How To Get Listed in Yahoo!
Revised 2002 by Willie Crawford

Getting listed in Yahoo! (The Very Top Search
Engine/Index) is a lot like getting a date with
the most beautiful girl in high school - often
all you have to do is ask PROPERLY. I can make
that statement because I have NEVER submitted a
site to Yahoo! that wasn't listed. I've read a
lot about how difficult it is getting listed,
and how frustrating it is - so maybe I am just
very lucky. Then again, if you follow the same
steps that have ALWAYS worked for me, there is
no reason to believe that they won't work for
you too. So I wanted to share with you in four
short steps how to get listed.

The first step is ensuring your site is READY.
The staff at Yahoo! is very busy. A person has
to physically look over your site and decide if
it's appropriate for the category submitted and
if it's worth listing. They get thousands of
submissions to review. So begin by putting
yourself in the reviewer's shoes; if you would
be unimpressed by reviewing your site, then the
reviewer probably will be too. If that's the
case, fix the problems with your site before
submitting it. The reviewers are humans - with
all the quirks that humans are subject to, and
you must account for that.

Site readiness means two major thing to me:
(1) It contains sufficient content worth listing
and (2) It is complete enough that it contains
absolutely no dead links, and it can be easily
navigated. Every site should be under constant
update - so that's not a real problem - just
leave off leave the unnecessary "under
construction" gifs.

Most people who visit the internet are looking
for free information on some topic - furnish
this information and your site fills a need and
is therefore worth listing. My main site is a
perfect example of this. It contains articles
on internet marketing by a variety of diverse,
experienced authors. A surfer gets a lot of
very useful CONTENT from visiting and therefore
my site is "worth" listing. I am constantly
adding to this storehouse, so it is never really
complete, but it was ready for listing when first
submitted. Every link led to some real resource,
and not a disappointing "file not found."

After you know that your site is ready, step two
is simply submitting it properly. Using the
Yahoo! search box, find sites similar to yours.
Click on the "suggest a site" icon and suggest
your site in the same category. Fill in all of
the fields completely and accurately. You're not
going to fool the reviewer and if you submit to
the wrong category you annoy a very busy reviewer
- and guarantee that you won't be listed.

Step three is probably the hardest - you wait.
While some search engines list your site within
days, Yahoo! may take months. So after you know
that you have properly submitted your content
rich, submission ready site in the proper
categories, you display a little patience.

But not too much patience; step 4 is resubmitting.
If your site isn't listed in about 6 weeks,
resubmit. Keep resubmitting until it is listed!
That's partly how I can honestly say that I have
never submitted a site that wasn't listed - I am
very, very persistent. In marketing, whether on
or offline, persistence is the key. Sort of like
asking that pretty girl out again - eventually
she would probably say "why not." While my main
site at http://www.williecrawford.com was listed
the very first time it was submitted, and shows
up under "INTERNET MARKETING 101" (with quotation
marks) as the first listing, I have client sites
listed in Yahoo that I did have to submit several
times - but they all got listed.

It all boils down to realizing that of all the
search engines and indexes, Yahoo! generates the
most hits. So it's definitely worth the effort!
You will not get listed if you don't submit your
site, and you probably won't get listed if you
don't submit properly. Do it right the first time
and profit from this most cherished of listings.

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Willie Crawford has taught thousands the secrets of operating
a successful on-line business through his free Internet
Business Success Course. It's more extensive than many $197
courses. Sign up today and start building your *successful*
online business: http://williecrawford.com/
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Note:
This article first appeared in our ezine, Limitless
Marketing Ezine. I publish original material
similar to this in each weekly issue. If you are not
a subscriber please sign up today using the form at:
http://williecrawford.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

Feel free to publish this article in your ezine,
in your ebook or on your website. A note telling me
that you published the article would be appreciated.
My email address is willie@williecrawford.com

Thank you,
Willie Crawford

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