Yahoo! is a directory, NOT a search engine that sends out spiders to cruise the Web. Yahoo is selective. To get listed, your site has to "make the cut" and it's tough to get a listing. Don't mess with Yahoo; follow their procedures and rules strictly.

The people at Yahoo value their reputation as providers of high-quality, relevant websites. Real, live people evaluate every submission. The key to getting listed is great content. Yahoo doesn't want to degrade their product by including poor sites.

Only Quality Sites Need Apply

So if you have a poorly written, badly constructed, or crassly commercial site, don't bother. Only a quarter of all sites submitted to Yahoo ever make it in. Your site should:

• Be substantial -- if yours is a single-page site, don't bother.
  
  
• Have value -- good content and/or a unique product that is well presented.
  
  
• Be clean and fast loading.
  
  
• Show a professional, polished layout, with a solidly-designed look and feel.
  
  
• Be easy to use, including a simple, clear navigation system.
  
  
• Contain good grammar and spelling.
  
  
• Have its own domain -- not essential but it helps.
  
  

Prepare Your Answers

Before you submit, prepare the following information in a separate text document (let's call it your "prep sheet") that you'll use to copy and paste data into the Yahoo submission form. Here's what you need to prepare:

1. Title. If you have an especially important keyword that customers would use to find you, make sure it appears in the title. If you add promotional language, they'll cut it out. Yahoo still returns search results alphabetically by title, but don't play the alphabet game with Yahoo.

2. URL. Yahoo permits you to submit only one URL per domain. In most cases, you will submit your root URL (http://www.you.com). If another URL is more appropriate, submit it instead; then justify that submission in the Final Comments section of the Yahoo submission form. There is an important consequence to the "one URL" rule. If you sell a single product, Yahoo will be your most important source of traffic. The larger and more diversified your product line, the less important Yahoo becomes.

3. Description. Use your keyword at least once in your description. You are supposed to be allowed 25 words in your description, but at 25 words, you'll likely get edited down, and thus lose control of the wording. Instead, set yourself a 15 word maximum. Use a single sentence without commas. Don't make your description promotional or the Yahoo editor will chop it out.

4. Categories. Since yours is a commercial venture, you must list somewhere in Yahoo's major category of "Business_and_Economy." Search for competitive products and see where they're listed. Enter the most likely keyword for your product into Yahoo's search engine, and you'll probably bring up several high-potential categories.

Copy the URLs of your two chosen categories and paste these into your prep sheet. Yahoo may grace you with a listing in only one of your categories. So list these URLs in order of importance.

5. Contact Info. Type your full name and e-mail address. Make sure your e-mail address has no typos in it. Then list other company information.

6. Final Comments. Add a short blurb about the value of your site -- content, traffic, satisfied customers, etc. If you have to explain something about your submission, do it here, too.

Review and Submit

Now review everything from a Yahoo editor's point of view. Anything she could object to? When you're ready, paste in your #1 Yahoo category URL into your browser. Scroll to the bottom of that page and click on the "Suggest a Site" link.

After copying and pasting into the form from your prep sheet, save it. You may need it again if you have to re-submit. And you can use parts of it for other directories.

What If You're Not Listed?

If you are not listed within two weeks, re-submit. Odds are that the Yahoo editors just didn't get around to your site. Keep submitting every two weeks. There's no penalty for this.

After eight weeks with no listing, check your log files and see if you had any visits from "add.yahoo.com," their spider that checks to validate the URL. If you aren't listed within a few weeks, you were probably rejected.

If you feel that you have an effective, professional, productive website, and especially if you are generating traffic and have lots of happy customers, appeal directly to Yahoo on this basis.

Yahoo! Corporation
3420 Central Expressway, 2nd floor
Santa Clara, CA 95051, USA
url-support@yahoo-inc.com
Tel. for listing support: 408-731-3333
Tel.: (408) 731-3300 -- 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM PST
Fax: (408) 731-3301

In short, mount a PR campaign to convince Yahoo editors to list your site. These are humans, not machines. They want quality. If you convince them that you fit the bill, you'll get in.

Other Approaches

Still not getting in? Try for a different category, or post to the regional directory. The regional Yahoo reviewers want to build up their databases. Submissions have a better chance of being included, and they get listed more quickly. Within a few more weeks, your site may still get listed within the main Yahoo directory, as well.

As of February 1999, you can pay $199 for express evaluation. The Business Express program guarantees that within seven days of payment, a member of Yahoo's editorial staff will look at your site and consider it for inclusion. Except for that, it will be treated as any other site in Yahoo -- it gets no special consideration. You receive an e-mail response within seven business days, stating whether your entry is accepted or declined. If your entry is denied, you'll be told why, and have the right to one reconsideration at no additional charge.
Yahoo! Business Express: http://www.yahoo.com/info/suggest/suggest.html

Bottom line after all your heroic efforts? The traffic from Yahoo is worth the effort, especially if you are a small company selling a single product.

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Copyright © 1999 Ken Evoy, author of Make Your Site Sell ! All rights reserved. Used with permission. For more information about his book and how you can download a free trial copy, visit SiteSell.