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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 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 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.
About The Author
Scott Buresh is Co-founder and Principal of Medium Blue Internet
Marketing. For monthly tips on how to get the most out of your
internet presence, sign up for the Internet Marketing Newsletter
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