Lycos is has been on the Internet since 1994. 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 Lycos is a pay per click service called Overture. Lycos currently has a relationship with Overture and features Overture's sites at the top of Lycos's results.

Here's how it works....

When a search is performed on Lycos for a keyword, Lycos checks with Overture and displays the first three Overture sites ahead of the regular Lycos listings in a special category called 'Sponsored Search Listings'. It also displays a special 'START HERE' link (in red) which highlights the fourth Overture listing (for the most keywords).

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

As you can see, the three 'sponsored search listings' from Overture are prominently featured on top of Lycos's results page. If you look carefully, you can see that the 'START HERE' link is also an Overture site without the description. 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 Lycos for the keywords you are interested in. Just use the following custom link(s) to search Lycos for 'orlando real estate':

Click here to search Lycos for 'orlando real estate'

Hint: If you see no sponsors 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.

SPECIFIC TIPS FOR GETTING LISTED ON LYCOS VIA OVERTURE

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

- Budget tip: If you are in a very competitive category or are on a very tight budget, try bidding on 4th place for your keywords. In most cases, this is will place your web site on the red 'START HERE' link directly above the web results. Since most people don't know this trick, you will find that the 4th place bids are dramatically lower for a given keyword.

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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