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The Truth About Search Engines

Yahoo

2 - 8 weeks to get listed

Relevance is based only upon the title of your site and the description you provide to them (or the description they decide make up).

Forget about keyword density when it comes to Yahoo! You should aim to get as many keywords as possible included, but not too many that the Yahoo! reviewer chops it short. The Yahoo! database contains only the details that you see on your listing, what your pages actually contain is irrelevant. The title of your Yahoo! listing does have higher weight than the description, but the Yahoo! reviewers always try to keep titles as short as possible. If they can list only your business name, then they'll do just that.

A web site must be both unique in content and fall within their directory structure. Yahoo is not a search engine, they are a search directory. One of the most important things to remember when trying to index your web site with Yahoo is that relevancy to your site is based on the Title and Comments that you give them. Try to use words people would use to find your web site both in your Title and Comments.

It's not uncommon for people to try unsuccessfully for well over a year. A Yahoo! listing is one of the toughest, and certainly the most lucrative award on the Net. When you submit a URL to any deep search engine it's visited by a robot who looks at the HTML code and syntax of your pages. Whether the design and content of the site is outstanding or utter drivel makes not the slightest difference. Because of this, the average webmaster believes that s/he deserves a listing on all the search engines - why should Yahoo! be any different? Yahoo! is very different. You're not trying to fool a dumb robot now, you're dealing with some of the most Net-savvy humans on the face of the planet: the Yahoo! staff. Their job is to build their database with quality listings. This is how they manage to stay at the top of the pile, ahead of all those big, robot-driven deep engines. The average Yahoo! reviewer will see hundreds of sites every day and will reject at least 90% of them. S/he has seen every 'trick' in the book (and then some) so the slightest whiff of deviousness means certain death to you. So if you're going to employ deceit, it must be odourless.

Basic Requirements - If you can't satisfy these requirements you're dead in the water:

When you submit a listing to Yahoo! you're doing no more than making a suggestion. The idea is to satisfy the requirements of Yahoo! and yourself both at the same time.

  1. If you've picked the wrong category,
  2. if your description is too long,
  3. if your title doesn't contain your company name,
  4. if the title you submit doesn't match the title of your page,
  5. if.... the list goes on, but the point is that if the reviewer doesn't agree with the details of your submission he'll change it as soon as blink. This will never benefit you. The moral: give them something that they don't need to change.

Step One - Categories
The next page provides you an opportunity to suggest a new category for the Yahoo directory. Use this only if there really was no category for your site. If you could not find a category submit to the next higher one and add your suggestion here. Most of us will not need to do this. If you find your competitor in category X that is where you belong too.

You're allowed to submit to two categories; a primary and an additional. To choose your primary category, perform a Yahoo! search for the keyword at the top of your list that you prepared earlier. If the first category isn't a regional one, then that's probably the one you want. If it's a very busy category, with lots of listings, that's not necessaarily a bad thing because it means it has a lot of user activity. You're not necessarily going to be awarded an additional category, even if you request one, but always submit one. It might be prudent to go for a regional category as your additional choice because the staff are more keen to fill the regionals than the already overcrowded main categories. Or you could go for broke and request a second main category. Look at your site and decide what you think you can get away with. You have a business site so you must choose categories within the 'Business and Economy' hierarchy but, to be honest, it's very difficult not to.

Geographical information is NOT where your site is hosted, but the actual city you are licensed to do business in. This is help identify your regional entries. It also comes into play if your region gets broken down into smaller components, such as from a county listing this year, to cities next year. If your site is Internet related (ISP, design, etc) , or if it is a real estate company you must submit for the region your business is located in. This also applies for other industries where your business is done locally.

Step Two - Title
Now, the title. This is actually very important. It is known that they list alphabetically, and it is very tempting to have an 'A' title, or even worse one that begins with a symbol. Unless your company name actually does start with symbol this is a VERY BAD IDEA. Think about from the partnership angle. It looks very unprofessional. Do you want to trade professional services with an unprofessional looking company? Neither do they.

The most important aspect of your title is that it is a searchable term. Even if you commonly use an acronym of CAR, it is better to spell your company name out, Classic Automobile Restorers. (This is a false name for demonstration purposes, I apologize if I have used a real company name). Already you have pleased Yahoo with a professional title, AND provided yourself with four useful search terms to be found by. This one would show up for, classic automobile restorers, classic automobile, classic restorers, and automobile restorers. If you are submitting a commercial site you MUST use your company name. If you are a company known mainly by the acronym Yahoo does prefer that you use the acronym as your title.

Time for a splash of odourless deceit. A Yahoo! Title and the <TITLE> of your page as mentioned in a previous section are two entirely separate things. The Yahoo! Title is what you type into the submission form. The page <TITLE> is the HTML code in your page. You need to understand this difference to follow the rest of this tactic. The Yahoo! Title is more powerful than the Yahoo! description, so you need to try putting keywords in it, but here's the catch. The Yahoo! staff will always try to shorten your Title to your company name only. Therefore you need to temporarily change your company name to include keywords. For example, if your company name is 'Acme' and you sell lawnmowers, Yahoo! will list you as:

Title: Acme

Description: Lawnmowers

This is a Bad Thing. What you really want is:

Title: Acme Lawnmowers

Description: Grass cutting equipment, garden tools and landscape design.

