It's About Traffic

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by Steve Tice

When you bid on a keyword you presume your target audience will search using that keyword, and will click on your link due to your high bid. The problem is, what you might think are the keywords a surfer might consider using, someone else might have an entirely different idea of which keywords to search with. Further, you only have a chance of attracting people if they are searching in the first place. What if a segment of your target audience has already decided on the site(s) they are going to use, and don't feel the need to go in search of your site. If only there was a way to target these loyalists.

A site by the name of Sprinks.com is attempting to do just that. You say what's Sprinks, another pay for position search engine? Well, if you access the Sprinks.com site you will think exactly that. And if that was all Sprinks was, you might wonder why they deserved this level of attention. The answer ... Keywords bid upon at Sprinks are included on About.com. Yes, that caught your attention. But wait, did I also mention that the results are even included within the related Guide sites on About.com? Now I have your complete and undivided attention, and if I don't, then you don't understand how powerful a site About has become.

About.com is reporting 12.8 million page views a day, and for April moved to number 8 in the Media Metrix rankings with 16.1 million unique visitors! And while a level of this traffic is generated by random searches, the bulk of their traffic comes from the Guide sites. Their Guide sites range from conspiracy sites to horse racing to local cities and so much more. Individuals become site guides, and work to draw together a collection of relevant sites, information, activities and more. These sites then become starting points or daily stops for enthusiasts and generalists alike. So can you see why having access to this audience is so exciting?

Sprinks needed to be tested, and I had just the site in mind. One of my clients operates several online equestrian tack shops. I was aware that About.com had a strong Guide site dealing with horses, so I knew this was the perfect test case. We already had the equestrian site on several other pay for position sites, and were pleased with the response, but then came Sprinks.

When we signed up for Sprinks, we found there were some technical glitches with the site that were being exorcised as fast as possible. The staff was smart to admit the bugs, and kept those that had registered updated as to the progress of the fixes, and apologizing for the inconveniences. Sure, some probably got upset, but we are talking about being able to mine About.com's traffic, so the anger passed quickly. I am pleased to report that the bugs appear to be gone, and all systems are go.

Upon signing up for Sprinks, you find that it is designed like most of the other pay for position sites. Believe it or not, they only ask for an opening deposit of $25! You provide your site title, description, URL, and your keywords. When you proceed to the next level, they alert you to any Guide sites that might be relevant to your selected keywords, and you can select as many as you feel are appropriate. You then move to the next stop where you enter your bids. The bids are divided between general search results, and between Guide sites. When you perform a general search on About.com, you are provided a list of any relevant Guide sites, and then directly beneath those sites is a Sprinks section containing advertisers that bid for that specific keyword. Next, if you select a Guide site, there is a Sprinks section within the site that displays any advertisers that bid to be in that section. Once you have made your bids, you submit your keywords and Guide sites to be reviewed, and generally within several days, your approved keywords and Guide sites are added. While I am not a big fan of editorial reviews of submitted sites in general, I can accept the process here due to the specialized nature of the site. When your keywords and Guide sites are live, you can update bids on the fly, and also have access to a report center giving you click-throughs per keyword and per Guide site.

For those of you wondering, the equestrian site averaged less than a dozen click-throughs after several weeks via the general search keywords. However, in roughly a weeks time, the site has managed over 80 click-throughs via the Guide site it's included in, and most of that time the site was ranked 3rd or 4th.

In the near future, you will see more and more sites experimenting with the pay for position concept on their sites. As a matter of fact, Sprinks was actually first tried by About.com in 1997 under the name "Business Listings", but was ahead of it's time and shelved. However, very few sites can offer the unique nature of About.com, coupled with their huge traffic. This site has definitely earned a permanent spot in the equestrian store's budget, and I am sure many other advertisers will be making the same decision as well.