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Yahoo Paid Inclusion: Thing of the Past?

Many people who are new to web site optimization may be unaware of a small corner of the market known as paid inclusion. Paid inclusion was once a major tool for ranking on Yahoo’s Web Search index, but has become less of a player with more traditional, spider based search products.

What is Paid Inclusion?

Paid inclusion refers to programs that are available that allow your web site to be included in the search results for a fee. Most paid inclusion programs work on an annual basis with some degree of limitations such as a limit of five pages per domain allowed.

Will Paid Inclusion Rank Me Higher?

Ironically, no. Paid inclusion programs allow your site to be seen by the spiders on a predetermined schedule. Yahoo’s Search Submit program for example allows your site to be spidered once a week and included somewhere in the search results. There is no guarantee however as to where your pages will show up.

What are the Major Paid Inclusion Programs?

Yahoo’s Search Submit Basic program, sold as a service through providers like Position Technologies, is certainly the major paid inclusion program available to site marketers.

SSB charges a $49 fee per URL annually, while limiting the number of pages on a domain to five. Overall, the program provides inclusion to the Yahoo Web Search results and is viewed to be the most cost effective option out there.

There are strong arguments though against paying for inclusion to Yahoo. The most notable being — you can have the same, if not better results, for free. Click here for more information on the SSB program.

Other paid inclusion programs exist but offer limited value. No other major search engine provides a paid inclusion program of this nature.

Is Paid Inclusion Officially Dead?

For all intensive purposes, yes. For some extreme cases though where web sites are having difficulties in ranking on Yahoo, it can and should be used. The ultimate bottom line though is that the only program that bears a name worth worrying about is Yahoo — and you can literally get the same results without having to spend a dime.

If you can have it all for free — what’s the point of paying for it?

Sujan Patel is Director of Search at Single Grain, which specializes in Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Marketing

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Sujan Patel has over 12 years of digital marketing experience and has helped hundreds of clients increase web traffic, boost ...