When I search for an insurance quote on the internet, I see a lot of ads in the sponsored links section. Are these insurance websites relevant to what I’m looking for?

It depends.

1. There are two main ways to get to the top of the search engines; the free way and the pay way. 
2. Those website that appear in the sponsored links section have paid to be there. 
3. Those websites that appear in the non-highlighted section have gotten there the free way. 
4. Those that get to the top of the search engine for free are very relevant to what you are looking for. 
5. Those that have paid to be in the sponsored links section can be equally as relevant.

When a company pays to have their site listed at the top of the search engines they pay a lot of money to be there. With the costs associated with being at the top of the search engines they want to make sure they are only paying to be in exact spots that will bring them the kind of customers they are looking for. You can be fairly certain that if a company is paying for customers, they are where they want to be on search engines. Now, having said that, there are companies that aren’t exactly sure what they are doing when it comes to search engine marketing and they can be listed on search engines where they shouldn’t be. In this very rare case, the company will most likely lose a lot of money and make an adjustment quickly.

The fix: Read the advertised listing and you will be able to determine if this site is in fact what you are looking for. When a company is paying to be listed, they only want to pay for qualified traffic. You can be sure that they will have an accurate listing. What if you click on the listing more than once? Will this cause the advertiser to be charged multiple times? No. A website that pays to be listed, is only charged for unique visitors. So, click away you’ll be fine!

Webmaster for several web-based businesses.