Looksmart vrs Ink

[Ed Champion]

Hi, can anyone help this newcomer to the field of "web optimization" by helping me answer a few basic questions?

I am a Realtor in Vacouver BC, and have built my own site as a "Hobby". The problem is that i am just now learning what you all already knew. That is, building a web site with the client in mind may not be as important as building the web site with search engine optimization in mind! (see, I really am new :rolleyes:)

A few questions if i may. . .

1.) As a Realtor, I am located on the West Coast of Canada with a specific geographic target market. Is there a specific search engine/s that might used more frequently in my market area? If so how do i find them?

2.) I looked a the LookSmart submission area, and one criteria is "American interest". I realize they have a Canadian registry, but i wonder if the statistics for looksmart would be as "High" in Canada as the USA?

3.) Would it possibly be better in my case would it be best to register with MSN through Ink.? (I only want to use one pay registery at this time)

I appreciate any help, thanks.

[usbnuts]

Welcome to the board.

1. As a Realtor, I am located on the West Coast of Canada with a specific geographic target market. Is there a specific search engine/s that might used more frequently in my market area? If so how do i find them?

Suggestions:
a. Find out more about the websites participating in this market. Exchange links with them. eg. http://www.bc-realty.com/home/
b. Submit to LookSmart Canada for $130. Find a category that fit your site and write a really good description.
http://submit.looksmart.com/info.jhtml?synd=can&chan=lscan
c. Submit to Yahoo! Canada and find the cateogry most appropriate for your site. Then, pay Yahoo Canada $199 USD to get listed on that category. You will get an acceptance letter within 2 days if you're accepted.

2. I looked a the LookSmart submission area, and one criteria is "American interest". I realize they have a Canadian registry, but i wonder if the statistics for looksmart would be as "High" in Canada as the USA?

Opinions: I am sure the traffic (stats) of LookSmart US would not doubt be a lot higher than LS Canada. But what you are buying ($130 per listing) is quality of the visitors not quantity. If you get tons of US/Europe visitors doing nothing on your site, this decreases the value per visitor on your site. However, this math only applies to medium to huge sites. I am doing this on my site right now. If you find out the value per visitor is anything below 5c, you got a problem.

For example, if 10 people come to your site and buy a total of $5000 of merchanise, the value per visitor would be $500. That's an example and it won't happen seriously. Of course, if you are selling US government secrets on the web and target the site to Chinese, I guess this will result in a high conversion ratio. argh. bad example.

Summary: Target your site for quality rather than quantity. Sell to a specific geographic area, but make sure of the web.

3. Would it possibly be better in my case would it be best to register with MSN through Ink.? (I only want to use one pay registery at this time)

Ans: Your submission to LS Canada ($130 per listing) can get your site listed on MSN Canada. And because MSN uses some technology to bring Canada MSN users to search on MSN Canada search DB. This saves you time targeting Canada customers.

BTW, are you referring Ink. to Inktomi? If so, pay $35 to PositionTech and Inktomi spider (the thing that grabs content) will knock your door every 48 hrs for one year.


Invest your money in LS Canada, Yahoo Canada and Inktomi.

Invest your time in exchanging links with sites of similar interest.

All websites are dying for more traffic. And the formula to success is the same whether your site is just a hobby or a site backed by VC.

Hope this helps...

I live in Vancouver, BC too. :)

[usbnuts]

I forgot about MSN.

MSN search result is dervied from LS and Inktomi DB.

It shows LookSmart listings first and then Inktomi listings.

[ihelpyou]

Welcome to the forums Ed Champion! :hi:

Seems like you got a very good response to your question. Hope you can learn a bunch here!

[Doug]

Ed:

You asked
>As a Realtor, I am located on the West Coast of Canada
>with a specific geographic target market. Is there a specific
>search engine/s that might used more frequently in my
>market area? If so how do i find them?

My suggestion would be to concentrate on local, regional and Canadian directories - especially those related to real estate.

http://directory.bc-realty.com
http://www.jurock.com

As usbnuts suggested, exchanging links with related sites can generate "qualified" visitors.

As far as the major search engines/directories go - Yahoo, Altavista, MSN, etc. I wouldn't bother paying for express submission to any except Yahoo - I think it is still the most popular, and also the slowest to consider your link submission if not their express service.

[usbnuts]

Doug,

I agree with you that local directories are important.

but a listing on LS Canada, Yahoo Canada and perhaps DMOZ can increase your link popularity.

[ihelpyou]

Welcome to the forums Doug! :hi:

Real good points ya made there.