Yahoo Optimization & Tips for getting listed higher in Yahoo directory.

YAHOO! Yahoo!, Inc.
3400 Central Expressway Santa Clara, CA 95051

Main Corporate Telephone: (408) 731-3300 Fax: (408) 731-3301

User Support Telephone: (408) 731-3333 Extension #1: For information on submitting a new URL
Extension #2: For information on making changes to an existing listing in Yahoo! Extension #3: For information about Yahoo! search results

URL to the engine http:// www. yahoo. com

Must submit EACH page? JUST ONE
How long to index my page? 2 to 8 weeks (or $199 for a 7 day
review)

Recognizes and supports META tags? NO

Are searches case sensitive? NO

Does a spider index the site? NO

Uses data entered on submission form only? YES

Is page popularity a factor? NO

Alphabetical ranking used? YES (only within Yahoo! categories)

Keyword weight plays a role? NO, frequency and prominence only

Title tag considered for relevancy? YES, but only for the title you enter on their submission form.

Prominence of keywords in title tag important? YES, but only for the title you enter on their submission form.

Frequency of keywords in title tag important? YES, but only for the title you enter on their submission form.

Comment tags considered for relevancy? NO

Max. length of title accepted 40 characters (unless company name is longer)

Max. length of keyword META tag N/ A

Max. length of description field you can submit 200 characters - no more than 25 words total

How to check to see if you're listed Type in full URL: http:// www. yourcompany. com or your site title as you submitted it.

If you are a business, you are listed by your business name - Yahoo! will accommodate bona fide long business names as best as possible.

How to check your link popularity Yahoo! has no spider, so no links are tracked.

E-mail support Go to:
http:// www. Yahoo. com/ info Many addresses are available. Visit this link to find appropriate e-mail address. The most important is: url-support@ Yahoo-inc. com

Total documents indexed 730,000 total sites in their directory. Searches for sites or keywords not found in Yahoo!, automatically sent to the Inktomi search engine (which also power HotBot, among others).

Total page views 167 million page views per day in December 1998 (source: Fourth Quarter and 1998 Fiscal, Yahoo! press release).

Add/ Remove URL Select the appropriate Yahoo!
category and then select the "Add URL" button on the top of that page. OR: Pay $299 for a guaranteed seven-day review of your site (if you accept credit card transactions on your site only!), though Yahoo! does not promise your site will be added to their index. For paid submissions to Yahoo!, visit this link: http:// www. Yahoo. com/ info/ suggest/ busexpress. html

Yahoo! is the most important search service on the Web. Just look at the number of page views a day, more than five times the nearest competitor! Yahoo! was the first search engine and is still the leader. Get your site listed in Yahoo! first, and do everything else second. Any questions? Our guide is the ONLY guide on the market that features an interview with an actual Yahoo! executive who told us the specifics on what Yahoo! looks for in adding new Web sites. No other guide includes the following interview. Please read it carefully - it's golden.

We had the distinct pleasure of interviewing a Yahoo! "Surfing Manager" for our research on getting listed in Yahoo!. We'll call her "Rose" as she asked me not to list her real name for fear that she'd get thousands of calls. Much of this instruction comes as a direct result of that interview. It was quite an honor to have a Yahoo! senior staffer (she's been with Yahoo! for four years - almost since day one), share this rather sensitive information. We are very honored to have such a great source at such an important search service.

Yahoo! Listing Support: (408) 731-3333. This is a very interesting service. In the past, when
you dialed this number you used to reach any of six staffers who answer this line who would answer specific questions - now you get an informational voice-mail message only. At the end of the messages, you will hear recorded instructions on how to leave a message concerning any problem you have had getting listed with Yahoo! 's main page. This is a great service for anyone struggling to get a site listed in Yahoo!.

Considering that by some accounts Yahoo! adds only one in ten of the submissions to its index, this number can be valuable in finding out why you are encountering problems, or can help in getting information on how you can get your listing included in Yahoo! 's directory. "Rose" at Yahoo! suggested waiting a couple of weeks before contacting anyone at this number and to search on your submitted title and URL to confirm that you've not been listed yet before calling this number.

Yahoo! 's relevance scoring is based on a very complex and proprietary algorithm (like all the search services) and they, of course, do not wish to reveal it. It seems to be based on the submission's category first, then title, then description, and then (hint) your Web site URL, depending on the search. Knowing that Yahoo! considers your site's URL as part of its relevancy scoring system is new information, and not confirmed, though we have good reason to believe it is accurate.

WARNING #1: Yahoo! is one of the three search services reviewed in this book that do not allow you to submit multiple doorway pages. Yahoo! is populated entirely by user submissions - each one reviewed by a professional editor. Do not attempt to use a multiple URL strategy to gain an advantage in Yahoo!. It won't help you.

Yahoo! is not technically a search "engine;" it is a search "directory." Every submission to Yahoo! is reviewed by a human being. A real person visits your site and determines how it should be indexed. Yahoo! does not use spiders to index your site. Therefore, META tags are not necessary on your Yahoo! pages, nor will they help you. The result of this policy is a smaller, but cleaner index of Web sites and businesses on the Net.

WARNING #2: Do not play games with Yahoo!. While our informant at Yahoo! told us that they won't necessarily reject a submission wholesale if it appears to be gaming their system, they might decide not to get to it right away. And since some site managers believe that Yahoo! accounts for most of their site traffic - well, draw your own conclusions. You cannot afford to be denied a listing in Yahoo!.