Does it provide a significant increase in traffic?
I would advise you to analyse these engines in depth. You need to get you title and description right for the engine first time and so the editor doesn't alter it, else you may have to pay again to change your listing.
This thread discussed the issue last year [webmasterworld.com...]
Is it worth £149? IMHO, yes, at the moment. Surprisingly, I get referals from Looksmart uk, although not many. It's the SE relationships that are the key to this.
As far as a significant increase in traffic is concerned, then, the answer has got to be no. An increase, but not significant.
I've found the Looksmart listing well worth the investment and so far the editors have used all the descriptions I've suggested.
If you compare this against Yahoo IMHO Looksmart is now offering a much better ROI
I have had a look at the area of Looksmart UK I am aiming at and none of my competitors are in there. I'm off to spend my hard earned money.
Try that search term on any other SE's. It doesnt happen anywhere else that I've seen. I can accept being on page 4 if the previous 3 pages are all relevant to the Search term but at No.6 is:
"Southampton Hotels
Profiles the services and amenities offered by hotels in the county town of Hants. View photographs, check availability and make a reservation."
Total utter Twaddle!!! ...I've used Twaddle so that engine doesnt have to edit.
But I really mean "The B word" ;)
>Their relevance is just the pits
I agree that it can be a problem, but, that is why it's important to ensure a good entry. It's VERY important to spend time on that entry.
Also, I don't think looksmart is the real traffic driver - it's got to be it's "partners."
If you ask people if they've heard of looksmart - they'll go, huh?
If you ask people about the partners such as MSN or AltaVista, etc. you'll probably get a different answer.
IMO a listing in looksmart is for the benefit of the traffic from the partners, and not from looksmart itself. I'd like to see looksmart do better, of course, so that the £149 is of better value
..but when you get a deluge of dross masquerading as relevant results, are you suggesting that it is possible to overcome them?
Incidentally, That search term in MSN puts me at 1...credit to you guys for what I've learnt.
However LS is the SE directory on BTopenworld...so thats a big customer base thats being given "Junksults"
I spend on average one day per month filming at conferences, where guys are paid Mega Scroats for using loads of made up words.... there abouts as relevant as Look Smart...which was where I came in;)
If anything, it's easier to show a relevant result in amongst a heap of irrelevances. Although, I wholeheartedly agree, if the returns are irrelevant, I would soon stop using that search facilty.
A good title and entry should provide reasonable positioning, therefore, it's important to work on a good description.
Take a look at this thread [webmasterworld.com...]
Junksults - hehehe I like that one.
This is based on the fact that their editors have been fairly good in preserving a fair site description and will listen if you appeal their decision.
That a good LS listing is giving excellent traffic from MSN - even more important if there are going to get into bed with Overture.
They do not mind sites that use Java nav bars, require plug-ins etc. (but do work across browsers and platforms).
Unfortunately, clients awareness of Looksmart is zero - its the mention of MSN or BT etc that interests them.
They are funny though - since when was Thomas the Tank Engine the King of search engine optimisation! [looksmart.co.uk]!
A client that paid for last week is now being shown on MSN with the full-submitted description I submitted 10/10 :)
My main worry with submitting to Looksmart is that their directory is actually fairly awful, IMHO, and others here seem to agree. I wonder how long their partners will put up with it.
Without MSN, Looksmart would be a small time directory. Yes they have ISPs and other portals using it, but these really aren't significant in comparison to MSN. Could be £149 wasted.
It also means that for many sites, they need to submit to both Looksmart and Looksmart UK to cover the MSN network. I think that paying $149 for a Looksmart.com listing has to be better value.
Therefore, you are unlikely to be returned in any searches except those that are very specialised.
With LS, I tend to talk to a client to identify where their key market is: UK or US/international and register accordingly. If they are a .co.uk who target the US I suggest a .com domain for the LS.com registration.
I find engine's comment interesting, sometimes what's bad for users is good for some site owners.
Thanks Ian, this thread really has me thinking.
Calum
I think I am right in saying, that the main problem with registering a .co.uk with LS.com is that the site would only be included in the .com directory and SERPS are filtered to return .com's first.
If you submit a site to the LS.com it does only get listed in the .com directory, but I don't think that a .co.uk gets treated any differently from a .com once it is in the database.
An additional bonus is that MSN.co.uk searches the .co.uk database first and then returns results from the .com database - Two for the price of one if your keyphrase is not too competitive.
