Looksmart & MSN

How are "Web Directory Sites" listed?

[jimbeetle]

I haven't paid attention to Looksmart in quite awhile but now that MSN has dropped Direct Hit the MSN referrals for one of our money earning sections has dropped considerably.

I was planning to do some tweaking to bring our pages up in the Inktomi results but doing some checking for our main keyword phrase (very competitive) on MSN it pulls more than 90 "Web Directory Sites" before getting down to the "Web Pages." With the Inktomi results buried so many pages back that would be a waste of effort.

So to get MSN traffic back I have to improve our "Web Directory Sites" position for our keyword phrase, currently down at 63.

The Looksmart PPC signup has virtually no information on how it works. So finally, the questions:

1) Are most of the "Web Directory Sites" MSN pulls from Looksmart PPC?

2) If so, how are they ordered? If 30 sites sign up for 15 cents a click, who goes first?

And anything other insights will be much appreciated.

Jim

[2_much]

Hey Jim,

1. Yes

2. My understanding is tha this is dependent on bid amount, as well as title and description.

Here's a little bit more information on this:
[webmasterworld.com...]
[webmasterworld.com...]

Having re-read these posts I'm still not clear on how to rank but it seems that it depends on having an exact match for your keywords. How this works for competitive categories I've no clue.

Anyone else?

[Jillibert]

My understanding is that it has absolutley nothing to do with bid amounts.

Small Business Listings pay 15c per click.

Large Business Listings negotiate click prices but there is a minmum monthly spend of US $2500 per month.

The search results are a combination of MSN ranking and the LOOK results are now by relevancy of keywords through their Wisenut search platform.

[jimbeetle]

Thanks 2_much, interesting and confusing reading.

Jillibert,

Do I take that to mean that MSN ranks the Looksmart listings according to its own algo (as they look nothing like the Wisenut results)? Is PPC a factor in the MSN ranking or, as our site was grandfathered into LS, can we improve the MSN rankings by tweaking our pages? Or, would going PPC with Looksmart improve the rankings and then tweak from there?

Confusing. I know the search traffic for our keyword phrase is there at MSN, used to get a lot through Direct Hit and want to see how I can get it back.

Jim

[Syren_Song]

You can also get into the Web Directory Listings on MSN via Zeal.

[Hunter]

Do I take that to mean that MSN ranks the Looksmart listings according to its own algo

Yes

Is PPC a factor in the MSN ranking

No, not for "DIRECTORY SITES"

can we improve the MSN rankings by tweaking our pages?

Tweaking would certaiinly help your "WEB PAGES" results, but the only tweaking that I have found helpful for directory listings on MSN is link pop.

would going PPC with Looksmart improve the rankings and then tweak from there?

I would not go PPC with Looksmart for MSN rankings. Pay yourself the PPC money for getting more quality inbound links.

[jimbeetle]

Perfect. Everything I wanted to know. As long as we're already in Looksmart just keep building links and look for MSN directory listings improvement that way.

PPC money in my pocket is just where it belongs.

Thanks everybody!

Jim

[2_much]

Sorry for the misunderstanding Jimbeetle.

So if I'm understanding correctly, link pop is what determines a site's ranking in MSN's results for competitive keywords (once they're in Looksmart)?

Just want to clarify.

[Hunter]

They pull a lot of weight 2_much, but it's also important to get your target keyword(s) in your looksmart/zeal title.

[jimbeetle]

No problem 2_much. I just knew I was in trouble when I looked at the LS PPC signup and couldn't find any info, then compared MSN & Wisenut SERPs and then...

Would have still been chasing my tail if it weren't for all here.

Jim