dpeddle
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 269
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Posted: 01/06/2004 12:09 pm
Just wanted some opinions on whether or not you think the yahoo directory listings will be as significant to google once the changes take place.
Over the past couple of years they have helped out quite a bit (among many factors) ... but is the 299 annual listing worth it now?
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bhartzer
Administrator
Joined: Jun 08, 2000
# Posts: 7035
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Posted: 01/06/2004 12:43 pm
Links for Yahoo! to your site will still count as a backlink, even after Yahoo!'s official relationship with Google expires. The links still will be treated just as any other link to your site, the same as DMOZ links are treated just as any other link to your site.
Personally, I feel this way about being Yahoo!'s Directory: If you're competitors are there, then you should be there. If you think that being listed in Yahoo!'s Directory is some "magic pill" that will skyrocket you to the top of the rankings on Google (or any other search engine for that matter) then you're mistaken.
We don't know what the new Yahoo! search (with Inktomi) will look like and how the Yahoo! Directory listings will influence rankings in Yahoo! search. So, if you can afford to be in the Yahoo! Directory and your competitors are there, then you should be in there. If you're on a budget then reconsider spending the $299 because there are other ways to get top rankings.
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cabbagehead
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 532
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Posted: 01/06/2004 03:45 pm
So far my ranking on the new Yahoo results looks pretty good without the listing. I have yet to see a viable justification for the fee. Let's hope Yahoo continues to play fair and they don't get too greedy like some of their competitors, who's names start with 'G'.
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superchaosbryan
Joined: Dec 06, 2003
# Posts: 124
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Posted: 01/06/2004 05:25 pm
Hey!! I will link to your site for $200 a year! I do not use yahoo but some of my competitors do. Only two of the 10 in Yahoo are in the top 10 in Goo.
edit- Another reason that I decided not to pay Yahoo is that the Directory page with the sites on them in my category only has a PR3 rank. Seems like a waste of money to me.
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dpeddle
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 269
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Posted: 01/07/2004 11:26 am
Thanks for the replies.... i agree that if your competition is there...you should be there.....from an seo standpoint.
However.... I think many people look at a yahoo directory listing as the second of two 'essential links' along with a dmoz listing........ assuming that you still optimize your site..... attain quality links......etc etc etc......
I was just wqondering if people would include that as something on the top of their list once yahoo changes their index.
Mind you..... yahoo may tweak their own algo to boost sites with a paid directory listing. We'll have to wait and see i guess.
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Paul J
Joined: Dec 13, 2003
# Posts: 10
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Posted: 01/07/2004 05:35 pm
2 years ago I'd say absolutely "no way!". I'd check our tracking logs and find that maybe 3% of Yahoo's traffic came from their directory (at the most). I don't work for them anymore, but I remember my boss recently saying it was about the same. They actually got in when it was a 1 - time fee.
Then I learned more about the positive effect of backlinks. I'd still say "no way" - but just because I was cheap.
Now I'm about as puzzled as anyone with exactly what and when these big Yahoo and Google changes will occur. I want more links myself, but I'm trying to justify 300 bucks. Right now I tell people if you have 300 bucks in your budget, you should do it. If not, sit back and wait to see what happens.
Aren't you supposed to be less puzzled the more you learn? 
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erich17
Joined: Nov 27, 2001
# Posts: 115
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Posted: 01/08/2004 07:13 am
"Links for Yahoo! to your site will still count as a backlink, even after Yahoo!'s official relationship with Google expires"
I have came here for about 2+ yrs now and everyone continues to post about Yahoo and Google splitting...Most of the posts said it was set to happen on 1/1/04... Nothing has happened yet and why do people continue to expect this??? Based on what?
Erich
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vg5518
Joined: May 28, 2002
# Posts: 218
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Posted: 01/08/2004 07:33 am
I don't think the links in Yahoo count towards PR, do they? They're not a clean link to your site. I don't know if this is something new or not (the clean link part). I hadn't been paying that much attention until recently.
Someone, please correct me if I'm mistaken about this.
[ Message was edited by: vg5518 01/08/2004 06:43 pm ]
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dibbern
Joined: Mar 22, 1999
# Posts: 17
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Posted: 01/08/2004 07:20 pm
Clients still consider Yahoo an important factor, so it's a no-brainer: you've got to be in the directory. And how could it be anything but a positive move, even if it isn't what it used to be?
Just my opinion...
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OAC
Moderator
Joined: Jan 25, 2001
# Posts: 6779
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Posted: 01/09/2004 11:38 pm
"Nothing has happened yet"
Not exactly. Yahoo has been feeding more and more Inktomi results into its search results, and reducing the Google results over the past couple of months.
"and why do people continue to expect this???"
I believe that Yahoo execs have publically stated they will replace Google.
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cabbagehead
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 532
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Posted: 01/11/2004 11:47 am
dibbern, how can you say that? I mean, the amount of traffic I got over the past year fromt he yahoo directory was negiligible maybe 1 or 2 uniques per day. Meanwhile, my yahoo ranking does not appear to have impacted my google or inktomi rankings. I see virtually no net gain from my listing in the yahoo directory. If a client percieves this listing as important and wants to spend the money then fine - but I I just do not see it as having any positive impact and certainly not one justified by the $300 fee.
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dpeddle
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 269
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Posted: 01/13/2004 08:48 am
The amount of traffic isn't the real consideration.. its the impact that the link will have on your popularity/pr/etc..... people will deny it.. or make excuses about it..... but thats's the real strength of the link.....(or was anyway).... which is why i started this topic....
