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How
to Optimize
for Yahoo!
By
Ross Dunn (c)
2007 |
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With
a reported 22.1% of search traffíc Yahoo is second only to Google's
64.4% (src: Hitwise
) for search user volume so it is extremely important not to forget
that attaining a top ranking in Yahoo can be a big boon to the bottom
line. As a result, I decided to write this update on how to attain
superior rankings in Yahoo using today's useful tools and tactics.
Overview:
Optimizing for Yahoo!
Algorithmically Yahoo is Google's much younger sibling. I say this
because many of the requirements for a successful ranking mirror
Google's requirement about 4 years ago and they sum up to one distinct
fact; optimize your content boldly on Yahoo and you will be rewarded.
When I say "boldly" I do not mean use sp@m; by nature sp@m
and optimization do not mix... they are two entirely separate concepts
(black and white in fact).
The
following are the current generalized specifications for achieving
solid rankings in Yahoo.
Web
Site Optimization
SEO tactics have not changed a great deal over the past 10 years I
have been an SEO. In general terms the only effect time has had on SEO
is to vary the intensity of the optimization for particular page
elements. That is the rub of course; some search engines appreciate
the optimization of particular page elements over others. In the case
of Yahoo, this old property with a relatively young algorithm tends to
favour the following elements:
Title
Tag: Keep your title tag as short as 5 small-medium sized words
and include one complete incidence of your keyphrase. Yahoo! blatantly
favours sites that include the keyphrase in the title tag. For an
example search "car
sales" or for that matter any phrase. Within the top 10
results you will notice that the majority of sites listed will include
at least one incidence of the keyphrase or a crucial portion of it
(i.e. "cars"). The ones that do not include the keyphrase
tend to be sites that are extremely popular so even basic title tag
optimization is not required to attain a top ranking.
Meta
Description Tag: Start this tag with an incidence of your
keyphrase and then produce a short 15 – 18 small-medium sized word
sentence clearly describing your site. Include one more incidence of
your keyphrase in the sentence. Keep in mind that the description tag
is often utilized as the description for any rankings you achieve so
it is best to make it alluring.
Meta
Keyword Tag: Keyword tags have long been considered ineffective
and no longer have any importance on Google; however Yahoo does still
consider the keyword tag so it cannot hurt to include it. The keyword
tag should start with the keyphrase and then all following words or
phrases should be ordered according to their relevance to your
website; place the most important ones up front. The max size of a
keyword tag should be 250 characters – comma-delimited. Do not over
repeat words; no more than 3 repetitions of a single word within the
tag.
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Keywords in URL: Create keyword-based filenames that
closely represent the content within the file. Yahoo rewards
keyword-based filenames a small amount – perhaps enough to push
past your competition.
Headings: Heading 1 and 2 tags should be applied on every
page where appropriate to embolden the relevance of the page. In
other words, use the page's keyphrase within a Heading 1 tag to
further enhance the visibility of the keyphrase on the page.
Alt text for images: Don't forget to provide appropriate
ALT text for each image on your website. The ALT text must not
provide information that is already written on the website. ALT text
is supposed to provide a clear and concise description of what the
image is. Fortunately this means that adding an incidence of the
keyphrase or a portion of the keyphrase is totally appropriate which
can add slightly more credibility to your page score when Yahoo's
crawler (Slurp) indexes the page.
Inline Links: In the midst of your page it is beneficial
to include links to related pages from related content. These links
will apply relevance to the linked page; which is optimized for the
same keyphrase you linked from.
Site Structure: Site structure is a vital component to
ranking success on Yahoo; especially in competitive marketplaces
where every advantage is required to reach the top. One method that
would be successful at Yahoo (and happens to work as well on the
other major search engines) is a tried and true technique that
revolves around the linear progression of related content throughout
the website; it is commonly known as Themeing. The following example
should shed some light on this subject:
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Your
site is a car sales site focused on Audi. In order to create a linear
site structure you would focus each section of the site on an
individual relevancy. Say you pick "Audi A5" as the relevant
topic (see Figure 1.0). As you move deeper into the Audi A5 section
you only see A5 relevant content. The search engine spider and your
users will not be distracted by links to other vehicles – only
information on the A5. This progresses as you proceed deeper into this
arm of the website and because this section of the site is utterly
focused on the subject "Audi A5" the odds of achieving a
ranking for that term improve considerably.
