Auction Articles

Paying for Targeted Traffic with Goto and Google

By: Merle

Everyone wants to be listed in the top 10 of the
search engines, but the reality is that with millions of websites
vying for the same ten spots, it just "ain't gonna
happen." You'd probably stand a better chance at
winning the lottery.

Many search engines have moved away from the "free"
submission model onto one that requires up front payment.
This does not guarantee you any kind
of placement; just that your site will be reviewed
and listed. So what if it comes up 100,878,989 on
the search results page? It's listed.

Well, I have a real problem with that. Why should I
pay $200.00 for something that's been free for years
when my site may never be found in the first place?
If you're like me, when you pay out good money for
something, you want to see some results.

There are other search engines like Google and Goto
who charge a fee but with both of them you're paying
for *placement*, not just a listing. That's OK in my book.
At least I'll get some traffic for my hard earned dollar.

Both Google and Goto should be utilized by any online
entrepreneur looking for results. Let's take a look
at both of them and what's involved in opening an
account with them.

Goto- http://www.goto.com/d/about/advertisers/

There are many "pay for" position search engines
but the clear leader of the pack is Goto.com.
They created the game of "pay for" keyword positioning
and are still going strong.

You pick the search terms that are relevant to your
website and decide how much you wish to pay when
someone clicks on your listing. The higher you bid,
the higher your site appears in their search engine
when someone does a search for one of your keywords.
What's nice about the program is you're only paying
when someone actually clicks through to your site
and not just for impressions.

When setting up your account they offer 3 packages
to choose from:

1)Full Service: This is their customized plan with
recommended terms and bids based on your budget.
They'll write up to 100 search listings for you,
total price $199.00 (1 time fee)

2) Full Service: A less expensive customer plan with
up to 20 professionally written search listings for
$99.00 (1 time fee).

3) Self Service: This is my favorite where you create
your own titles and descriptions and bids. No service
fee but the minimum amount to open an account is $50.00.
If you want to register more than 40 keywords or phrases
they have a handy spreadsheet you can download, enter
in all of your keywords then mail it back in.

When getting started with Goto.com you'll get better
results if you choose many keywords or phrases to
bid on. Minimum recommended to start is 20, but
I'd recommend more for better results. When bidding
on key terms try to bid enough to get your listing
into one of the top 3 positions. The top 3 listings
are guaranteed to show up on Goto's partner sites
like Direct Hit and some of the other top search
engines and will appear as "partner" or "sponsored"
links.

Your bids and keywords can be edited at anytime with
the use of the "Direct Traffic" center control panel.
Reports are also emailed to you on a monthly basis
showing all activity and current rank for each word.

Google AdWords Program: http://adwords.google.com/adwords/

Google's program is fairly new and creating a big buzz
online. The way it works is you create a short classified
ad and then select keywords you want to be found under.
When someone does a search on a key phrase you've chosen
your ad will appear on the results page on the right
hand side of the page.

Pricing for ad words is based on the position in which
they're shown. Google positions ads based on how many
users click on it over time. Current rates are
$15.00, $12.00 and $10.00 (per thond impressions,
or ads shown) for positions 1,2 and 3 and $8.00 per
thond for positions 4 through 8.

Accounts are easy to open with a card and
Google even walks you through the ad creation
process. You'll get best results by choosing keywords
that are very specific to your website. Stay away
from common keywords that will rack up impression
charges and not bring you any customers.

Ads are limited to 25 characters for the title and
35 characters for the 2 text lines and the visible
URL. After registering you are given access to the
site via a user name and password so you can view
reports on your clickthroughs and impressions.
Ad campaigns can also be easily added to, started
and stopped at will.

Spending money on marketing your website is a given.
If you're going to pay the search engines money
make sure you're spending it with a "results based"
model like Goto or Google so you know you're getting
the best "bang" for your buck. Sure, you have to spend
the money, just spend it wisely.

About the Author

Merle http://www.EzineAdAuction.com
"Where some of the BEST Deals in Ezine Advertising are Made"
Subscribe to "Ezine Ad Auction Authority" and be kept
up to date on new auctions as they're added and much
more subscribe@ezineadauction.com- To advertise on the
website send mailto:advertise@ezineadauction.com

AUCTION