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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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