Links
When building links for Yahoo concentrate on quality not quantity.
Quality links would be one way links from sites that specialize in
content directly relevant to the content on your own website. Building
these links can be done by creating content and syndicating it to your
own industry for link love and to build credibility. In addition, if
your website is a worthwhile resource it is entirely reasonable to
tell the world about your site in order to build links; hopefully they
will link to you because they like your site so much.
Finally,
there is another tactic that has mixed results; send out press
releases once a month using PRWeb or an associated press release
agency. A good press release can easily build the links you need in no
time at all. Unfortunately the mixed results I noted occur when press
releases inevitably become archived, at which point the link relevance
will fade. As a result, link building with press releases is only
useful as an ongoing practice and should be considered a small facet
of a robust link building campaign.
Site
Explorer Settings
Yahoo's
Site Explorer is a fantastic tool for monitoring your website(s)
and running basic link reports. If you have not already done so you
should create an account at Site Explorer and then validate your
website (prove you own it) so that you can manage the information
Yahoo has for your website. Once you have validated your website I
have noted some Site Explorer functionality that may help your website
perform on Yahoo:
- Make certain to create a sitemap and submit it to Yahoo: If you
haven't already done so use a XML
sitemap generator to create a sitemap for your website and
then submit it to Yahoo using the "Add Feed" form within
your website's Site Explorer profile.
- Removing unnecessary dynamic content from your URLs with new
add-on within Site Explorer: Do your URLs contain session ID's or
other dynamic content that is unnecessary within the URL? If so,
this information can be indexed by the search engines and
ultimately can cause havoc with your rankings. Thankfully Yahoo
has implemented a new tool within the Site Explorer domain
management section called "Dynamic URLs Beta". Here are the
instructions to use the Dynamic URLs tool.
Other
Considerations
After reviewing our notes from current and previous Yahoo promotions
and taking a look at a variety of top 10 results the following points
appeared noteworthy:
- Ensure open indexing by using Robots.txt wisely
- A lot of our client's older content appears to be sticking to
top rankings with little or no monthly tweaking. As a result, I
think it is fair to assume that fresh content is not currently
gaining much weíght in the Yahoo algorithm.
- In many cases top ranking sites have pushed the envelope and
their sites border on sp@m. Considering the top ranking these
sites have it appears Yahoo's sp@m filters are far less sensitive
than Google's. I expect Yahoo will change this in the near future,
but then again I have been surprised how long this has been the
status quo.
- One common claim throughout forums is that achieving a placement
in the Yahoo Directory provides an immediate boost to Yahoo
rankings. Unfortunately we have not seen conclusive evidence that
the annual $299 fee will improve rankings dramatically in the
short term. That said, I strongly believe that a Yahoo Directory
placement is a very reputable incoming link that does pay
dividends in the long run at any search engine that weighs
incoming links (the ones that count).
- Yahoo
Search Submit was re-introduced
back in February 2007 to significant
criticism due to the potential favouritism to those who pay to
get into the Yahoo index. Despite the negative feedback there
appears to be some potential benefits to paying for submission.
For one, in July I noted an interesting story where a website was
banned from Yahoo and the webmaster got the site back into Yahoo's
index by paying for inclusion ("Banned
from Yahoo?" ). A second reason Search Submit may be
worthwhile is the guarantëe that your site will be indexed.
Furthermore, the Yahoo's Search Submit Pro service allows you to
recommend your own title and description tags for each page
submitted and to submit pages that may not normally be indexed by
Slurp.
About
The Author
Ross Dunn is the founder and CEO of StepForth
Web Marketing Inc.. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, StepForth has
provided professional search engine placement and management services
since 1997. Ross is a search engine optimization and placement expert
with over 9 years of marketing experience and is a Certified Internet
Marketing and Business Strategist (CIMBS). Blending his experience in
the art of web design and search engine optimization, Ross offers a
unique and informed perspective on obtaining top search engine
placements. Ross can be reached at ross@stepforth.com
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