Should You Really Pay-Per-Click? by Mark Daoust Many advertisers continue to use pay-per-click advertising because they are unaware of any alternatives. The fact is, there are very promising search engines that may be used as an alternative or supplement to a PPCSE campaign. Even if you have dropped your PPCSE advertising altogether because you cannot find that blend of quality, high-volume traffic along with a low bid price, you will want to consider these alternative search engines. This article will look at three search engines. If you have not already added your site to these search engines, it is highly recommended that you do so. TowerSearch (http://www.towersearch.com/add/add.htm) Why only allow one advertiser to be number one? This is the question that TowerSearch has posed to the pay-per-click search engine industry when they introduced their "Equalized Results". TowerSearch guarantees that advertisers will receive a top listing for their site under the keywords that they choose without bidding on those keywords. This is done through a constant re-organizing of their results to ensure that each advertiser receives fair treatment. Because there is no per click cost associated with listing your site on TowerSearch, your monthly expenditures will remain consistent even if the traffic from your listings increases significantly. TowerSearch advertisers can select from two account levels. The "Standard Listings" ($29.95/month) account allows advertisers to list their site under as many as 100 keywords. TowerSearch does provide an account that allows for unlimited keywords, but be prepared to pay a little extra for that account ($49.95/month). Over 1,200 websites currently participate in the TowerSearch network. Unlike a pay-per-click search engine that pays its network partners to provide searches, TowerSearch rewards its partners for new clients. The result is that TowerSearch traffic is driven by users interested in finding a product or service, not an affiliate looking to make a commission. TowerSearch seems to be the only search engine that effectively reduces your per click cost as you receive more traffic. Because they charge a flat monthly fee for their services, as you improve your listings, add keywords and increase traffic to your listings, your per click price will quickly drop to an insignificant level. TowerSearch is well worth the meager $29.95/month they are charging. ExactSeek (http://exactseek.com/add_priority.html) It is possible to get a number 1 listing without paying for every click you receive. The people at ExactSeek have built an engine that allows you to move up their rankings by simply providing them with some traffic yourself. ExactSeek blends innovative search and listing techniques with the traditional search engine model. At the core of ExactSeek is a Meta-tag search engine using site titles and meta-tags to classify sites under keywords and phrases. However, unlike a traditional meta-tag search engine, the most important aspect of your ranking (under their priority listings) is the amount of traffic you provide to their site. ExactSeek Priority Listings use a system of "Search Points" to determine a site's ranking. A single search point is equal to 20 searches provided within a day. As your listing accumulates more and more search points, your site rises in their listings. And, of course, as your site rises in their rankings, you will see more and more traffic. When you add your site to their listings, you will certainly want to participate in their Priority Listings as it guarantees your site a place among the top 100 search results for the keywords in your site title and meta tags. Of course, your position within the top 100 will continue to improve as you send more traffic to them. With over 30,000 new site submissions daily (yes, that's 30,000 site submissions per day), ExactSeek is quickly making its impression on webmasters across the globe. Also, visitors are able to search for more than just websites. They can search for images, mp3 files, images, comparison shopping sites and email addresses. If you have not added your site to ExactSeek, you are missing out on something that is becoming more and more rare: the opportunity for free traffic. With that price tag in mind and the ability to be listed at the top of their listings, listing with ExactSeek is an easy decision. LookListings (http://looklistings.looksmart.com/) One of the main problems pay-per-click search engines have presented to advertisers is the "ego bidder". This is the bidder who bids so much higher than what everyone else is willing to pay that all competition is effectively cut off. The negative consequence of this is that the bid price is artificially inflated and all advertisers suffer less traffic or higher bid prices. To avoid the ego bidders, and to provide all advertisers with a fair price for their listings, LookListings charges a flat per click fee of just $0.15. Try finding a quality keyword on Overture or Google for $0.15 - I promise you will not be able to find one. This system has worked very well for them and their advertisers. Because there is no bidding process, advertisers are able to concentrate more on how their listings read and what keywords they are listed under rather than focusing on whether they have been outbid, are paying too much for their listing, or other time-consuming activities. LookSmart was already recognized for being a top search engine before launching LookListings. Since LookListings became available, LookSmart has added MSN, AltaVista, About, Excite, Netscape, InfoSpace, Cnet, and RoadRunner to participate in their program. LookListings will probably be the most expensive option out of the three search engines presented here. However, with the search traffic they are able to provide, their services are well worth the asking price. Conclusion This article has mentioned three search engines that act as alternatives or supplements to PPCSE's. PPCSE's are not a bad marketing investment. However, they can be expensive and difficult to manage. These alternative search engines all offer one thing: more traffic for your money. You can learn more about each of these engines by clicking the links below: http://www.towersearch.com http://www.exactseek.com http://looklistings.looksmart.com ================================================================ Mark Daoust is the owner and operator of CPC-List.com, a resource on over 100 pay per click search engines, with articles, reviews, and special offers from pay per click search engines. You can contact mark at: info@cpc-list.com ================================================================