Important Note: Please don't call flyte new media if you're complaining about ILSCorp! We're not ILSCorp and we can't help you with this. This post is just to EDUCATE you about ILSCorp.
Now, on with our reguarly scheduled post….
Yesterday I got a piece of mail from ILSCorp.net – Internet Listing Service that blurs the line between bill and solicitation. To their credit, half way down the page it reads: THIS IS NOT A BILL. THIS IS A SOLICITATION.
The description of services is "ANNUAL WEBSITE SEARCH ENGINE LISTING" for $35. The subscription includes "DOMAIN NAME SUBMISSION TO 20 MAJOR SEARCH ENGINES." Hmmm…20 major search engines? I'd like to see them listed. When it comes to major search engines I think of Google, Yahoo, MSN and maybe, if I'm being generous, Ask, aka the artist formerly known as Ask Jeeves/Teoma.
So, I went to their Web site. I won't bother linking to them, but you can get their URL from the first line of this post.
These are search engine experts?
First of all, the page title is "Ilscorp." That's great, if you're searching for "Ilscorp." Not if you're searching for "search engine listings," "domain submission," or anything like that.
Secondly, the site is entirely in frames! Not that you can't succeed with frames, but most SEO experts will agree that it stacks the deck against you.
Third, their FAQ is either completely wrong or just hasn't been updated since 1997. On the FAQ on meta tags they spell it no less than 3 different ways. Plus, they say it's important to update your meta tags.
"The meta tag is used by search engines to allow them to more accurately list your site in their indexes," the page reads.
Ummm…no. That's not true. Most major search engines routinely ignore them, and they are certainly one of the least important pieces in the algorithm. Maybe such "major" search engines as "Info Tiger" and "EntireWeb" still read them. I don't know, as I've never heard of these major search engines.
What's often considered to be the most important? The title tag. You know, that thing that says "Ilscorp" at the top of their page.
According to another page:
Search engine submission does not just mean going to the top several web sites [I assume they mean search engines] and submitting your URL….You must submit and resubmit to search engines to ensure that you will get listed and maintain your listing.
Again, completely wrong. Most search engines don't even require submissions any more, although I recommend that with a new site you should submit your home page URL. Instead, they follow incoming links to your Web site. I've found that even after submitting sites to search engines that if there are no other incoming links the site will quickly fall off the radar.
In reading the rest of their copy, I feel like I'm caught in a time warp…the kind of information that was true before Y2K. (You remember Y2K, don't you?)
In short, there's nothing illegal and maybe not even immoral in what ILS is providing. However, it's just plain worthless.
In other words, Ignore it!
BTW, I'm not the first person to shine the light on ILSCorp:
There's seemingly hundreds more, but you get the idea. I really feel bad for the Interactive Learning Corporation, which is also known as ILS Corp. So, I'll give them a link or two to help 'em out.
