on their website. Google has always preferred to find new websites by spidering existing sites in its index and following new links from there. If you want to increase your chances of seeing your website indexed, find some quality websites or directories to link to your new site now. Google typically updates its full index once a month, so do not panic if 4 weeks have gone by and there's still no sign of being indexed. However, if after 6 weeks, your site is still not indexed, concentrate on adding more quality links and work on getting listed in the Open Directory. See below.

Yahoo - 28.9% of searches

Up until about 18 months ago, the best way to get listed in Yahoo was by paying the annual $299 fee to be listed in their directory. However, at this time, Yahoo gets its results from the Google index and a directory listing is no longer vital (although many like having the directory listing as well). So for the time being, I recommend concentrating on getting your website listed in Google, and that will take care of Yahoo (although with Yahoo acquiring Inktomi, this could soon change).

MSN - 27.6% of searches

There are two effective ways to get your website listed in the MSN results (sponsored listings aside). You can submit your website to Looksmart (see below) and find your site listed in the "Web Directory Sites" or you can favor Inktomi and have your website listed in the "Web Pages" section.

AOL - 18.4% of searches

The submission process for AOL, is well, non-existent. AOL uses the results from Google, so obtaining a listing at Google is important if you wish to be shown in AOL.

* NetRatings for January 2003. Results do not add up to 100% as some searchers use more than one search engine.

THE DIRECTORIES

The Open Directory

The Open Directory is also referred to as ODP or DMOZ. To get your website listed in the directory, simply find the most appropriate category for your website and click the "add url" link. Follow the instructions carefully. Do not be tempted to write a description that is full of dozens of keywords. Pick 3-4 of your most important keywords and write a 20-30-word description that includes these terms. DMOZ editors are known for changing the descriptions submitted by website owners, so make sure yours is well written so that you reduce the chance of it being edited; it could be your keywords that are edited out. Remember, editors are unpaid at DMOZ, so don't expect to see your website listed after just a few days. It could take weeks or even months. You can read further instructions at the DMOZ site.

Looksmart

Pay the $29 to have your site reviewed and listed in the Looksmart directory. Once listed, you will pay $0.15 per click for the first 5,000 visitors that Looksmart generates to your website. After that, your click-thru rate is adjusted depending on the type of business you operate (rates range from $0.23 to $0.75 per click). The good news is that you can set your monthly budget to ensure that you do not overspend (minimum spend is $15 a month). You can submit your site via this link.

THE CRAWLERS

Inktomi - provides results to Looksmart, MSN, Hotbot and Overture.

The best way to get listed in Inktomi is to use one of the many paid-inclusion services. The cost is typically $39 a year for the first URL you submit and $25 for each URL thereafter. The subscription is for one year and usually ensures your site is listed within 48 hours. Two of the main providers of Inktomi paid-inclusion are: PositionTech and Network Solutions.

Ask Jeeves

Crawler results for Ask Jeeves are provided by Teoma (which Ask owns). Fees are in line with Inktomi and are $30 per year for the first URL and $18 for each additional URL. The main paid-inclusion partners are PositionTech and Ineedhits.com.

While this case study is tiny and certainly NOT conclusive, I'll wager it has strong parallels across small business web sites. The conclusions drawn are admittedly opinion, based on very limited statistics, but those are all that matter to those of us seeing tiny search engine traffic from supposedly monstrous portals.

The participating clients from this case study ALL submit their sites to paid inclusion programs from AltaVista, Inktomi and AskJeeves/Teoma. Two use LookSmart LookListings and all but one are listed in the YAHOO! Directory. All are listed in the Open Directory Project and all submit to smaller industry specific directories and smaller search engines. One uses Overture PPC on a limited basis, while none use Google Adwords. All were optimized by yours truly and each represent varied industries in retail, professional services and one is an information site only, is non-commercial and sells nothing. Each of them ranks well at most search engines, but see little traffic from those good rankings.

The research I did confirmed what I'd only assumed before by backing it up with solid numbers. On my own sites and those of clients that I reviewed, Google sends over 70% of all search traffic to every one of those domains in every case. This includes Google foreign variants, Google Directory and Google image search (image search numbers are tiny). The foreign Googles send tiny numbers of visitors from non-English speaking countries, but English speaking Google traffic from the UK, Canada and Australia drives more traffic than either Yahoo or MSN according to traffic statistics of those sites reviewed for this case study.

