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The Present and the Future of Keyword Ownership |
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eMarketing Articles -
e-Marketing: SEO
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Written by Mark Nenadic
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 Have you ever seen an add that offers you ownership of a
keyword? If you’re on the internet much, or if you have an email
account, the answer to that question is almost certainly a yes.
There are many services out there that offer to sell you keyword
ownership – specifically premium keyword ownership – for the cost of a
few hundred dollars every year. The primary selling point used by
these companies is that if anyone happens to type the keyword you have
purchased into the address bar of their internet browser, then they
will automatically be sent directly to your website. There are,
in fact, about 2 percent of internet users around the globe who have
this ability enabled on their computers, since it specifically requires
certain element such as Internet Explorer.
Studies have shown that approximately 4 to 7 percent of all search
queries are done by way of a keyword being entered into the address bar
of the internet browser being used. For Internet Explorer users, any
search queries performed using the address bar are defaulted to an MSN
search. However, over time, most of us have installed a good deal
of additional software onto our computers, allowing for such searches to be re-routed to other search portals.
This is often a sign of having installed a file sharing software.
Among the spyware and potential for viruses, worms, and other
undesirable additions to your computer, by installing a program such as
Limeware, Morpheus, or Kazaa, you may have altered your default search
in your address bar from MSN to a different portal altogether.
Of the queries that are entered into the address bar, approximately 50
percent of them are the result of having accidentally mistyped their
desired URL, therefore instigating a keyword search. This
accounts for the between 2 and 4 percent of internet users who actually
use the address bar to perform their searches.
To understand the way that this functions, it is important to know how
address bars work. There are many different companies offering
the ownership of keywords. So many, in fact, that they are able
to compete with each other, and even sell the very same keywords, only
to different search companies. This being said, it means that if
you buy a keyword, then depending on the company you buy it from, they
may only make the search available to those specific internet users who
have installed that company’s unique proprietary address bar
plug-in. This makes the total number of people quite low for
entering your keyword into the address bar and then find your site.
Though it is up to you whether you choose to use keyword ownership
among your online marketing techniques, it is vital that you keep
yourself informed of the actual potential that this method will offer
you. Never hesitate to ask questions of the company you’re
considering, and if anything looks fishy or not as appealing as it
should, simply walk away. There is lots of competition out there,
and there is surely someone who will be willing to make you a better
deal.
A marketing strategy based on keyword ownership is difficult to
measure. After all, many of the tools for the process are not
interchangeable, there are many competing companies all selling the
same companies to your competition, and your target of internet users
is quite small in the first place. It can easily happen that all
of the money you spend on such keyword ownership will lead to
absolutely nothing.
In competition with these keyword ownership businesses are the search
engines themselves; specifically those who have their own
toolbars. Many of the major search engines offer a downloadable
toolbar that allows you to enter keywords and run searches quickly and
easily. You are then presented with that search engine’s range of
closest matches from all of their indexed websites. Not only does
this not cost anything, but more than one keyword possibility can lead
to your site.
As you can see, it is quite clear that keyword ownership can be quite
the tricky business and must be managed with the utmost research and
technical knowledge if any notable gains are to be witnessed
Mark Nenadic
Mark is the director and face behind FifteenDegrees-North http://www.15dn.com , where you will find articles and resources to help with SEO, marketing and Web design. |
