Instructions for Getting Indexed With Yahoo! Guaranteed yahoo listing & Top yahoo ranking secrets revealed

First - Check to see if you're already listed in Yahoo!

Go to http:// www. Yahoo. com and search for your domain name. Simply type your domain into this search screen:
http:// www. yourcompany. com
Then, search for categories that you would list yourself under and review the categories for your site. If you are confident that you're not already listed by Yahoo!, proceed to step 1.

How to pay $299 for guaranteed seven-day review and possible listing of your Web site in Yahoo!:
In February 1999, Yahoo! announced a new fee-for-review service that would allow site owners to submit their site to Yahoo! with a promised seven-day review. NOTE: Paying this $299 does NOT guarantee that your site will be added to Yahoo! - it only guarantees that one of their editors will review it and give you a decision on whether or not they will add it to Yahoo!.

If they turn you down, they offer an explanation as to why you were turned down, and you are allowed to resubmit under the same program without paying an additional fee within seven days.

It's not a perfect system, but for those of you who have waited eight to ten weeks after submitting only to discover that your submission was ignored, it may well be worth the money.

To use this service, go to this link:
http:// www. Yahoo. com/ info/ suggest/ busexpress. html
NOTE: This service is only available to e-commerce-enabled Web sites for businesses based in the United States! Here's how Yahoo! defines it: "' Online transactions' means that a customer enters their credit card number on the site in a secure or standard online environment for the purpose of purchasing goods or services from the site, and the credit card number is authorized for payment by the site. For purposes of this Agreement, the following will not (emphasis added) be considered "online transactions":

(1) if any part of the transaction other than a general confirmation of the customer order occurs via e-mail, fax, or phone,
(2) affiliates or associates programs, multi-level marketing programs and similar promotional arrangements where
the purchase occurs on a third party site, and
(3) if the only transaction is a process where customer accesses the site via a verification system (e. g.: an adult verification system) where the customer credit card number is entered on a different site."

Step-By-Step Instructions for getting listed in Yahoo! without paying:

Step 1: Make sure your Web site looks good. Yahoo! category editors have no obligation to list your Web site. They include a lot of disclaimer language on their submission pages telling you they reserve the right not to list your site -

believe them! Do not submit your site to Yahoo! until it is ready - do not submit any site that has an "under-construction" graphic on it and nothing else. It will probably not get indexed.

Step 2: Submit to Yahoo! manually. Do not use submitting software, submitting service or any other automated tool.
Sure, some may work and get you listed, but Yahoo! is so important that you will want to take the time and do it by hand. Besides, some submission services and tools won't put you in the right category, as Yahoo! categories change constantly.
Submissions from the submitting software tools and even the submitting services are often gibberish. We much prefer it if you do your submissions manually. That way you can read our rules and do it properly - it makes our job easier.
- "Rose," Surfing Manager at Yahoo!

Step 3. Choose two categories where you would like your Web site listed. To do this, you should make a list of your top keywords and search on them. Yahoo! will only allow you to be listed in two categories. You should make an effort to pick the best ones. Yahoo! returns categories first, and then categories with a few major sites in them next. After doing a search on the keywords or keyword combinations that you expect your customers to search on, decide if they will spot a category and click on it first, or if they will scroll down and look for a site that is listed in a category below.

You will likely be put in the category with other Web sites or businesses like yours. For instance, though you might really want to be in the 'teachers category' because you sell to teachers, you will end up in a the text books category if that's what you make.
- "Rose," Surfing Manager at Yahoo!

For instance, if you think one of your keywords will be "real estate" because maybe you're a real estate broker in Virginia, you'll quickly see that Yahoo! returns thousands of categories. None on the first page are even close to something that someone looking for real estate in Virginia would select. You might surmise that the person conducting this search would try their search again
using "Virginia Real Estate." For this search, the first category returned is:
Regional: U. S. States: Virginia: Real Estate

Following this link brings you to an alphabetical list of real estate agents, services, etc. for Virginia. Further down, another category:

Regional: U. S. States: Virginia: Cities: Alexandria: Real Estate is an even better category for the real estate agent specializing in that big city. For my client, Roger Derflinger, an established Virginia real estate agent, we chose this category. The Yahoo! editors might still move our site to another category that might more aptly deserve this listing. We then conducted a similar search, "Northern Virginia Realtors," and this was the first category returned:

Top: Business and Economy: Companies: Real Estate: Regional: U. S. States: Virginia: Complete Listing
We added his site here, too. We always try to find a category that matches a client's business or service, and also a category that appears closer to the top in a series of search results.

