Yahoo!
originally started life as one of the Web's first directories. It has since evolved into a major portal offering considerably more than simply a directory. However search is still core to Yahoo and today it's one of the three most important search properties
on the Web. Yahoo!,
Google and MSN collectively account for the significant majority of
all search-referred traffic.
Inclusion in the Yahoo! directory used to be absolute must do for most
business due to:
-
The huge traffic Yahoo in its own right provides
-
The boost it gives Google rankings due to high quality linking.
Given
the above benefits, payment of Yahoo’s mandatory and painfully high paid submission
fee of US $299 p annum was a warranted expense for most business websites. (A cheaper submission option exists for NZ & Australian business websites - details here)
However in October 2002 Yahoo changed things dramatically and Viz
Marketing, like many professional search engine marketing firms, currently
no longer recommends paying the Yahoo inclusion fee. (There are some exceptions)
The big change at Yahoo was in the way in which they present search results.
Previously the order in which search results were presented was web sites
(i.e. results from the Yahoo directory) followed by web pages (then supplied
by Google).
This meant it was important to be listed in the Yahoo! directory to
ensure a high ranking in search results (a high ranking in Google,
especially for competitive search terms, did not guarantee visibility
in Yahoo because Google results could be buried beneath all the Yahoo
directory results).
The big change is that Yahoo! now presents web results as its primary search results by default. Below is an example.
As you can see the default search results presented are Web pages (now provided by Yahoo's own search engine, rather than Google).
Yahoo directory categories are still available (3'rd tab) but one has to actively
drill down into their directory to get the results.
The reality is
that site visitors at search portals tend to accept whatever default
results that a search service provides. So for the great majority
of Yahoo users they will only see Yahoo Search results (web pages).
Summary
All the above means that currently the best way to rank high in Yahoo!
is by ranking high in Yahoo Search results rather than the Yahoo Directory. Given this, the annual directory listing fee of US $299 can be better used elsewhere.
Yahoo Australia & New Zealand
Until recently
Yahoo's Australia & NZ directory gave New Zealand and Australian business websites a free submission option
to get into Yahoo! The drawback of
doing this was no guarantee of when sites would be reviewed. Unfortunately this little loophole seems to have been closed.
Now the only option is to pay the AUD $495 Express fee. Still this is better than paying the US $299 fee for Yahoo.com which is an ANNUAL fee. Currently Yahoo NZ / Australia's Express fee is just a ONCE off fee.
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