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What's the general opinion? If you could only submit to one, which one would you choose?
The submission cost is basically the same but I can't find any top 5 most popular list to determine the best place to spend it.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
Clarem.
Also it does depends because one is pay per click, while the other is a yearly fee?
On the other hand, the LS Smartlisting is an annual fee (as opposed to Looklistings - which is the PPC component) But it gets much better syndication with coverage in NineMSN, GoEureka and OptusNet among others.
Keep in mind the Smartlistings are shown 3rd if there are any Ninemsn search advertisers (shown 1st) or Looklisting advertisers (shown 2nd) bidding on your favourite keyphrases.
Hope that helps you make up your mind :)
I'm just wondering about the traffic and popularity of NineMSN Vs Yahoo?
Do neither.
The Yahoo directory is not a primary source of traffic anymore, at least not on any of my Australian sites that appear in the directory. Paying $299US ($550 AU) per year is unlikely to be justified if you have a limited budget. Forget Looksmart for the same reason. The trickle of traffic off its partners does not justify the cost.
Rather concentrate on Google which is currently supplying its results to Yahoo web search anyway. If quick inclusion is important, pay to have say 3 or 4 key pages included in Inktomi which will get you into MSN which feeds NineMSN. If and when Yahoo stop using Googles results, its possible they will start using the Inktomi database so by being included there, you would have that base covered.
Submit to DMOZ for free. You never know you might strike it lucky and be in a category where sites are being added.
Spend time searching these forums for threads on "reciprocal links" and "directories". There is a lot of info available on how to get included into some of the lesser known directories which will kick-start your links campaign.
Master Google before all else (links, links, links).... then when you have a cash flow you can look at Yahoo again and reasses the situation.
Thanks for the suggestions. Regarding Google, I’ve got a few links from high PR pages (thanks to some SEO’d sites that we also own) linking to the site already, so a link from Yahoo or Looksmart is not completely necessary (of course it would help but it’s not vital at the moment).
I’ve submitted to DMOZ in a category that needs a volunteer so I’m left hoping that someone will look at it and include the URL or maybe I should volunteer myself?
I’m interested about the Inktomi submission though. As our site offers a service only available in Australia would the se’s that supply Inktomi search results reach our audience? I was under the impression (from the NineMSN site) that Looksmart AU feed into NineMSN with no mention of Inktomi?
If you type www.msn.com.au directly into the address bar, you end up at NineMSN
BUT... run an identical search on www.msn.com and www.msn.com.au and you get very different results, so you may be right. There may be different feeds behind the results.
Trust your own judgements on this... looks like my interpretation (assumption actually) was wrong.
Why?
Control of campaign and costs. You are not locked into a directory listing that you cannot control the wording of.
Having spent the money on a Looksmart listing and having them change the wording to something ineffective is not a great way to spend you money!
We too have a problem with targeting MSN users, but if I can get a better ROI why spend the money with MSN players.