Step 4: Select the category and then look for the "Add URL" button from the top of this section's page. You will be presented with a series of questions about your site, specifically the site's URL, what you would like the site to be titled, and a site description. You will also be asked to suggest another category where your Web site should be listed. Input your second choice in that field.

Step 5: Carefully construct a site title making sure to include important keywords near the beginning of the title, preferably as the first word or two.

As a Yahoo! category editor, I will do everything I can to find the legitimate name of the business. We prefer it if you go by the name you gave your business as a site title."
- "Rose," Surfing Manager at Yahoo!

This site title should not exceed 40 characters. Yahoo! ranks sites alphabetically, so try to choose a site title that is alphabetically superior. Don't be overt and name the site "A+ techniques to selling paint" or something that obvious - you will get caught, and Yahoo! will likely add you with your actual business name. See the discussion below about the ASCII hierarchy and which letters and symbols rank higher than others.

If you're a commercial site, you won't get added [by using a title that describes the site content and not the company name]. Don't use marketing lingo like, 'We're the best. ' If I have a choice between a site title like, 'a really good book' or 'The Cambridge Paperback Encyclopedia, ' I will spend more time on the one using the correct title.

- "Rose," Surfing Manager at Yahoo!

You may wish to consider alphabetical superiority if you have control over your company name - naming your company "A d. b. a. (doing business as) company name" for the purposes of your Web site to be first in a category can result in a tremendous volume of traffic. This is no different than what people have been doing in the phone book for years:

AAACME Vacuum Cleaner Repair AAA Auto Service.

There's value in being first, but only you can determine if this would be ethical or appropriate given the type of business or organization you lead. If you are about to build a Web site to sell a product, and you haven't really established a company or product name yet, consider a name that is alphabetically advantageous. If you are "Zebra Systems" and well-known in the marketplace as such, you're out of luck. Renaming your company or product for the purposes of your Web site will mean that people who know your company and are simply trying to check for your business hours won't find you.

Step 6: Carefully construct a site description, repeating one or two of the important keywords in the first couple of words that make up your site description. This field can be only 200 characters, including spaces, or 25 words. Use the description wisely to make it keyword rich. Try to avoid any stop words, like "the" or "and" and so on. Don't waste words when you don't have to.

If [using keywords early in your site description] is done appropriately and it really describes the Web site, it will go through. Otherwise we'll change it - but you can try it!

- "Rose," Surfing Manager at Yahoo!

Step 7: If you don't get listed after two weeks, try improving your site and submitting it again.
Or, call Yahoo! 's listing service line at (408) 731-3333 and leave a message asking why you weren't listed.

Yahoo! Notes:

Yahoo! indexes characters, not just whole words.
Yahoo!, like most engines, indexes words, phrases AND characters. This means if you're searching for "travel," you will also find "traveling" and "travels."

Examine your keywords and try to use the longest variation of your important keywords. In our "travel" keyword example, the word "travel" is also present in the words "travels" and "traveling." With Yahoo!, by using the word "traveling" you are assured hits when people search on "travel" OR "traveling." You are, in effect, including two keywords for the price of
one!

How to Change Your Yahoo! Listing

Here is a process for to persuading Yahoo! to change your existing listing. This technique may speed the process.

First, request your change using their online form located at:
http:// add. yahoo. com/ fast/ change
If nothing happens after five days from your online submission, call Yahoo! 's advertising phone number: 408-731-3300
Press Option 2 for Other Press Option 3 for Yahoo Online

Press Option 2 for Web site listings (Note: they could change the "menu" at any time).
Leave a message with your URL, date you filled out the change form, and any other information they ask for. We have experienced changes occurring within four days of a phone call - very fast by Yahoo! standards.

You will have more success in changing an existing listing if your reason is perceived as something more serious than just for the sake of improving your ranking (which they could care less about). For example, if you've created a new domain name for your site, request that the description be updated, and the new domain name be used as indicated in the change request form you filled out. Other credible reasons you could offer would be a change in your company name (if it has changed), a change in the emphasis of your business, thereby requiring a new description, or a typo that needs to be corrected.