5. Auto Pilot www.managebid.com

Probably pick of Internet based programs, Manage Bid’s Auto Pilot software was only one reviewed that provided unlimited keywords. The hitch is that each keyword will cost you 0.25 USD a month to monitor, with a minimum spend of $25 per domain, per month. Bid updates are done every 24 hours and program provides support for eight PPC engines (some obscure). There is also an Economy Mode for penny pinchers, at 0.10 USD per keyword, with a minimum spend of $10 per domain, per month. But economizers must update their bids manually - see Features Chart for details. Score 7/10

6. PPC Professional www.ppcmanagement.com

Now this one has real potential. You have choice of purchasing a lifetime version or a monthly subscription and you also have flexibility of determining how often your bids are checked and updated. Keywords supported range from 50 to 5,000+ with costs staggered from $89 or $12 per month for 50 keywords to $999 or $100 per month for 5000+ keywords (see Features Chart for detailed pricing). With a "Smart Bid" feature to ensure your bids are cost-effective and ability to import keywords straight from Overture, this new product has many features bigger names don’t. You can print reports or email them directly to customers and developers claim to keep your login and account info secure. It also supports unlimited Overture accounts for those of you with multiple clients. Currently software only supports Overture.com, but a new release planned shortly will support other engines and include new features. The 10 day, 10 keyword trial version has a few bugs to be ironed out and interface isn’t as intuitive as others, but definitely one to watch. Score 7/10

7. Position Guardian www.positionguardian.com

Not most feature-packed product, Position Guardian (Premium) is an Internet based bid monitoring and gap analysis tool that automates process of checking your bids on Overture and sends you daily notification of bid gaps. Unlike other products reviewed, Position Guardian does not include automated bid updating, you have to manually change bids yourself by logging in to your Overture account. Sure it’s cheaper than some, with prices ranging from $7.95 to $57.95 per month depending on keyword numbers, but it still seems like a lot to pay for less than half work (see Features Chart for detailed pricing). In their defense, they do provide a free online version that allows you to manually check for bid gaps one keyword at a time - handy if you’re worried about that all important keyword. Score 4/10

8. BidRight www.bidright.net

We have a winner! BidRight was very hard to fault. A downloadable desktop program, no monthly fees, generous keyword limits and a very competitive price for their new release Pro edition (USD $199 for 500 keywords). See Features Chart for more pricing options. Version 2 supports FindWhat, Kanoodle and eSpotting in conjunction with Overture US & UK and allows user to determine bid update frequency from every 60 seconds to every 24 hours. Their interface follows WYSISYG principle and it was easiest of all software to install and start using.

Particularly impressive is "Gap Surfing" tool that finds most cost-effective position from a range of ranks that you predetermine. So if you wanted to remain in top 5 positions, you choose position 1 as your target rank and enable gap surfing with a range of 4. BidRight will find largest price gap in top 5 and slot your bid in there automatically whenever it is scheduled to update, preventing you from overbidding and saving you lots of money in process. Other new features include ability to export reports in CSV format, a drop back rank feature when maximum bid has been reached. Combine all this with ability to customize update frequency for your most important keywords and you have a very powerful tool that becomes a must for managing any PPC campaign. You can download a fully functioning 15 day demo, with only disadvantage a five keyword limit. Score 9/10

Well BidRight was ultimate winner of our Showdown and I was so impressed with product that I immediately signed up to become an affiliate! If you would like to buy BidRight, you may like to use our affiliate link: http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?bidright+NARxJp+index.html. Be sure to mention Coupon Code WR 007 to obtain a 5% discount (we do get a commission if you use our link, so if that bothers you, feel free to use general link above). Remember you can view Features Chart for all software reviewed from longer version of this article located at our site: http://www.high-search-engine-ranking.com/PPC_Bid_Management_Software_Showdown.htm.

If you are in market for any kind of Bid Management Software, you may want to keep an eye on current talk about implications of such software on server load at Overture. Apparently Overture are considering restricting access to their servers from persons using bid management software because server load is becoming too great. They may block access from certain IP addresses that abuse system or they may restrict access by software. To reduce impact on search engine servers, you should use your bid management software responsibly, restricting bid checking to every few hours or daily rather than every few minutes.

http://Yahoo/Search_Engine/Evaluation/SEO_How-to/Do-it-yourself/

(That advice ALONE is worth $199.00!)

There are two other human reviewed directories that you might consider submitting to as well.

One is Open Directory Project at http://www.dmoz.org where your proper category is:

http://dmoz.org/Search_Engine/Evaluation/SEO_How-to/Do-it-yourself/

and a second category you would submit to is

http://dmoz.org/Reference/Education/Show_Me_How/SEO/Articles/

(That advice is worth $135.00!)

Submitting in proper category is essential to getting listed at Open Directory Project as it is staffed by volunteers and they will ignore your submission if you choose inappropriate category. Submission is free and this directory is critical because literally thousands of additional directories in specialized areas (including yours) rely on ODP database to populate their own topical and theme-based directories.

(That advice is worth $250.00!)

The second additional directory you might consider costs as much as Yahoo does ($399) and is called LookSmart and they will have a human review your site and place it properly in their directory. They supply search results to thousands of sites, including several VERY big ones that you won't get listed in otherwise, simply because of their partnership arrangements with large portals.

(That advice is worth $150.00!)

"Crawler based search engines send software-based "robots" or "spiders" to analyze your site content, keyword density, metatags, page structure, link structure, link popularity and site theme - based on all publicly accessible pages. You might consider increasing your number of free pages by writing articles about specific projects, referring to additional resources available online and adding content to your site overall with information that you would not be able to sell otherwise. Increased CONTENT ALWAYS HELPS YOUR SITE TO RANK BETTER.

(That advice is worth $650.00!)

The key to ranking well with crawler based search engines is combining all of those ingredients in appropriate measure and with good page structure, which is what I do for you.

I use techniques that are search engine friendly and gain top positions in "crawler-based" search engines, then submit your site to those that accept free submissions within top eight engines. Contrary to what many scamsters claim, it is entirely irrelevant to be listed in hundreds of search engines when only 4 or 5 are used by vast majority of people on web. The top 8 U.S. based (English) engines are:

Google Fast / All The Web Alta Vista Netscape Search HotBot Lycos AOL Search MSN Search

The other important web resources rely on Open Directory Project index, LookSmart and Yahoo to populate their own directories, which then increase your link relevance, which then help to improve your crawler-based engine rankings. It is all very neatly tied together if you understand it thoroughly.

(That advice is worth $1500.00 all by itself!)

Using a traditional sales pitch, I would tell you that all of this advice and information is worth a total of $2884.00, BUT WAIT, if you hurry and place your order by today, we'll include all of this, PLUS be available for occassional questions and advice in future!

You need to know how search world is changing. WebSite101 subscribes to over a dozen industry publications on search engine methodology, mergers, partnerships and those ever changing search algorithms. This keeps us thoroughly informed and up-to-date with all latest information needed to maintain your top ranking search positions. We also attend conferences around country to maintain complete and thorough understanding of search industry standards and practices.

(That follow-up advice is worth $1050 by itself!)

This means you get $3934.00 in benefits for your investment of just $427.50!