From the forum research... article reading etc.... and from analyzing some of my different clients.... i have found that if the directory category has a high pr (pr of 5 or higher)... and doesn't have a ton of links in it.... then the link plays a very influential role in your pr.... and on your authority.....particularly at the beginning.....
I have found that submitting to the yahoo directory first..... and letting google find your new site that way..... jumps your pr from 0 to as much as 4 right away.... and if you get both dmoz and yahoo links quickly (say within a couple weeks of a new launch).... which i have only been able to do a handful of times...its almost a shoe-in for an immediate boost to a pr 4.... and that's just at the beginning..... Therefore, having the yahoo directory link makes it a lot easier to build up your new site.... (Keep in mind that it can take a couple of months for google to actually index your dmoz and yahoo links...but i have found in some cases.. the link impact on your pr can sometimes be seen even before you actually see the backlinks pointing to you...ie: google finds them and knows of them... but doesn't necessarily show them right away).
I have had 6 sites go from a pr 0 to 4 just from those two links alone at the beginning of a campaign in the past couple of years. i was shocked when i noticed the impact... but i stuck with it.. as best i could.. and it has continued to work out (simply as a starting point)...
However, getting into dmoz can be a pain as we all know... depending on your category..... but starting off with yahoo always proved to be a good start in my strategy....specifically to get the googlebot to find your new site from the yahoo directory intead of a cheap random link or from the free submit page (never submit for free). I will have to try the same thing once the changes have occurred in order order to have any real evidence though.
As for an alternative, one other great link source i have found is the business.com directory.. you can get up to 5 directory links for 100 bucks...... and they are quality links. Not sure how long that price will remain however... more and more people are seeing the quality.
Anyway.... with that being said.... the only real issue regarding the yahoo link for me is... will the impact of that link be as high, higher, or will it be lower once the changes happen (relating to both the new yahoo results....in a few months time with inktomi....as well as... with current and future google rankings).
We can't really determine for sure either way..... so I wanted to get a feel for how everyone is approaching the situation.... if you had the 300 in your pocket today..... would you throw it at yahoo.....if not... then where would you put it?
Right now.. i am thinking business.com, and more paid inclusion of key pages into inktomi might be a better bet...... and with msn switching to inktomi on Jan 15th (poor looksmart) i think weighing that cost becomes even more important as inktomi begins to be rolled out in amore prominent way.
Yet another option i thought about... is a 'link campaign for about 25 links' with a highly reputable company.... that can usually run 300-500..... which we can all do ourselves.....but again.... is one link from yahoo worth more to your site than 25 quality links from authority pages? ..... before the new year i would have to say yes without a doubt...... but now i just dunno.
What do you guys think?
PS: this is turning into an interesting post.... thanks everyone for jumping in.
[ Message was edited by: dpeddle 01/13/2004 09:01 am ]
[ Message was edited by: dpeddle 01/13/2004 09:12 am ]
[ Message was edited by: dpeddle 01/13/2004 09:14 am ]
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superchaosbryan
Joined: Dec 06, 2003
# Posts: 124
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Posted: 01/13/2004 09:27 am
My new site has a PR6 rating. I only have about 10 unique URLs linking to it. I didn't pay a penny. Again, if the PR is low on the page Yahoo will link to you from, MOVE ON! You need to be searching for quality PR links to improve your PR. If the Yahoo page has a high PR and you cannot find sites to link with but want to improve your PR, PAY UP!
If you are looking for traffic and you feel people will search the Yahoo directory instead of the Yahoo search page, then maybe $299 could be well spent teaching you a lesson in where not to waste money.
I get a lot of "post-Florida" traffic from Yahoo. I am not listed in their directory. It all comes from their search results.
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dpeddle
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 269
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Posted: 01/14/2004 11:44 am
yeah i agree with brian..... if the yahoo category has a low pr.... or if it has 50 plus links in it..... then maybe the 300 isn;t a good idea (if you on a tight budget especially) ..... but when yahooo goes to inktomi.... it will be interesting to see if perhaps to improve the 'value' of their directory... they may give rankings a boost for those who do have a directory listing.
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AmeriClicks
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts:
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Posted: 01/14/2004 11:51 am
We I submitted All Headline News to Yahoo! I spent some time and worked onoe-on-one with the reviewer and we identified 5-6 relevant categories that the listing should be in. He was good enough to include the listing in all the categories
So obviously it's worth it for the news site and we get worthwhile exposure out of it.
Yahoo went though a period where their links were "good to have" but not really "necessary". I think that is changing a bit now as we're seeing more people move away from Google and start using other engines.
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dpeddle
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 269
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Posted: 01/15/2004 12:13 pm
BridalClicks.... thats a valid point..... however, even with the possible change in user behavior, yahoo will still be feeding its primary results with overture and inktomi. So having a directory listing for the purpose of aquiring traffic.... still doesn;t hold much water.... it still comes down to the value of that link 'as a link'.
But you brought up another issue I am curious about.... one of my clients (commercial site) competitors has 5 directory listings for his website.... I was under the impression that 2 categories is supposed to be the most your site can be listed in.... was i way off base there? 5 directory listings to me would definately be worth the 299 inclusion fee for some of my sites.
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dpeddle
Joined: Eons Ago
# Posts: 269
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Posted: 01/16/2004 01:51 pm
i wonder when yahoo is goingto leave google..... i was thinking it would be late this month .. early next month at the latest
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Logan
Moderator
Joined: Aug 14, 2002
# Posts: 3749
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Posted: 01/16/2004 02:09 pm
Before the end of March. According to their Q1 2004 financial announcements, Yahoo top execs said that it is going to be this quarter.
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