The Online Advertising Playbook: Proven Strategies and Tested Tactics from The Advertising Research Foundation

Paid Inclusion

Paid inclusion ensures that specific listings are included in search engine indexes. Advertisers pay search engines to index named URLs and they purchase keywords that trigger display in natural search result listings. When searchers type keywords into the search box, advertiser listings may appear in organic results, but there’s no guarantee of the top positions. Most often, paid inclusion is used to extend audience reach and generate leads.

Search engines build their indexes by spidering or crawling websites and including pages they deem relevant. It can take time for your pages to appear in the search engine listings, and the pages that do appear may be hit-or-miss. Some pages, such as those assembled from databases, escape indexing because they are constructed “on the fly” and appear on demand in response to specific search queries.

Paid inclusion programs overcome these problems. Annual fee directories, per-URL listings, and XML feeds are three of the most popular types. Such programs allow webmasters to specify the pages indexed by the search engines. Search engines regularly respider the designated pages and include them in the index quickly. As we write, fees run between 15 cents and 40 cents per listing, rendering them cost-effective in relation to pay-per-click ads. When advertisers submit thousands of URLs, pricing may shift to a cost-per-thousand model.

Paid Inclusion Generates Traffic Volume and Conversions

Paid inclusion listings capably drive significant ...