With the highest difference between compared search engine traffic of 8 percent variation between studied domains, I've compiled a list of average traffic delivered by search engines for those sites to which I have access to traffic logs. The Google percentages are inclusive of those portals that use Google results such as iWon.com and Yahoo web results. Direct Yahoo results are for sites listed in their directory.

Google... 74%
Yahoo... 14%
MSN... 9%
Ask... 2%
All other SE's... 1%

I'm concerned, not that Google is too big, but that the other search engines just don't get it, don't deliver it and don't want to give it up. What is IT? Traffic!

I attribute this to one thing. Those search engines don't want to give up visitors to FR-E-E search results. They are happy to send visitors off if they gain income from that traffic in either PPC ads or advertisements of ANY sort. Knowing that those free results will lose the "eyeballs" of searchers, they struggle to deliver both PPC ads and sponsor ads that most closely approximate the search phrase entered by the searcher. Thankfully, all have dropped banner ads from the SERP's (Search Engine Result Pages).

They cannot stand the idea they will lose the visitor and seek to entice them to click on something, anything that'll earn them income. Even if it means delivering NON-relevant results to entice the searcher to use a different search phrase seeking to gain more relevant results, thereby viewing more ads and additional PPC ads the visitor may click on to deliver income to the portal.

I believe these search engine traffic percentages are a direct reflection of relevance delivered by those search engines. The more relevant the results, the more likely they'll send a higher percentage of traffic to your site.

74% of search traffic referred:
Google offers their own PPC results, offers no outside banners, Amazon links or effluvia related to the search. They deliver relevant results and visitors love that, then leave freely to return next time they want relevant results.

14% of search traffic referred:
Yahoo offers Overture PPC results (which they'll soon own), Amazon links and sponsorship links, along with that "Also search in: Yahoo! Shopping" link at the bottom of every result page, hoping you'd rather shop than to actually find what you were searching for!

9% of search traffic referred:
MSN offers Overture PPC results, "Broaden your Search" (LookSmart) links, "Shopping Results on MSN" links and a sponsor text link at the bottom of every page as though you didn't really want to find anything but their ads.

2% of search traffic referred:
Ask offers more paid results than any other search property with 5 sponsor links at the top of every search result page and TEN links to further paid sponsor results in a "Related Searches" footer to every result page. Ask sponsors provide search ads. Doesn't Ask understand that most searchers see right through this?

Relevance at each of these search engines declines further with progress down the list of traffic referred. Is it any wonder Google is the leader? They lead in relevance, therefore in search engine referred traffic. All any engine need do is provide relevant results with limited sponsors and no excessive "shopping" or multiple source PPC links and book links. If they do that, they'll compete effectively with Google. More relevant search engines deliver the traffic to web sites, NOT to their advertisers. I have a bold suggestion to make to MSN as they develop their new in-house search engine. Drop the ads, sponsors, book links, shopping links and resist the temptation to bring back banner ads. Searchers want to find what they are looking for and easily see through transparent attempts to sell stuff to them and keep them from leaving. Let go of searchers by delivering highly relevant search results while clearly labeling limited numbers of sponsor or PPC ads! The result will be devastating to Google by giving searchers a real alternative that they may prefer using!

YAHOO! has a huge task ahead of them - to integrate the recently acquired Inktomi, Overture (and Overture's recent acquisitions Altavista and Fast/AlltheWeb) search technology into their search mix. Clearly they've plenty of technology now and won't need Google when they add all these ingredients to the search soup they are cooking up. Yahoo will possess all the best technology and must only decide to provide relevant search results WITHOUT shopping links, excessive sponsor links, book links and other clutter to the SERP's. I suggest that if they show only limited Overture PPC ads and clearly labeled sponsor ads along with the relevant results - that they can also threaten Google's lead.

If the re-born, re-cooked and massively complex YAHOO! or the "new" MSN resist the temptation to send searchers to advertisers rather than sending them to relevant results, then we will have three very strong competitors in the search market. The numbers of search referrals will level off at about 30% per competitor and Google will have to fight to gain back their current dominance. If YAHOO! or MSN seek to favor advertisers over searchers, Google will maintain dominance - clear and simple.

I encourage all webmasters to do their own comparisons of traffic referrals now and then again when YAHOO! and MSN weigh in over the next year with their "new" offerings. It could get very interesting if there were some true competition in search, so referred traffic from YAHOO! and MSN starts to deliver to webmasters rather than advertisers.