To achieve this you must, of course, submit the details as above. However, If Mr Yahoo! visits your site and sees that your company is simply called 'Acme' he'll shorten your Title. The way to avoid this is to alter your home page <TITLE>, plus any main heading at the top of the page to show that your company is called 'Acme Lawnmowers'. Here's la pièce de résistance that will swing it: the main graphic. If you have a nice graphic at the top of your home page saying 'Acme Lawnmowers' that will seal the deal. Once you've been awarded a listing you can put it back again the way it was because Mr Yahoo! will never visit again unless you hold a gun to his head. Alphabetical Relevancy Your company name must be the first word of your Title, and you already have a company name so there's not much you can do about it if you're called 'Zeus Zodiacs', but if your chosen category has a large number of listings it can be a big help to be called 'Acme Lawnmowers'. Don't worry though, it's much less important than it used to be.

Step Three - Description
The official maximum length of a Yahoo! description is about 25 words. The practical maximum length is much less. The description is a prime candidate for the chop, so tread carefully. Take a look at the listings within your chosen primary category. Your description should be no longer than the longest existing listing within your category. It must be a natural sentence, with one full stop at the end. If you try to break it into two sentences, even if they're both within the maximum limit, chances are you can kiss goodbye to the second sentence. You should even try to avoid commas. Whilst bearing all this in mind (and reciting the Lord's Prayer balancing on one foot) you must try to include as many keywords within the description as possible. You don't need to include words that already appear in the category and/or Title.

Now, on to your description. While it is tempting to load your description with keywords this looks messy and unprofessional. Many also make the mistake of adding information that can be found after the visitor gets to the site. Capitalize on more of your main search terms (not the same as your title) by creating a short sentence about it.

'restoration of vintage cars and other vehicles to their stock condition.'

This example not only defines your site, but, combined with your title affords you at least 13 search terms your site can be found under. When you are writing your description out it is important not to repeat the name of your chosen category in your description.

Step Four - URL
First, I do not care how many thousands of times you have typed your url out. Cut and Paste it from the actual page. Nothing worse than you wasting your time and theirs with a mistyped url. Take no chances! Remember this is a professional partnership, a trading of professional services, you certainly do not want them thinking you can not type.

If You Get A Yahoo! Listing...congratulations, you'll be laughing all the way to the bank. That's the end of your involvement with Yahoo! submission. It's set in stone.

Unless...
... you want to try for more listings and you have enough to spend on a new domain name, in which case you should make every attempt to make it appear as a different site. Mr. Yahoo! will check: your domain name for matches within the Yahoo! database, the Title of your submitted listing for matches within the database and maybe even the description. This is OK, because you want to target slightly different keywords from your original listings anyway, since you already have certain keywords covered. If you have a very large site that covers multiple topics which belong in multiple categories then you'll be granted multiple listings, but I'm talking about major sites like Microsoft. If You're Desperate If you're at your wits' end, try these futile exercises that won't work but they might help take your mind off things.

Yahoo! Password
A special password exists that will put your submission at the top of the review list. It will not guarantee a listing. Let me just repeat that: it's not a magic "back door" entrance. However, if you've used the password and your site does pass the test, you can expect an answer in 24-48 hours compared to the usual 2-3 weeks. You can hunt down this password by hanging around the right Usenet newsgroups or subscribing to the right marketing mailing lists. It's still floating around because several of my readers have found it recently, and Yahoo! still honours it. No, I won't tell it to you, and any email I receive that contains both keywords 'yahoo' and 'password' will be automatically deleted by my killfile. If you manage to circumnavigate my killfile, expect abuse. Who knows, maybe one day I'll publish it in my own newsletter. Wouldn't you hate to miss out just because you didn't click one little grey button...? Try Calling Them (408) 731-3333 used to ring at the desks of the people doing the additions and changes. In February '98 it changed to a voice mail device. Still, worth a try eh?

 

Yahoo FAQs

At Yahoo!, at what point is it likely that related Keywords say Photographer, Photographs, Photographic start getting penalized?
I haven't had a problem with variations on the basic term. Yahoo is looking for CONTENT more than anything else. Just make sure your pages are well-designed, easy to navigate, and full of useful information.

At Yahoo!, at what point is it likely that related Keywords say Photographer, Photographs, Photographic start getting penalized?
I haven't had a problem with variations on the basic term. Yahoo is looking for CONTENT more than anything else. Just make sure your pages are well-designed, easy to navigate, and full of useful information.

Where I might find the infamous password to that more infamous search engine?
The password is ORIGINAL CONTENT ... and decent page design. Remember that humans review the pages, so you have to entertain them or show useful content (not just a sales spiel). Have your clients commit to providing informative content, related to the stuff they are selling, BEFORE you try for a YAHOO listing. It's easy. For example: vendor of Chinese Art provides some history or how-they-make-it pages, and you find and add links to the established Chinese art sites. Request reciprocal links TO THE NON-SALES pages, pointing out how the content complements the site you are requesting from. Once you have content and some decent cross-linking, then ask Yahoo for a listing. If content is really plentiful and useful, a business site can escape the "business box" and show up in other areas. In this example, I'd try for a listing under "Art Collecting" on the basis of the content's utility to collectors. Or poetry if we had pages useful to students of Chinese poetry. Or both ... if the content warranted it. And all that cross-linking helps the traffic flow, because we will get traffic from academic and museum sites that would never link to a pure sales site, and the "relevance rank" on some search engines will increase.

 

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...easy-to-use, intelligent, internet robot that builds a link directory and creates link trades for you!

The Truth About Search Engines

 

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