Pay For Placement: Keyword Buying Instead of doing the things the old way, why not pay to get better results with search engines?
By Aliza P. Sherman •
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Are you trying to get your site listed on popular search enginesbut aren't having much luck the old-fashioned way (manuallyentering them at each search engine)? While search engines arelargely known as being "free directories" of theInternet, there's also something known as "keyword buyingand bidding" which means the top spots on the search engineswill go to the highest bidder. Let's take a look at keywordbuying today.
Alison Berke, president of bworks.com, a full-service Webdevelopment company that specializes in Internet marketing, keywordplacement and database development, explains the ins and outs ofkeyword buying.
"The first company to offer a keyword buying service wasReal Names.Real Names lets you buy search terms that can be entered directlyinto the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser and your site willautomatically come up if you've bought that keyword. Forexample, if you have a Web site that has to do with old books, youcan buy the Real Name "old books" and whenever someonetypes in the search term "old books" into their IEbrowser, your site will automatically come up.
"Real Names also works with several search engines likeAlta Vista, Google, Go.com, Looksmart and MetaCrawler. These searchengines offer Real Names at the beginning of their search resultsbefore the listing of Web sites that match your search. A RealNames keyword or search term costs $100 per year."
Tune in tomorrow for details about keyword bidding.
Aliza Sherman is an entrepreneur and author of Cybergrrl:A Woman's Guide to the World Wide Web (Ballantine Books).She is currently working on her next book and new company.
