YAHOO - 

You MUST be Listed Here!

© By Bob Schwartz, CRS, GRI co-owner of http://www.websitetrafficbuilders.com

Yahoo is without a doubt the single most important index on the Internet and it is an absolute must that you get listed here.

Yahoo comes in three flavors; the main (original) Yahoo; the international Yahoo sites; and the regional (city) Yahoo sites.

Yahoo now has a "Business Express" submission option for use by Business-to-Business and Shopping & Services sites only. You can pay $199 and get a quick thumbs-up/thumbs-down on your application. Paying the money does not guarantee a listing, and the advice I give lower down about crafting a good submission still applies. For more information about Yahoo Business Express, click here. Warning: Read their terms and conditions carefully before using Business Express.

Basically, if you want to get listed in Yahoo, you MUST pay their review fee!

Don't even THINK about bothering them until your site is 100% up and running, with nothing "under construction." A good rule of thumb - if it hasn't won several awards, it won't be good enough to get into Yahoo. Good site design, fast loading pages, and content are important.


Visit the main Yahoo site or a regional site (as appropriate), and do a search (your site title is a good one) to determine if you are already in the Yahoo index or not. If you are, then you need to consider asking them to change your listing using the advice further down on the page. If not, you need to apply for a new listing.

It is crucial to understand that Yahoo search results have several components; Yahoo Categories that match your query; Web Sites that are in the Yahoo index; and Web Pages that are drawn from the Goggle database. Your site may appear in a Yahoo search and not be in the index!

If your site does not appear under the heading Web Sites, it isn't in Yahoo. Many people get confused by this. They see their site appear under Web Pages and think Yahoo has listed them. Not so!    

Continued in next column...

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Assuming you are not in the index, take your time, and find the category page that best fits your site. At the very bottom of this page will be a small "Suggest a Site" link. Click on it to get to the site submission page.

If there is no "Suggest a Site" link, then the page you are on does not allow listings to be added to it, most likely because it is a very general top-level page.

A good method for finding the right page is to do some searches that you think people looking for your site will do, and note which categories come up at the top of the search result. Apply to the topmost appropriate category -- that way, your listing (if you get in..) will appear as high as possible. More on this below.

Take your time, and carefully read their suggestions on how to submit. They REALLY mean it. Follow their instructions to the absolute letter, as if they were inscribed on stone tablets handed down from Heaven. If you break the rules (for example, using numbers or brand names in your descriptions), forget about getting in. Read those rules. Re-read them. Re-read them again, out loud.

The #1 mistake people make is that their title and description read like promotional ad copy. Bad mistake! What Yahoo wants is a descriptive title and description. No hype allowed! And if you can make your description one sentence of at most 15-20 words, you're less likely to have it edited down!

Apply with an eye to making the job of the Yahoo reviewer easier; for example, use the "comments" field in the application form to point out special things about your site that the reviewer ought to look at.

Three CRUCIAL tips:

First, in each category, Yahoo lists sites alphabetically by TITLE. So if you can come up with a plausible title for your site that starts with a number or the letter A, B or C, go for it. Note that if you are running a business, Yahoo asks that you use your actual business name (or your "doing business as" name) as your title.

Second, choose the alphabetically lowest CATEGORY that is appropriate for your site. When Yahoo lists matches found in its catalog, it lists them by category (in alphabetic order) and then, inside each category, by site title (again, alphabetically).

Third and most important, searches on Yahoo will find your site if the search words appear in the title, description or URL. So make sure all the important keywords are in the description and title! Work them into the text in a natural way -- a list of keywords isn't acceptable! Because your title will often get edited, make sure the really crucial keywords are in the description. And if you can get a domain name that has your major keywords in it, even better, because they can't edit your URL!

 
Best of luck to you! 

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To review further information on search engine positioning, visit:
http://www.websitetrafficbuilders.com

Individual Realtor web sites are an important tool in every agents
productivity.  Like any tool, you must learn how to use your web site to its full potential.

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