Getting Indexed In Yahoo

Website Optimization Secrets

(This isn't a beginner's how-to-build-a-website course. The assumption is that you have some experience on the internet. If not, start with the page "Basic Internet Tools." You'll find help with HTML, an internet glossary of terms, web site hosting advice, and more. Then you'll be able to put these secrets to work.)

When I first built a website, I didn't like the idea of paying Yahoo $300 to be in their search engine index, but I wanted Yahoo users to be able to find my site. Fortunately, while my marketing mind argued with my wallet, I came across a posting in a forum about a "back-door" way into Yahoo.

It was confusing at first, because I knew nothing about "blogs," but I followed the directions, and voila - 48 hours and my site was indexed in Yahoo. I get good traffic from Yahoo now, on several sites, and I've never paid a penny. Most web site owners know about this one by now, but because you may not, and it is important, here is how it works:

1. Go to www.blogger.com and start a blog. The site will walk you through the process. It can be a little confusing, but you'll figure it out. Just get the thing going, and make a post - perhaps introducing your web site and yourself.

2. Now go to http://my.yahoo.com and sign up for MY Yahoo. I don't get into these kind of services normally, but having my local weather and movie schedules always there is kind of nice. In any case, it's a necessary part of the process.

3. Now find the button on your MY Yahoo page that says "add content." Click on that, and then on the link that says "add RSS by URL." Then you need to enter the address of your blog (check back with blogger.com if you aren't sure). Click "add," and you just subscribed to your own blog from your MY Yahoo page.

4. Make another post, but this time introduce the pages of your site, making sure that every one is an active link. You can just say, "Here's a list of all the pages of my web site," and follow that with the links.

5. Now go to a "ping" service, like Pingomatic. Enter the necessary information, and click on "send pings." They then notify important blog directories, including "My Yahoo" that your blog has a new post.

6. Wait. Yahoo is in a battle with Google to index as many blogs as it can, because RSS Blogging (Real Simple Syndication) is likely the next big thing in the internet. When they spider your blog, the spiders will follow the links you have there, and that is how they will find and index your pages. It has worked every time I've tried it so far. Do a search in a couple days to check. (Just enter the page address).

This is a great way to get into a great search engine fast.

Next Time: Keyword research secrets.

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