Trying and trying to Submit to Yahoo!

By Alison Berke Morano
Posted Saturday, October 23, 2004

Getting into Yahoo! is a definite coup for any website. Yahoo! has ruled the "Search Engine Roost" since it was started way back when. Over the years, it has become increasingly difficult to get your website listed in this Internet Directory.

One of the reasons that Yahoo! can be so discriminating is because each site that makes it into the directory is added by hand. Unlike most Search Engines that have 'robots' that breeze through your website, take what they want, and add you to their list of 10,000's (100,000's?) of sites - Yahoo! literally goes through each site individually and decides whether you make it or not.

We have a few tips for you to make your life easier:

1. First and foremost, it's a fact: Yahoo! does want your money. If you pay them $199, they WILL review your site within 7 days, and may - or may not - add you to their directory. And, they do NOT promise you will get in. Only that they will review your site within the time frame they promised. However, I have noticed that this is not a money-grabbing ploy. If you submit your site properly and appropriately, you should breeze right in. Usually, the sites that do not make it are generally questionable in nature (although they do have a $600 Adult Site Submission), or are incomplete and unfinished.

***Note: Yahoo! will NOT list your website in it's main/top level categories anymore without the $199 submission fee. However, you can still submit to Regional/local Categories the old-fashioned way.****

Here are guidelines that we highly recommend, especially if you're paying for your submission - you really want it to be accepted, right?:

a. Make sure you choose the appropriate category. Do several searches for comparable sites and choose the best one for your website.

b. Your site MUST be complete. NO "Under Construction" signs, or "Stay Tuned" notices anywhere, that is a definite disqualifier.

c. Make sure you fill the form out completely - fill in contact information and ANY other applicable information.

d. Make sure your address is listed SOMEWHERE on your website.

e. Fill in the Comments/Suggestions section at the end of the form. They really would like to know what you have to say about your website.

f. Use as many keywords as you can in your title & description.

2. Getting in without the cash:

If you would like to submit your site, but don't want to pay the $199 fee, then you can go in through the Regional/Local categories and stand a good chance.

a. Make sure you choose a category that has the company's home town or city in it (e.g. "flowers Garden City, New York" ) - this may limit your search capabilities slightly, but a lot of regional sites come up in general searches on Yahoo! as well as the top categories. So, your site will come up under Flowers, as well as Flowers New York.

b. Again, fill out the form COMPLETELY

d. Make sure your address is listed SOMEWHERE on your website.

e. Fill in the Comments/Suggestions section at the end of the form.

f. Use as many keywords as you can in your title & description.

Some general tips for your submissions:

Although the categories are not always listed alphabetically, the sites within the categories are alphabetical, so come up with a good title, that has a low letter (like A or B), but, do not stretch the truth about your site. This is a Yahoo! no-no.

And, make sure your title or description does not read like Ad Copy - DO NOT write: The Best Flowers in the World! or #1 Flower Site - this will definitely put you in the outbox.

Okay, these are some of the tips we can offer you on getting your site listed. While bworks.com does include Yahoo! submissions in our general marketing proposals, we wanted to help you as much as possible if you would like to try it on your own.

The above guidelines have helped us tremendously, and they'll work for you.

If you'd like some more information about bworks.com marketing services, please contact us at: marketing@bworks.com.

About the Author
Alison Berke Morano, owner of (http://www.keywordmarketing.net), is an Inernet Marketing expert with 6 years of experience in Search Engine & Website marketing.