Altavista is one of the Internet's oldest and most respected search engines. Although it does not get as much traffic as engines like Yahoo or Google, it can still be an important source of visitors.

The 'back door' to getting your web site listed at the top of Altavista is a pay per click service called Overture. Altavista currently has a relationship with Overture and features Overture's sites at the top of Altavista's results.

Here's how it works....

When a search is performed on Altavista for a keyword, Altavista checks with Overture and displays the first 4 Overture sites* ahead of the regular Altavista listings in a special category called 'Sponsored Matches'. Altavista also features 6 additional Overture sites on the right hand side of the screen.

Here is an example of what the search results at Altavista look like:

As you can see, the four 'sponsored listings' from Overture are prominently featured at the top of Altavista's results page. There are also six additional Overture listings on the right hand side of the results. The good news is that (depending on the keyword), listings with Overture are available for as little as ten cents per click. Unlike banner ads, pay per click services only get paid when a genuine visitor reads and clicks through to your web site.

Now that you know the basics, you may want to do a search on Altavista for the keywords you are interested in. Just use the following custom link(s) to search Altavista for 'orlando real estate':

Click here to search Altavista for 'orlando real estate'

Hint: If you see no sponsored matches listed at the top of the results page, this probably means that no one has bid on this keyword yet. If this is the case, you can capture the first position
for only 10 cents per visitor!

If you see four sponsors listed, don't worry, you can still appear above them, by bidding over the existing sponsors by as little as a penny.

* Exception: For extremely popular keywords, the top sponsored match(s) may be derived from advertisers working directly with Altavista. In this case the remaining sponsored matches are still filled with Overture sites.

SPECIFIC TIPS FOR GETTING LISTED ON ALTAVISTA VIA OVERTURE

- When bidding on Overture keywords, try to be in 1st - 4th place, in order to be listed at the top of Altavista's results.

- Budget tip: If you are in a very competitive category or are on a very tight budget, try bidding on 5th place for your keywords. This is usually much cheaper than 1st - 4th place and will still place you at the top of the 'Sponsored Matches' which Altavista displays on the right side of the page.

OVERTURE FAST FACTS

• Overture is currently the largest pay-per-click search engine on the Internet.
  
  
• Since they have relationships with other major search engines, one listing at Overture can also get you listed on many other search engines (including AlltheWeb, Altavista, Lycos, MSN.com and Yahoo).
  
  
• The minimum opening balance for an account with Overture is $50.
  
  
• The minimum bid for a keyword is 10 cents.
  
  
• There is a $20 monthly minimum.
  
  
• Overture is located at: http://www.overture.com.

Insider Tips:

1. Be sure to read our free 'Back Door to the Search Engines Guide' to learn more about the best way to use pay-per click search engines to your advantage.

2. Join our free PerClick Update Service and be automatically notified when new search engine back doors are discovered.

3. Before opening an account with any pay-per-click search engine, be sure you know where they get their traffic from. There are hundreds of PPC search engines, however only a handful have relationships with major search engines.

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