The BannerView newsletter is a biweekly publication providing tips and advice for conducting E-Business (Business on the Internet). BannerView.com, a Cenicola-Helvin Enterprises brand, is a variety of e-business solutions ranging from Web site development to email marketing software, e-commerce systems, custom online database solutions to Web site hosting & maintenance. In each biweekly newsletter, you can depend on helpful tips and advice for conducting business online. As always, archived versions of previous newsletters can be found by visiting the newsletter archive.

NATURAL SEARCH VS. PAID SEARCH

Webopedia defines "Paid Inclusion," aka "Paid Search" as: A search engine marketing model in which a Web site pays a fee to a search engine that then guarantees that the Web site will be displayed in the returned search results for specifically named search terms. For example, a Web site that sells baseball trading cards can pay a search engine to ensure that its site is returned in the search results when a user searches on the phrase "vintage baseball cards." Paid search which is where you pay a certain amount for a particular keyword phrase, that when someone (or something) clicks on that phase, you get charged a fee to have a visitor sent to your Web site.

The two largest paid search companies are Google and Yahoo! Search (previously Overture). One of the biggest issues in paid search is fraudulent clicks. Both Google and Yahoo! pay affiliates to display search listings on their Web sites. When someone clicks on a paid search listing, the site owner gets a commission. Problems arise when affiliates artificially inflate the clicks the paid search ads get so they can earn more money. This results in the advertiser spending money on visitors to their Web sites that aren't paying customers. There are also automated programs called "Click Bots" that crawl the Web clicking paid search links which also raises the amount spent by advertisers for non relevant visits to their Web site. Both Google and Yahoo! have anti-fraud systems in place that deter fraudulent clicks from racking up an advertiser's bill, but fraudulent clicks still occur. Some of the smaller paid search companies have little in the way of anti-fraud systems in place which means a majority of the traffic driven to an advertiser's Web site could be fake.

With the proliferation of paid search options, there is bound to be an increase in fraudulent clicks and fake visits. We have noticed a decreasing trend in the quality of visitor traffic generated by paid search due to these reasons. However, even with an increase in fraudulent clicks, there is still potential to earn a great return from certain keywords.

"Natural Search," in which a search engine lists your Web site in their directory - which isn't included as part of paid search doesn't have the same fraudulent click problem as paid search. The upside to natural search is, once you are listed, you don't pay that search company every time someone visits your Web site. However, getting a search engine to list your Web site naturally is much more difficult and takes a lot longer than paying for placement with paid search. With all the competition for placement in natural search, paid search may actually bring faster results.

So the question comes into play, "Should we focus our Web site on natural or paid search?" The easy answer is both. You should have a strategy in place at the beginning of the development of your Web site to build a site optimized for natural search, but use paid search as a jump start to drive traffic to your new Web site. As your site slowly builds its way up the natural search priority, you can cut back on the paid search spending. BannerView.com has an affordable Web Site Promotion service available that can assist with the development of your Web site's natural search campaign, supplementing your paid search efforts.

To learn more about the BannerView.com E-Business Solutions available for your business call us within Las Vegas at 702-312-9444 or outside of Las Vegas Toll Free at (888) 221-8640. More contact methods are available on our contact page.

Stay tuned to the BannerView newsletter, sent every other week on Wednesday, for helpful tips, thoughtful advice and answers to questions you may be asking about how to conduct business online.

Have a question about E-Business? Send us your questions and read the answers in upcoming newsletters!

Sincerely,

BannerView.com E-Business Solutions
A Cenicola-Helvin Enterprises Brand
http://www.BannerView.com

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