Legitimate companies wanting to create a portal would take morally correct actions to do so. Why not hire an SEO firm? It would save them learning and research time and money. Why not learn to do it themselves? Ethically correct companies would take steps such as these instead of trying to rip shirt off back of legitimate search engine optimization companies.

I think for now, we here at JUMP Internet Marketing http://www.jumpinternetmarketing.com will pass on this latest attempt at search engine trickery, as we prefer to stick to straight and narrow and do things ethically and by book.

So, do these companies really want an SEO portal? Do they want free SEO (search engine optimization) services? You decide.

RE-PRINTING RIGHTS: You are free to re-print this article on your web site, newsletter or ebook. Just display following resource box at end of article: Article by Kevin Gee. Kevin and JUMP Internet Marketing are one of most respected and recognized search engine positioning specialists on Internet. For more articles and advice on search engine placement, subscribe to JUMP Internet Marketing Newsletter by going to http://www.jumpinternetmarketing.com/Newsletter.asp . For a complimentary competitive analysis of your website, visit http://www.jumpinternetmarketing.com/FreeReport.asp

But, with all site owners paying .15 per click and nobody getting a boost based on cost per click, it seems rankings will stay same without paying additional $49.00 fee to change listings and only if LookSmart uses title and description that I submit for them to use.

How much traffic can you expect? Well of course that depends on how well your site is optimized for rankings. But, just for fun I’ve looked into just exactly how much traffic LookSmart is bringing to my sites. While I realize that LookSmart has several partner sites that show its results, I have found using a tool called WordTracker that LookSmart is actually only receiving less than 1/2% (one half percent) of all search engine traffic. This isn’t starting to sound too good is it? Based upon an average conversion rate of 1% and only 83 clicks per month over course of 12 months I am starting to question whether or not “This is a great investment for my business.”

After July 11, 2002 activation deadline LookSmart says it plans to remove site listings of those who have not paid. What will this do to their database? Will their partners such as MSN still want to use their depleted results? Will results be relevant to searches? Will LookSmarts listings get good click traffic? Will this be death of LookSmart?

These questions and more all remain to be answered but as for now, my money is on Google AdWords Select and Overture. 83 clicks per month over 12 months for $199.00 just doesn’t seem like “A great investment for my business.”

Thanks LookSmart but at this time, no thanks!

RE-PRINTING RIGHTS: You are free to re-print this article on your web site, newsletter or ebook. Just display following resource box at end of article: Article by Kevin Gee. Kevin and JUMP Internet Marketing are one of most respected and recognized search engine positioning specialists on Internet. For more articles and advice on search engine placement, subscribe to JUMP Internet Marketing Newsletter by going to http://www.jumpinternetmarketing.com/Newsletter.asp . For a complimentary competitive analysis of your website, visit http://www.jumpinternetmarketing.com/FreeReport.asp