Those Who Pay Get Top Placement in Search Engines

You have to hand it to the search engine companies. They've realized the only way to make money is to approach online advertising just like the Yellow Pages has done for all these years. Here's how and why their programs work for website owners:

How they work. When you go to the search engine or online directory's web site (such as Yahoo or Google) and research how to get your site listed there, you'll find one or all of these plans offered:

1. Review. Pay to have your site reviewed by the search engine's editors, who will consider it for inclusion in their database. (Search engine submission)

2. Include. Pay to get your site included in the search engine's general database. (Paid Inclusion)

3. Sponsor. Pay for your site listing to appear in the "sponsored links" section at the top of a group of listings/results the searcher generates. (Sponsor; or premium sponsor)

4. Pay-per-Click. Pay to fund an account at an online advertising provider such as Google.com or Overture.com (now owned by Yahoo), then select keyword terms and what you will pay from your account each time someone clicks on your listing. (Your listing appears in a special section of the search engine's web page when someone enters one of your keyword terms.) PPC is the fastest way to get to a Number One position (you can set up an account and be running it within hours), but it can become costly (imagine if hundreds of people are clicking on your link, the charges made to your account!). Your account requires daily monitoring and you can stop or modify your program at any time.

Yahoo's fee is $299 to review your site. If the editors feel your site meets Yahoo's criteria, it gets included in the Yahoo! database. But that's not the same as top placement (sponsored links section), for which you would be expected to pay more. Other online directories charge fees as well, and some are considerably less than the Yahoo fee. Find out more in our step-by-step 144-page workbook, Successful Website Marketing.

Why paid placements work.

1. Sites that pay for placement appear at the top of the page in the "sponsored links" section or in a designated area to the right of the other listings, taking positions far above the hundreds (or thousands) of other sites.

2. Paid links are more relevant to the term the user typed in as his or her search word.

So if you're considering registering your site with search engines (which you should, seriously), give some thought to investing in online advertising. Don't get left scrambling for top position on your own, hoping the search engines will find your site: That usually doesn't work. To get attention and optimal exposure, just like with the Yellow Pages, your Chamber of Commerce directory or any traditional marketing method, you must pay.

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