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SWeCS NEWSLETTER - 22 September 2003
In this issue...
- Pay Per Click Advertising - The New Way To
Go
- "Microsoft Upgrades" Could Be A Virus
- Web Site "No More To Pay" Package
- Resources For Small Business
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PAY PER CLICK ADVERTISING - THE NEW WAY TO GO
The popularity of banner advertising on
the Internet, and paying to be included in
directories (called "paid inclusion")
is waning.
One of the main reasons for this is because of
the real uncertainty about whether you are
getting value for money or not. People are
becoming reluctant to hand over $100 for a banner
ad on a web site, or $500 for a year's listing in
a major search directory, because they may not
get good traffic out of it. What if you're site
only gets 10 visitors from your banner ad? Then
you've effectively paid $10 per visitor.
Pay-per-click advertising has become extremely
popular because it gets around the above problem
by only charging you when you actually get
visitors. Pay-per-click search engines are big
business. The way they work is that you tell the
search engine how much you are willing to pay per
visitor. It could be 1 cent, it could be $2.00,
whatever. Your site is then listed, and you are
only charged each time someone actually clicks on
your link or ad, and visits your site.
Pay-per-click advertising has become so
popular that there are literally hundreds of
opportunities out there to advertise your site in
this way. We have tested and tried a few of them,
and what we've done for you below is a quick
summary of the top 7 pay-per-click search engines
so that you can compare them.
In future editions, we hope to do an in-depth
article on each of these, telling you how to get
the most out of them. In the meantime, however,
we hope that this gives you some basic pointers
as to which ones might be appropriate for you.
| Search Engine |
Opening Balance
Required |
Minimum Bid
Required per click |
Notes |
| Google Adwords |
$5.00 Account fee |
$0.10 Australian |
Google Adwords is separate to their
normal free listings. Once account is
approved, listings are "live"
within minutes. Can target specific
countries. Has one of the largest
advertising reaches. |
| Overture |
US$50.00 |
US$0.10 |
Takes a few days for account to be
approved. Takes a few days for all
listings to be reviewed and approved
before going "live". Results
appear in many other engines, and
therefore has one of the largest
advertising reaches. Must spend US$20 per
month. |
| Findwhat |
US$25.00 |
US$0.05 |
Takes a few days for account to be
approved. Takes a few days for all
listings to be reviewed and approved
before going "live". Has quite
a good reach, and keywords are generally
a bit cheaper than the major two engines
above. |
| Kanoodle |
US$50.00 |
US$0.05 |
Takes a few days for account to be
approved. Takes a few days for all
listings to be reviewed and approved
before going "live". Has quite
a good reach, and keywords are generally
a bit cheaper than the major two engines
above. |
| GoClick |
US$10.00 |
US$0.01 |
A cheaper alternative, although
hasn't got the reach of other engines.
Bids start as low as 1 cent, and listings
go live almost instantly. |
| 7-Search |
US$25.00 |
US$0.01 |
A cheaper alternative, although
hasn't got the reach of other engines.
Bids start as low as 1 cent, and listings
go live almost instantly. |
| Xuppa |
$US25.00 |
US$0.01 |
A cheaper alternative, although
hasn't got the reach of other engines.
Bids start as low as 1 cent, and listings
go live almost instantly. |
There are, of course, plenty of
others out there, but that's all we have time for
this edition. We'll bring you more in the future,
including a more in-depth look at each one.
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"MICROSOFT UPGRADES" COULD BE A VIRUS
We've received a large number of viruses via
email in the last week, and several of them have
been set up to look like they are coming from
Microsoft.
The emails advise that they are a security
update, or a patch of some kind, to strengthen or
upgrade your system.
In fact, the attachment that comes with these
emails contains the Worm.Automat.AHB virus. The
emails are NOT from Microsoft, even though they
have been very cleverly disguised to look like
it.
If you receive an email, apparently from
Microsoft, telling you about an upgrade for your
system, delete it. You can always check for the
latest Microsoft upgrades at their site www.microsoft.com,
which will be (hopefully) virus free.
You should always treat with suspicion any
emails that arrive unexpectedly, asking you to
open attached files to upgrade your system. But
then again, you all should have up-to-date
antivirus software on your systems that stop
these emails before they even get to you. Isn't
that right?
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WEB SITE "NO MORE TO PAY" PACKAGE
One of the things we'd heard a lot from people
about their experience with getting a web site
for the first time, was that they were unprepared
for the extra ongoing costs involved.
They were given a quote for a web site, which
worked out fine, but they didn't realise that
other costs included a domain name, hosting of
the site, upgrades to the site, web site
statistics, and so on.
That's why we've developed a complete web site
package that has all of these costs factored in
at the beginning, so that there is nothing more
to pay once the web site is complete.
Using professional pre-made templates, we can
offer a complete web site with everything
included for only $990. Click here to find out more.
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RESOURCES FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Ecommerce Library
Browse through the SWeCS Ecommerce Library,
full of FREE information about getting more out
of the Internet. Sections include Web Site
Development, Web Site Promotion & Internet
Marketing, Online Commerce, Computer &
Technical Issues, and Miscellaneous.
Newsletter Archives
The SWeCS Newsletter archives provides a
wealth of FREE information on small business and
the Internet. Browse through the main topics or
search for your particular query.
SWeCS Affiliate Program
Start up another income stream, by earning $60
for each referral who signs up for our search
engine ranking package.
Do you know of a resource that should be added
here? Email us and let us know. There is only one
condition - it must be free.
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