10 replies to this topic

[JennyR]

This is something that's been bugging me for a while now. My client does pretty well in Yahoo for the majority of it's most important keywords bar one and I am stumped as to what I can do. The keyword is "fitness equipment" but Yahoo will only display the directory listing NOT the home page. The problem is, the description is REALLY dull (the directory listing was added way back in the days of no charges) and before my client realised the importance of good SEO. What I want to know is
1) can I get Yahoo to change the description? (without an extra charge)
2) how can I get the home page listed instead?
I know from tracking the visitor stats that no-one bothers to click on the directory listing link.

Not sure if I can put this - but I will anyway - my client's URL is www.bsfitness.co.uk but if you search on "fitness equipment" in yahoo UK the directory listing is number 18 in the results.

Please, please can someone help me resolve this!

Jenny

[Randy]

Hey Jenny !

I haven't seen a solution to your question anywhere yet. This all changed when Yahoo! went to their own Search back in February. Since that time they've been using the Directory descriptions for general search listings.

Hopefully someone else will have a better answer for you. The last time I tried to get a site's Yahoo! Directory listing altered, ages ago so it may not be relevant anymore, it was like pulling teeth. Lots of them!

[Haystack]

Jenny, I feel your pain on this issue. I does seem like a handicap when Yahoo displays the directory result they wrote for your site rather than a dynamically created result pulling current content from your web page.

The only ways I know to solve this problem are to pay Yahoo to update your listing, or to drop your site out of Yahoo's directory. I'm not sure which one is a better solution, since they can have some negative effects on either your wallet or rankings.

[SearchRank]

You can request changes at http://add.yahoo.com/fast/change?chLMC. It doesn't mean they will do it though. keep in mind that your title is pretty much going to be the company name. You can change the description and in doing so, you should provide a good reason such as, "the current description does not accurately describe to Yahoo users what we offer," or "we would really like to highlight that we offer "keyword" so that our listing is relevant to Yahoo users." Place emphasis on what is good for the users of Yahoo rather than something like, "we want to rank higher for such and such a keyword."

Good luck with it.

[JennyR]

Thanks guys. I think my best course of action is to contact Yahoo directly and see if they'll change the description. I'm v.hestitant about asking them to delete the entry altogether as it may well result in a more negative effect than leaving it as it is.

If I have any success in getting it altered I'll post it here to let you know!

Thanks again.

Jenny

[BrianR]

Jenny

I just checked Yahoo UK and your directory listing has the company name as the title, which is correct for Yahoo. The web pages listing also has the company name as the title, plus the description is taken from the directory description, which is also correct for Yahoo.

What's worse is that this practice, which they started when they launched their new SE in Feb, is being extended to their other search properties too - ATW, AV. Not nice!

For that reason, plus the fact that the directory listing normally delivers very few visitors anyway, I have stopped advising new clients to take a Yahoo directory listing. However, others on this forum maintain that it is still well worth it for the boost it probably gives to your Yahoo web page rankings and the strong inbound link score it probably gives for Google.

I think your decision to ask Yahoo to change the description for user-friendly reasons is worth a shot. But, if you achieve that, you will still be stuck with a less than optimum title and description in Yahoo web pages, ATW, AV. The only comforting thought is that the same rules also apply to all your competitors who are listed in the Yahoo directory.

Please let us know how your efforts to change the Yahoo description go - we could use a post-new Yahoo benchmark for directory changes. Thanks.

BrianR

[Mel]

hmmm... this does not seem to be a universal method for Yahoo, it seems to be restricted to sites listed in the UK or other country directories.

I just checked some US sites and they seem to have used the directory description only when the search was for the URL but for keyword searches they are using the page title, description and page snippets in the SERP.

But searches in both the US and UK directories for the search term bolton stirland fitness equipment show the directory description for the home page and the page title description and snippets for other

So maybe another solution would be to optimize some interior pages for your search terms.

Not an ideal solution,but it might be easier than getting Yahoo to change their directory title and description.

[OldWelshGuy]

I had a heated debate with a client and his in house 'expert' yesterday about the page title.

The fact is that IMO the title has 2 masters, SEO & marketing (I know the pros don't distinguish but I said this to make the point).

SEO: from a purely SEO angle it is all about making it fit in well to get the site where you want it.

MARKETING: this is almost as crucial. I have found that people, certainly in the uk search for generic terms, and skim the SERPS looking for a reason to buy. I have just taken on a client who sells vending machines. I have noticed that while there are many searches in the uk, they all tend to be generic (non regional). The only logical thing to work out therefore is that people search generically, skim, and then amend the search term if they can't find what they are looking for.

We mentioned the other day about the length of titles, in this respect it can be the difference between getting a click though or not.

[BrianR]

hmmm... this does not seem to be a universal method for Yahoo, it seems to be restricted to sites listed in the UK or other country directories.

I just checked some US sites and they seem to have used the directory description only when the search was for the URL but for keyword searches they are using the page title, description and page snippets in the SERP.

It's odd that Yahoo should apply one (rather restrictive) method for UK sites and a more relaxed, far more preferable method for US sites. Can't see what their justification is for that...

BrianR

[OldWelshGuy]

Then again Brian, UK companies pay £199 for life to get into the Y! directory

[BrianR]

Sure we do, OWG - but for £199 (ie. a lot of money!), we should expect to receive second class service?? No fair!

BrianR