Selecting the right keyword phrases for each page of your web site is the first step towards ranking high in the Search Engines. However, it is only the first step.

In addition to selecting targeted keyword phrases, you must also strategically optimize your page including:

• META description tag
• META keyword tag
• Image ALT tags
• Title
• Heading tags
• Image names
• Hyperlinks
• Body text

META TAGS

The META description tag will contain a description of your site. This description will be visible in some of the Search Engines when your site is returned in a search.

Your description should include your site's most important keyword phrases.

Example:

<META name="DESCRIPTION" content="Providing dog grooming tips, supplies and training.">

The META Keywords tag will contain a list of your keyword phrases separated with a comma. Your primary keyword phrase should be first, followed by one or two secondary keyword phrases.

Example:

<META name="KEYWORDS" content="dog grooming tips, dog grooming supplies, dog grooming training">

IMAGE ALT TAGS

An image Alt tag follows your graphic address or URL in your HTML code. These words will be displayed in place of your graphics through an older browser or when your visitors have their graphics turned off.

To fully optimize your graphics, insert your keyword phrases within the Alt tags of your graphics. At a bare minimum, make sure you use enough images to display all of your keyword phrases. Remember...your primary keyword phrase should always come first.

Example Images (Notice the images are named using the three primary keyword phrases):

dog_grooming_tips.jpg
dog_grooming_supplies.jpg
dog_grooming_training.jpg

Example:

<IMG SRC="WIDTH="80" HEIGHT="105" dog_grooming_tips.jpg ALT="dog grooming tips">
<IMG SRC="WIDTH="80" HEIGHT="105" dog_grooming_supplies.jpg ALT="dog grooming supplies">
<IMG SRC="WIDTH="80" HEIGHT="105" dog_grooming_training.jpg ALT="dog grooming training">

TITLE TAG

Just as you must place your keyword phrases within your META description and keyword tags, you must also use your primary keyword phrase as your web page title. Nothing more should appear between the <TITLE> and </TITLE> tags except your primary keyword phrase.

HEADING TAGS

Heading tags are used to separate topics and range from <H1> being very large and bold to <H6> which is very small and bold. Some Search Engines place relevance on text displayed within the heading tags. Top priority is placed on the highest listed heading tag.

Your keyword phrases should each be used as a heading for sections within your web page (placed in the same order as your keyword phrases within your META keywords tag) and placed within an appropriate heading tag. These headings should be followed by some descriptive text.

Your headings should look something like this:

<H?>Dog Grooming Tips</H?>

Your descriptive content containing your keyword phrase.

<H?>Dog Grooming Supplies</H?>

Your descriptive content containing your keyword phrase.

<H?>Dog Grooming Training</H?>

Your descriptive content containing your keyword phrase.

IMAGE NAMES AND HYPERLINKS

When creating links on your web page, your links should be displayed together with a small image in front of each link. This image might be a graphic bullet, arrow, or whatever you'd like. These images will not only enhance your web page, but they will also enable you to place your keyword phrases within the Alt tags.

When you begin creating your links, make sure the page name, image name and page description text all contain your keyword phrases.

Your HTML code might look something like this:

<img src="dog_grooming_tips.gif" alt="dog grooming tips"><a href="dog_grooming_tips.htm">Dog Grooming Tips</a>

<img src="dog_grooming_training.gif" alt="dog grooming training"><a href="dog_grooming_training.htm">Dog Grooming Training</a>

BODY TEXT

Optimizing your text is another important step towards ranking higher in the Search Engines. Your web page should contain plenty of text and should contain each of your keywords and keyword phrases used in different variations. If all of your keyword phrases you've listed within your META tags aren't found within your text, the Search Engines will simply ignore them.

SEARCH ENGINE SUBMISSIONS

Once you've optimized your web pages and uploaded them to your server, your next step will be to submit your main pages to the Search Engines. However, don't submit your pages to Google. Your pages will rank much higher if you allow this Search Engine to find your pages on its own.

You may want to consider creating a site map for your site and submit this page to Google instead. A site map is a page that outlines how your pages are set up and linked together. If you design a site map with links to all of your pages, the Search Engine robots can easily spider and index them.

Taking the time to optimize each of your web pages is the most important step you can take towards ranking high in the Search Engines and driving more traffic to your web site.
 

