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Paid URL Inclusion - Is
It For You?
One of the
many options available to promote a website on
search engines is called "paid inclusion". 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 website 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 favorably 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 website on the most popular
paid inclusion programs:
Altavista*- $600
AskJeeves- $192
Inktomi- $264
Fast/Lycos- $170
*this is the total first
year fee, although the program is billed in six month increments
Total first year fees for
ten page site: $1,226 |
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 optimized) 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
URLs. If each page shows up for the URL search but not for a search of any
keyphrases 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 optimizing 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 website, 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 website can help you to determine if it is
the right option for your site. |
