Forum Moderators: open
Top 10 Properties (taking out non SEDs)
1 NINEMSN/MICROSOFT
2 YAHOO
3 AOL
6 LYCOS
7 EXCITE
9 GOOGLE
Top 10 Domains
1 MSN.COM
2 NINEMSN.COM.AU
5 YAHOO.COM
7 YAHOO.COM.AU
9 GOOGLE.COM
That is, MSN (of various sorts) Yahoo (of various sorts) Lycos, Excite, and Google.
But then, talking to AltaVista back in August, they state "Australia AV was the #3 site in April 2001 as ranked by Hitwise, and now it can be anywhere in the top ten sites depending on current events in Australia. Media Metrix rated AV Australia the #1 SE in May 2001. " full story [webmasterworld.com].
And remember also that Anzwers now supplies Google data with links to the Yahoo directory so they both become more important now.
I will see what else I can dig up.
Onya
Woz
Yahoo.com.au
NineMSN.com.au
Altavista.com.au
Excite.com.au
Citysearch.com.au
Looksmart.com.au
GoEureka.com.au
Anzwers.com.au
Vicnet.net.au
Webwombat.com.au
Is this info still true with the demise of Excite and Alta Vista etc as a lot has happened in the last few months?
Excite is up the creek, but not many end users know that. Anzwers is now owned by Yahoo etc...
Basically most users dont know how badly the engines they use are.
As an example - the most popular real engine -NineMSN is effectively all paid listings from OTHER engines - completely biased :)
If you want Aussie traffic - focus on Inktomi submissions.
I see my LookSmart listings are doing well in Excite.com.au ;). I'd be interested to hear how you see the Australian SE market shaking out in the near future. Who's on the endangered list?
Depends of course on what your endangerment criteria is... Looksmart is also rolling along reasonably well, but arguably ONLY because of its relationship with NineMSN and Excite. Without them as its distribution partners, they really have minimal traffic of their own and would struggle (in my opinion).
Altavista Australia is deivering good traffic as well - BUT only through trusted feeds... You can get some REALLY targeted results through this - as with the Inktomi Index Connect product. Basically both focus HEAVILY on your meta title, keywords, and description for these feeds (AV you dont even send body copy - its meta data only) - so optimising is easy - basically choose your own rankings :)
I think Altavista is fading though in its market presence.
Excite results are incredibly stale - parent company is in all sorts of trouble.
Anzwers is owned by Yahoo - so who knows what they will do with it.
Google is winning over more and more Australian users which will of course increase the pressure on other engines. Especially the smaller players.
if you're looking for aussie se's to submit to for free, excite.com.au and webwombat.com.au are it.
If you're international, e.g non .au or .nz, Webwombat will want AUD$30 to index your submission.
As I'v never paid for any indexing or listing with anyone, I can't vouch for the efficacy of the webwombat now, but my referrals from them have been dropping off steadily for the last 12 months, but that could be due to other factors, like aol dial-up search, ozemail dial-up = anzwers/yahoo home and other external factors.
The index seems fairly fresh and relevant, so takes your choice ...
Cheers
JP
"Sorry!
The page you have requested is temporarily unavailable, or no longer exists on our servers.
You can return to Excite by clicking on the buttons at the top of the page. Thanks for using Excite. Your comments are very much appreciated, and help us make the service better."
This suggests that Excite is keeping their
options open but not doing anything at present!
I'm new here so be kind ;-)
I notice no-one has mentioned GOeureka. Their add URL has not been working for months and you need to submit through AV. I no longer see any traffic from them. Does anyone else?
sanity
As you say, GOeureka is powered by AV and so submissions need to go through them.
They also feature listings from Looksmart before the SE listings so you could try your luck there. Remember that if your site is non-commercial you can get a Looksmart listing through Zeal.com.
I receive a little traffic from GOeureka but then I am not targeting ANZ specifically.
Onya
Woz
Sorry thumbs down for Zeal from me!
Zeal only accepts non-commercial sites. If accepted they also appear in Looksmart and Looksmart partners.
Like you I can count the number of direct Zeal referrals on a small number of hands. However, referrals generated via Looksmart using the Zeal entry is signicantly higher. Have another look at your Looksmart referrals.
Onya
Woz
Yep I got a site into LS via Zeal and we get reasonable traffic from it. Have had a couple of Zeal referrals but not much to write home about.
One question if you do paid Ink to AV AU would that get carried through to GOeureka? One would assume so...
I have noticed an increase in AV traffic the last few weeks, from all clients, and I may try a paid ink just to see how it goes.
sanity
ie excite australia and ninemsn.
My SEO tips:
Yahoo a must have listing!
Inktomi (express through Positiontech.com)
Overture (for all affiliate sites, cap the bidding to monthly spend)
Looksmart (for affiliate sites)
Open Directory Project to feed Google.
Google itself.
I find outside this scenario the traffic isn't justified or too much manual work.
Still get AV referrals but how long will they be around for? Not worth the time and effort if not reindexing frequently. Pleased to report older clients doing very well though, ie 1 year plus
Any others with similar experiences?
>Looksmart still right down as well. Only recommend it for their partnerships:
I agree, I don't rely on LS but the little extra effort does bring additional referrals, as you say, via the partners.
>My SEO tips:
Are you talking Globally or for Australia only?
Onya
Woz
I have similar experiences.
My must haves are:
Google
Yahoo
Inktomi paid (esp for NineMSN and MSN)
LookSmart (for affiliate sites)
Open Directory
I don't do much PPC at the moment.
I am questioning whether a LookSmart US listing is better than an AU as the US listing goes into the Aust directory as well. Of course it's double the cost.
I also have clients that have been in AV for 4 or 5 years and they rank very well. They used to get a ton of traffic but quite frankly it has dwindled. Majority of traffic for most clients comes from what I've listed above.
I mentioned earlier I think I will sub one URL from a new site into AV paid submission - just to see how it works, what happens etc.
sanity
Both, but we try and target clients that have an international product or service or international guests coming to Australia.
Best clients for example: hotels, car rentals, international flower deliveries, seafood exporters etc.
We are quite successful with this campaign structure for local businesses such as: local real estates, home builders and insurance brokers because we find that many surfers use generic keywords, realise they need to qualify more and will place the words such as melbourne, australia, or new south wales for example.
I find PPC scenarios brilliant leads for niche markets and internet savvy web sites such as flower deliveries:
Why? Need to send a product ASAP eg forgot wife's birthday, willing to pay and have credit card!
Generic words tend to create traffic but too expensive. Choose keywords wisely and reap the benefits!
So much to learn so little time :)
BTW - Just signed up for AV Express Inclusion. They emailed me my password unencrypted. Idiots!!
sanity
1. Yahoo Australia
2. NineMSN
3. GoEureka - AltaVista listings but associated with Yellow Pages.
4. AltaVista Australia
5. Web Wombat
6. AOL Australia
7. Looksmart Australia
Overall the site gets over 5000 referrals from Google per week and over 2000 from Yahoo but this includes international visitors.
We did receive above 500 referrals from Excite Australia before they went down.
Anyway hope that helps as a rough idea.
sanity
A very good point. The number of users/prospects/clients I come across who know of no other Search Engine then NineMSN simply because that is what is loaded by default is, well, .... I havn't some across any AOLers as yet but they must be out there, just not as prevelant as in the US. In both cases Inktomi is the way to assure coverage. There are some very good tips in this thread.
Onya
Woz
