37 replies to this topic

[parkinglinks]

When I first launched my site back in 2002 I was told that being listed in the Yahoo directory was extremely important from an SEO perspective. I've renewed my directory listing 3 times mainly because I am afraid it will somehow hurt my page rank if I cancel it.

I feel like I am being ripped off though because i don't receive any traffic from the directory. Is it really worth it to pay the $299 annual fee? Can anyone offer advice on the effects of being listing or not being listed in the Yahoo directory.

[qwerty]

I used to recommend it to, and for clients with a large enough budget that $299 isn't a big deal, I still do. But it's clearly not something you "need" anymore.

I'd like to think that search engines would put a lot of weight on a link that's very specifically targeted and, because of the annual fee, pretty much indicates that a given site isn't some fly-by nighter, but that doesn't seem to be the case, at least not right now.

[parkinglinks]

It seems that other search engines such as Google would not favor Yahoo directory listings because they would rather see the $299 come their way in the form of Ad Words campaigns. I also think its interesting that in 2003-2004 Google gave Yahoo directory pages a 9 page rank. Today they give them 4/10.

[DIGITALLYDEFINED]

Hi timivers,

The yahoo directory has lost it's relevance because:

1. I dont see many Humans using it to search anything.

2. There is no favourite treatment by SE for a yahoo directory links

But I wonder why people are still ready to pay that huge sum of money to Yahoo? I think that is the Brand Value - people are more likly to pay to a big name rather then pay for small name but more working companies..?

Regards,
Gaurav.

[projectphp]

1. I dont see many Humans using it to search anything.

Buit that doesn't mean they don;t end up there

2. There is no favourite treatment by SE for a yahoo directory links

But they don't dislike them either

really, it all comes down to budget. $299 out of $1,000 for one link is a lot. $299 out of a budget of millions isn't a heck of a lot, and a nobrainer IMHO.

[parkinglinks]

Thanks for your feedback projectphp.

$299 is $299 regardless of your advertising budget... Only a fool would throw money around without doing their homework... It all comes to ROI. If being listed in the Yahoo directory generates $299 or more worth of business than its a good thing. Its hard to calculate the SEO value of a Yahoo listing. I know one thing for sure, I have received "0" visitors from the Yahoo directory in the past year.

[Jill]

Lot of other threads on whether a  yahoo listing is worth the money[/hr].

[biotechguy0331]

not sure its worth it --- it does add a good PR inbound link, but can buy those for less money elsewhere...

[Randy]

Welcome biotechguy !

[Deverill]

I'll leave Jill's links to speak to the value of Yahoo! Directory links specifically, but regardless of the name of the advertising medium ...

$299 / 0 hits = infinite cost per hit.

Anything you get zero links in one year seems to be throwing good money after bad.

[chrishirst]

welcome to HR biotechguy0331

it does add a good PR inbound link

Actually it doesn't, the Yahoo directory uses a click tracking link that redirects with a 302 response.

[mcanerin]

Actually it doesn't, the Yahoo directory uses a click tracking link that redirects with a 302 response

Actually Chris, That's not completely true. Yahoo is a cloaker.

You are probably thinking about this:

http://dir.yahoo.com...graphy/Digital/

If you go to this page, you will see that all the links are redirects, for tracking purposes.

BUT:

Look at the same page as Google sees it (ie, from cache):

http://72.14.203.104...l...hy/Digital/

You will see that Yahoo cloaked the page and fed one with clean links to Google, which then pass on PR.

Those guys. Where is a white hat when you need one? Maybe someone should report them...

Ian

Edited by mcanerin, 21 May 2006 - 08:58 PM.

[mcanerin]

Having said that, getting a link only for PR is a bad thing.

Hmmm. Yahoo sells links with no traffic, and who's value is only PR, and then cloaks to make sure PR is being passed on...

Good thing their motto isn't "don't be evil."

At the end of the day, though, I just don't think the link is worth it, and neither would most black hats. You can get very nice directories for an average of $40 a pop. Given a choice between 7-8 directories and one, for the same price, it's a no brainer for most people.

I would only buy that link if I'd already got all the other good ones available and had some money left over. And maybe not even then.

Ian

Edited by mcanerin, 21 May 2006 - 09:21 PM.

[Jill]

Hmmm. Yahoo sells links with no traffic, and who's value is only PR, and then cloaks to make sure PR is being passed on...

So, according to Matt Cutts, they should be putting nofollow attributes on 'em!

[mcanerin]