The Challenges of Trusted Feed

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Trusted Feed shares a few disadvantages with Submit URL, too. Top rankings are not guaranteed , and any positions achieved are located far below those of sponsored ads.

Fortunately, Trusted Feed helps web sites with complex architectures get indexed, which isn't easily done with Submit URL. Unfortunately, there's a price that comes with managing large-scale, sophisticated sites. You can probably guess that time is an issue. Furthermore, although the CPC model is enticing to a variety of marketers, only big players with big bucks can play.

Time-Consuming to Prepare Data

Preparing your data for a Trusted Feed doesn't end once your URLs are crawled and the content is extracted. Someone needs to write compelling titles and descriptions for each page. Decisions need to be made as to whether a manufacturer's name and product code number should be incorporated into that ad listing, for example.

Warning

Be prepared; even with data-feed assistance, review the final copy. Search engines and Trusted Feed partners know how to please indexing spiders, and you know your business and your target audience. This program demands your attention, even if you have outside support.


Who on your team will be responsible for optimizing marketing copy for hundreds or thousands of pages? Outsourcing Trusted Feed is a very good idea. Or, if your site qualifies for a direct relationship with the search engines, find out how much they'll help you optimize your pages (usually not much, but this additional service may soon be offered ).

Slow Time to Market

Following the former point, it usually takes longer to see your listings in search engines through Trusted Feed than through any other program.

A programmer can export the page data to a document within minutes. It's a simple process. Realistically, though, because it's not the top priority for most companies, it takes weeks or months for this task to be completed. Add in a person's time to write the ad listing information, or allow up to a week for an inclusion partner to do this work. Finally, once this data is fed to the search engines you have another 5 ‚ 10 days before you'll see any rankings, according to Position Technologies.

This is an assignment issue. A marketer may sit down to create the components of a PFP campaign in one day. Once this information is entered into a PFP engine, the ad listings are live within three to five business days, if not sooner. Trusted Feed preparation normally involves an IT team member whose priority is not marketing. Unless the company servers are on fire and require an IT person's attention, I recommend that marketers shower the person with pizza, beer, or another incentive to get that data prepared. The hold-up with Trusted Feed isn't search engines ‚ it's the people who need to prepare the data.

Not an Option for Small Sites

You might be thinking, "I want CPC pricing! I want to do a Trusted Feed program." Unfortunately, you're out of luck if you manage a small web site (less than 500 unique content pages to submit). Preparing an XML feed requires too much effort on the part of the search engines or their inclusion partners. Understandably, they need to make a living, too. At $.25 per click or another negotiated rate, assurance that a site will receive substantial traffic is required. If your site borders on the minimum number of URLs and receives approval, consider it strong faith in your traffic potential.

Constant Monitoring Is Required

Trusted Feed shares this challenge with PFP. Although companies investing in Trusted Feed don't have to worry about a click-fee spike because they have a fixed rate, marketers still need to monitor campaign profitability. Otherwise, it's comparable to not paying attention while playing casino slot machines. Before you know it, you've spent all of your money but see less in your winnings tray. A continuous flow of visitors from Trusted Feed listings can suddenly start producing fewer customers. When you're paying for store visitors , periodically check your cash registers.

Whether you're submitting a site to the search engines via Trusted Feed or Submit URL, optimize your site pages for a shot at premium rankings. Although each search engine uses slightly different criteria for giving a site a #1 position, they all adhere to the same basic principles. By utilizing the techniques described in Chapter 10, "Web Site Optimization," you'll create an effective foundation in search engine optimization. The presence of deadly design elements, as mentioned in Chapter 8, "Submit URL," requires specific workarounds. But for niche web sites with few technical barriers, the tips in the next chapter will help you secure high visibility for narrowly- targeted keywords.

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Search Engine Advertising. Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales
Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way to the Top to Increase Sales (2nd Edition)
ISBN: 0321495993
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 155

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