8 Tips To Get More Traffic From Yahoo!

© 2002 By Vishal Rao. All Rights Reserved.

With the new Yahoo! "Pay-For-Review" model it might be
relatively easier for sites to get into the directory but
getting traffic from your listing is altogether a different
story. And now with it's new annual recurring payment policy
you have to be extra careful while submitting your site for
a review.

Here are 8 things to keep in mind while submitting your site
to Yahoo!

1) Selecting your domain name is the most vital step in
getting a top ranking in Yahoo! and also other directories
like Dmoz and Looksmart.

Make sure your domain name is "Keyword Rich". You can make
your domain keyword rich by simply inserting hyphens to
separate words in your domain name. Yahoo! gives more
relevance to sites with keywords in their domain name.

Take our domain name for example:
http://www.home-based-business-opportunities.com/

It is made up of 4 different high-in-demand keywords: "Home
Based Business", "Home Business", "Home Business
Opportunities", "Home Based Business Opportunities".

While crafting your domain name, even you should try to keep
your domain name such that it is made up of one, 2-4 words
main or "parent" keyword; which in turn is made up of 2-4
high-in-demand "child" keywords.

You may or may not get a top ranking for all your targeted
keywords but you can be sure of getting one for your main or
"parent" keyword (If you do everything else right).

Even if you have to get a separate domain name for this
purpose, GET IT! It is absolutely crucial for your ranking.

2) Sites which are placed higher in directory structure are
given more relevance than sites which are placed lower or
deeper.

For example a site listed in category -
B2B/Business_Opportunities will be given more relevance than
a site listed in category -
B2B/Business_Opportunities/Directories

Here's a great tip to select the most trafficked category
for your website...

Once you have short-listed 2 or 3 category to place your
site in to, check out the cost of Sponsor Listings of those
categories.

It's really simple. Visit the following URL:
https://ecom.yahoo.com/fast/sponsor

Enter the URL of any website that is listed in your desired
category (The URL should be same as it appears in Yahoo! and
the category should be a commercial category).

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Please note that Yahoo! accepts Sponsor Listings for only
certain commercial categories and so this tip may or may not
work for your category.
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You'll be asked for your Yahoo! ID. Once you submit the
information, you'll be provided with the Sponsorship charges
for that certain category. Repeat the process for your
remaining short-listed categories.

Now compare the prices of all your short-listed categories.
Naturally the one with a higher price is the most trafficked
one!

3) Yahoo! considers keywords in the directory structure
while ranking.

For example, if someone is searching for "Business
Opportunities Directories", a web site listed in category -
B2B/Business_Opportunities/Directories will be given more
relevance than a web site listed in category -
B2B/Business_Opportunities

4) Yahoo! DOES NOT spider websites to determine ranking. It
ranks web sites based on keywords in domain name, title and
description. So having META tags does not make any
difference to your listing.

5) DO NOT try to stuff as much keywords as possible in to
the description. Yahoo! editors are notorious for cutting
down the description if they sense even slightest hype. Try
to avoid words such as - no.1, proven, turnkey, exciting
etc.

Also, make sure that the heading of your home page is same
as the description you provided for your site. There should
be no confusion in the mind of the editor reviewing your
site.

6) Make sure your domain name and business name is the same
since Yahoo! is known to use the business name as the title
for your listing.

7) Make sure your website is "Content Rich". This is
very critical for two reasons. One - to get your site
accepted by Yahoo! and Second - to maintain and get a higher
listing.

Yahoo! determines the popularity of a website by the amount
of time a visitor spends on your website. If a large no. of
them hit the "back button" of their browser as soon as they
hit your web site, you can kiss goodbye to your dreams of a
possible higher listing.

Once you get a lower listing, it can get very difficult to
make up as visitors will not be able to find your site
easily.

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Once a site gets accepted into the directory, Yahoo! ranks
it based on the keyword popularity in domain name, title and
description. But as time progresses, it determines the
ranking based on the popularity of the website itself.

We ignored this and our listing came down drastically within
few days of getting accepted!
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8) Before submitting your website, thoroughly research
websites that rank higher for keywords you are targeting
(Especially the "Most Popular" sites in the directory
section). This will give you a rough idea of what to and
what not to include in your website.