Yahoo

Let's discuss a few tips to getting listed in the web's most popular directory, Yahoo.

Yahoo is a directory maintained by humans. Yahoo does make some use of spiders and robots in their results, but not as a primary means of returning results so we will only focus on Yahoo as a directory. Note: Directories are maintained by humans, spidering search engines are mostly automated.

Let's make one thing clear. Getting listed on Yahoo has NOTHING to do with your meta tags, your title, how optimized your page is. What determines if you get listed on Yahoo? A real person reviews your application and decides if your site has something to offer the users of Yahoo. Personal home pages will not get listed. To get listed on Yahoo requires you filling out their 4 or 5 page form. The most important thing is to select the proper category. It is best if you can find 2 appropriate categories. They ask you this on your submission form. The title of your site should be your official business site. If your business is called Falcon enterprises and your business involves teaching people how to make money online, don't make your title something like... 'Earn big money online today'... Do this and I have one word for you. REJECTED. It helps to have a domain or official business name that relates to what it is your business offers.

Your description is equally important. You are given 25 words to make your case. But if you try and make your description an ad, I have that same word for you. REJECTED. Try and use as many descriptive words that apply to your site but make sure the description accurately describes your site. If it doesn't, REJECTED.

Here's another fact that shocks a lot of newcomers to search engine marketing. The odds of getting listed on Yahoo are not high. It is more likely you will submit your site once a month for a year and still not get listed. It's not always a matter of your site being rejected, in many cases your site never gets reviewed. They get so many submissions that their staff can only handle so many. So what is the secret to getting listed on Yahoo? Well there is one way that can get you listed in 7 days or less. Yahoo's business express submission. The cost for this service is a non refundable $299 annual fee. Believe it or not this fee is only to get your site reviewed. It does not guarantee you placement in their directory. But, if you have a well done site that is business related, you can almost be assured you will get listed in 7 days or less. Yahoo can drive a LOT of traffic to your website, so if you are running a business website it should be worth the money. Another note of caution. If you are marketing an affiliate page, forget it. You are not going to be listed in Yahoo's directory. Yahoo is still the most widely used engine on the net and is a must for any serious business. You can try the free submission but be prepared for months of not being listed. Getting listed via their business express service can pay for itself in no time.