About The Author
Shelley Lowery is the author of the highly acclaimed ebook series, Web Design Mastery -- An eight volume (500+ pages) in-depth guide to professional web design. Web Design Mastery is being hailed as the "Bible" for professional web design.

One of the ways to boost traffic to your Web site is by purchasing keywords from one of the pay-per-click search engines or directories.

But with literally hundreds of choices, how do you pick the pay-per-click engine with the best visibility that has the potential of giving you a higher return on your investment?

And, just as important, what are some strategies for working with the pay-per-click engines, and how do they operate?

How do Pay-Per-Click Engines Operate?

With pay-per-click engines, you bid on keywords that describe your business, your products, or your target audience. Then, you're charged your bid price every time someone clicks on your ad, which is displayed when a searcher types in the keyword you've chosen into the search box at an engine. Whoever is willing to pay the most for the keyword or keyword phrase will be at the top of the rankings.

There are many benefits to working with pay engines, which we'll cover in this article.

Important Pay-Per-Click Engines and Directories

Overture:

Overture is certainly the pay-per-click engine that most people recognize. It's also one of the most expensive and competitive.

However, the visibility of Overture is impressive, to say the least. It provides the top two or three results to "big boy" search engines and directories like Yahoo!, Lycos, HotBot, and MSN Search. In fact, Overture claims to reach 80% of all Internet users.

Overture listings are generally found at the top of the regular search results in an area called "Sponsored" results or sites.

Overture's pay-per-clicks operate under one premise: whoever has the deepest pockets and is willing to pay the most gets on top.

The minimum bid is $.10, and there's a minimum charge of $20 per month. A $50 initial deposit is non-refundable and will be applied to click throughs or to the minimum monthly spend. When your account is depleted, they'll contact you to see if you want to add additional funds to your budget.

Google AdWords:

Google AdWords have fast become extremely important in the pay-per-click arena, with results being shown at search engines like Google, AOL Search, Ask Jeeves, and Teoma.

Google AdWords operates differently than Overture in a number of ways. Your click-through rate and cost per click together determine where your ads are shown, so better ads rise to the top. That means no one can lock you out of the top position.

Google AdWords are shown on the right-hand side of regular search results in a shaded area called "Sponsored Links".

Because your click through rate has an influence on the placement of your AdWords ad, your ad's title and description must be captivating and designed to pull in traffic.

With Google AdWords, there's a $5 activation fee, and the minimum bid amount is $.05. You decide on the maximum cost per click that you're willing to pay and set your daily budget. You don't have to spend a certain amount per month, and you only pay for clicks you actually receive.

FindWhat:

Another popular pay-per-click engine that is generally much less expensive than Overture is FindWhat.

With FindWhat, whoever bids the most gets on top. The minimum bid is $.05, and they require a $25 minimum amount to open an account.

FindWhat provides results to 200 different partners, including many of the big meta engines like Dogpile.

Lycos InSite AdBuyer:

A fairly new pay-per-click program that's displayed on both Lycos and HotBot is Lycos InSite AdBuyer.

Again, it operates similarly to the way that Overture and FindWhat operate, with the top results being those who bid the most for their target keywords.

The minimum bid is $.05 with a $50 minimum to open an account.

LookSmart:

LookSmart is a pay-per-click directory where you pay a flat $.l5 per click through. It claims to reach 77% of the Internet users through the partners that display LookSmart results.

Some of those partners include MSN Search, About.com, Netscape, and AltaVista.

With LookSmart, you don't bid for listings. Everyone pays a flat $.15 per click through, and your ranking is determined by how relevant your site is to the search term, according to LookSmart's ranking criteria. To get started with a LookSmart listing, the initial investment is $29.

Other Pay-Per-Click Engines: PayPerClickSearchEngines.com

This comprehensive site lists over 500 different pay-per-click search engines and offers individual reviews on many of them.

(In Part 2 of this article, we'll continue by discussing the advantages to working with pay engines. For the complete article, write to Robin Nobles at robin@searchengineworkshops.com)
 

About The Author
Robin Nobles, Co-Director of Training, Search Engine Workshops, teaches 2-, 3-, and 5-day hands-on, search engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe. She also teaches online search engine marketing courses and has two books available through Amazon and other bookstores.

Copyright 2003 Robin Nobles. All rights reserved