Opinion on Pay per Click Engines

From: Linda Rocco <GUMMYLUMP_at_aol.com>
Date: Mon 05 Feb 2001 20:55:12 -0600

Hello All,

I am a lurker and occasional contributor to this list
and a few others. Recently I have seen a series of
posts regarding these search engines, most of which
can be summarized with: The pay per click engines
are having problems with relevancy and therefore when
a person searches on them, they may not be getting
"quality" results. And, with the advent of pay per
click and its financial success, all search engines
are beginning to ask for payment for submissions.

In response to the first point I would say that pay per
click search engines are the BEST value for the money
for any small business. The fact that the business is
able to select its terms and then bid on it, gives them
a great advantage that they may no longer have on
regular search engines. These pay per click engines
level the playing field. Anyone can get listed on the
first page for their search terms, provided their
bidding price is within the top 30 or so. Fortunately,
the price is often as low as $.01.

As for the relevancy question, GoTo and FindWhat both
have reviewers who check the web site against the
search terms submitted. GoTo has become particularly
strict in this regard, but FindWhat also has a review
process to insure that non-relevant terms are not
posted for a web site. As for quality
listings....who's to say which listings are the best
quality. Sure, you may not have heard of many of the
listings before, but that doesn't mean that their web
site doesn't offer exactly what you need. And don't
forget...where is the best customer service found? Mom
and Pop store or IBM? I am still waiting for a
response to an email I sent (twice) to IBM regarding
their ecommerce products.

As far as I'm concerned, Pay Per Click search engines
are one of the last, best places, to advertise on the
web where the playing field is even between the small
businesses and the giants. This used to be true of the
regular search engines, but now large companies are
hiring a staff of search engine specialists to do
nothing but work full time of their rankings. It is
very difficult for a small businessman to compete with
that - especially in saturated categories such as
mortgage, debt consolidation, software etc.

In addition, every search engine ranks their sites
according to a different algorithm. Each of them
thinks that they are providing the best results for
the search. Which of them is right? My answer...if
you're a small business person, stick with pay per
click and support pay per click by searching there as
well. It's a great investment for your company and for
other small businesses as long as you have a smart
bidding strategy.

For the second point of cost....Every search engine
still provides a way to get listed without paying.
Maybe it will cause all search engines to require
payment for submission, but that is the right of the
search engines. They are a business. They are in
business to make money. Maybe we've been spoiled. Is
your yellow page ad free? But, you know someone else
will always pop up with a FREE submission search
engine web site. Look at ISP's and all the new ones
who offer free services now. Free email, Free hosting,
etc. In the end, competition is always good because it
allows for a company to solve an existing problem. If
people are fed up with paying for submissions, a new
company (or an existing one) will create a search
engine with FREE submissions. You will love it. You
will search there. They will be able to charge more to
their banner advertisers who in turn will get better
responses. Other search engines will then rethink their
policy.

Just my two cents. My only warning to pay per click
advertisers...make sure you have a smart, profit
sustaining, bidding strategy. If you don't know how to
do that or what it means....leave it to a professional.

Sincerely,
Linda Rocco

Web Spinners Design Co.
Specializing in Small Business Web Sites, Web Site Promotion, and Wireless
Web Sites.
www.webspinnersdesignco.com
631-451-9516




Received on Mon Feb 05 2001 - 20:55:12 CST