Simplifying the Process of Getting Listed on Yahoo

The Cost of Getting Listed on Yahoo

If your website is business-oriented, be prepared to pay a fee of $199 for Yahoo's Business Express Service. Yahoo has made it clear that there are no free listings for business sites. This fee ensures that your website will be reviewed within seven days. However, Yahoo, aiming to maintain a high-quality directory, does not guarantee inclusion after the review. For non-business sites, you can still submit to Yahoo for free, but there is no guarantee of a review.

For adult-oriented sites, a fee of $600 is required before Yahoo's editors will review your site. In general, submitting to Yahoo involves some cost. To avoid wasting your money, it's crucial to prepare your site adequately before submission.

Preparing Your Website for Submission

Before submitting your website to Yahoo, ensure the following:

• Your official business name is clearly visible. Yahoo is likely to use this as your site title.
• There are no broken links or under-construction areas on your site.
• Your site is available 24/7. If your web host is unreliable, consider switching to a more reliable one.
• If you're selling products, ensure that you can accept credit card payments online securely. Ideally, you should accept multiple payment methods.
• Your business address should be available on your site, preferably on the homepage. At the very least, include a 'Contact Us' or 'About Us' page with your business address.
• Your website should function properly in different browsers, at least the latest versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
• Your site should load quickly. Ideally, it should load completely within 6-8 seconds.
• Ensure your site does not have obvious grammatical or spelling mistakes. These can undermine your site's credibility and reduce the chances of being accepted by Yahoo.
• Your site should have sufficient original content, consisting of at least 5-6 pages.
• The navigation system should be easy to follow and clear.

Submitting Your Website to Yahoo

When submitting your website to Yahoo, keep the following in mind:

• Suggest 1-2 categories, a title, and a description to Yahoo.
• Spend time selecting the most suitable category. If you can't select the correct category, your chances of getting listed are slim. A good guideline is to find out where your competitors are listed and follow suit. If your site is a business site, it should be placed under one of the sub-categories of 'Business and Economy'.
• Use your official business name as the site title. The title should not be more than five words long.
• The description should be written within 25 keywords, ideally within 10-18 words, and filled with relevant keywords. If it's too long, Yahoo's editor may completely change your description, which could affect your traffic if the description lacks relevant keywords.
• Avoid submitting too frequently to Yahoo, or your site may be regarded as spam. You can re-submit your site only if you get no response from Yahoo six weeks after your first submission. If you submit your site twice without response, send a follow-up email to url-support@yahoo-inc.com. You may get some response, but there is no guarantee.
• If you have paid $199 and your site has been rejected, you have a chance to appeal within 30 days. Don't appeal too early. Check your site thoroughly before you make an appeal because you only get one chance.
• If your site is accepted, you will receive a notification from Yahoo. Congratulations!

While the $199 submission fee may seem steep, the number of unique visitors Yahoo attracts makes it a worthwhile investment. Consider the fee as an advertising expense.