24 replies to this topic

[ladybird]

I wonder if someone can help me because I'm getting a little concerned:

I launched a website ( the first one in my signature) in June and have been adding content and generating links since then.

However, although I have achieved good rankings in MSN, Yahoo rankings are still eluding me.

Any ideas why this may be the case? Does anyone know how long it normally takes to get a Yahoo listing for an averagely competitive keyword?

[seo_bright]

Hi ladybird,
Your site is not properly indexed in Yahoo. Just the home page comes up with title. Next I get just 2 pages without any titles. Well if all the pages are properly indexed then you will get results immediately. There is no period of time like Google when you will get results.

[ladybird]

Hi there,

Thanks for your reply. Any idea why the site may not have been indexed yet?

[seo_bright]

Hi ladybird,
Its usually the case nowadays in Yahoo. Even a site of mine is not indexed properly in Yahoo. Even though it was launched in April. Actually what happened was all the pages were indeed indexed and I also got good results for most of the keywords. But then suddenly pages disappeared from its index. I had also written two times to Yahoo and also submitted in their form. Now the home page alone has titles in it and the rest just titles in form of urls and no description.
I thought that perhaps Yahoo is about to index the inner pages also. But for two weeks its the same status.

[Dragon]

I have usually found Yahoo to be quite good with indexing, till recently it even superseded MSN, but in the last couple of weeks it has been rather slack....no idea why though....

[ladybird]

Is there anything that I can do to try and get it indexed faster- after all, the site was launched in June of this year?

[Jill]

Yes, yahoo still offers a paid inclusion program that will get your pages indexed quickly.

[ladybird]

Jill, I thought the paid inclusion programme (£199 in the UK) was just to get listed in the Yahoo directory. Does it also get pages indexed faster in the actually search engine part of Yahoo too?

[Randy]

Two different things ladybird.

Paying to get into Yahoo's Directory gets you into their Directory.

Jill is referring to their Paid Inclusion program, where they spider the page(s) you choose to include, then you pay a Per Click charge whenever someone clicks on your site's listing. Sort of like Google's Adwords.

[WSO]

To help get your entire site indexed by Yahoo!, make sure the spider can easily find all of the pages in your site, and keep building inbound links. Even if you have inbound links, getting more will entice the Yahoo! spider to visit your site more often.

The easiest way to make sure the spider can find all of the pages is to have a simple site map with text links to each page of your site, and link to that site map from your home page (again, with a text link). The spider can go from the home page to the site map, and from the map to all of the other pages.

Yahoo!'s paid inclusion program will definitely get you indexed, but there are some budget issues you must consider. You pay an initial fee for each page you want indexed (not just one fee for the entire site). And as Randy said, you then pay each time someone clicks on your link in Yahoo! The amount per click depends on what type of site it is. So it can get kind of expensive in some situations. You can set a cap on your spending, but after that is reached, they say they stop showing your site in the SERPs. However, it does guarantee that your pages are reindexed every two or three days, which can be of great benefit.

Tom

[ladybird]

Just to make sure I understand:

The suggestion is that I sign up to what used to be called Overture and what I think has been rebranded as Yahoo Search Marketing (or something), ie Yahoo's PPC programme.

In the UK I think it's £60 to open an account and then you bid for keywords.

This will have the effect of getting Yahoo to index my site's pages faster. Once I have taken the ads offline, the pages will still be in Yahoo's index.

I have already added the sitemap you suggested and am constantly trying to get inbound links ( not that easy!!).

Have I understood properly?

[Jill]

Nooooo! Overture won't get you into the regular listing.

The suggestion is that you sign up for the paid-inclusion program at Yahoo. Visit PositionTech or Priority Submit and you can sign up from there.

[ladybird]

Oh I see, thanks for clearing that up.

If I use the service you're suggesting and then use up my PPC deposit and don't top it up after it's been used up ( ie the account goes offline), presumably the pages that Yahoo has indexed as a result of me subscribing to the Direct submit service will stay in its index.

In other words, I continue to benefit from being in the index even when I no longer have funds in the Direct Submit account.

Have I got that right?


Also, as an aside, how can I find out what pages have and have not been indexed by Yahoo and Google?

[Randy]

In other words, I continue to benefit from being in the index even when I no longer have funds in the Direct Submit account.

My understanding is No, it doesn't work quote that way.

If they pages would be spidered on their own, without being part of the paid inclusion plan then they'll be in the index. But if they wouldn't normally be spidered for any reason (lack of authority, technical glitches, etc) they will be removed.

What using paid inclusion can help with in a case like this is to assist you in determining if there are any technical problems that are keeping the page from being spidered and indexed. Because since you're paying for it, you'll be able to ask someone at Yahoo! what the problem is and they should be able to tell you. If such a problem currently exists, it'll help you to quickly identify and fix the problems.

However if the problem is one of lack of authority or importance in the eyes of the Y!, you're probably not going to keep your rankings if your account tops out and you don't deposit more funds.

how can I find out what pages have and have not been indexed by Yahoo and Google?

Go to each and use the site: operator when searching your domain name. For example: site:yourdomain.com

[ladybird]

So in other words, my site would only be in the index for as long as funds are in the account- regardless of whether or not it is well optimised?

Do you know where I can find an email address to contact Yahoo to ask why my site hasn't been indexed yet?