Yahoo Search Engine Optimization Strategies

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Did you know the Yahoo Search Engine did not start as a search engine?

Yahoo History

Founded in 1994 by Jerry Yang and David Filo, Yahoo was one of the
first major Internet Directories.

It didn't take long for the Yahoo directory to become massive. As the number of listings grew exponentially, it became obvious that a Yahoo would have to incorporate a search feature. Still even as search was added to Yahoo, the feature only extended as far as their internal directory and content. Infact for a long time the search feature at Yahoo was not an inhouse project, but instead outsourced to third party providers who enabled search for the Yahoo directory.

As time passed, like many dotcoms of the era - Yahoo began charging for commercial business listings, it should be noted that some information websites were granted free inclusion.

By 2002 Yahoo could no longer ignore internet search, and jump started it's Search Engine business with several key purchases. Yahoo's first target, the Inktomi search engine, which was purchased in late 2002. Next Yahoo purchased Overture (a pay per click search engine) in mid 2003. The Overture purchase added a lineup of technologies to Yahoo's belt, including the former search giant and pioneer Altavista and AllTheWeb. (Both of which Overture had previously gobbled up.)

In a psudo start to the search engine wars, Yahoo kicked Google to the curb and began using their own search technologies in early 2004.

Yahoo Optimization Strategies

Yahoo Search Engine Optimization has several cavets that do not apply to other search engines. For example, Yahoo - similar in one regard to MSN Live favors websites with vast numbers of incoming links. (Who are we kidding, all search engines love links!) but you could say that in some search engines, you can muddle through with less then on Yahoo.

Performing Yahoo Search Engine Optimization be aware that Yahoo will use Meta Data and in our opinion does give weight (albeit small) to meta tags. For example Yahoo is known to use the meta description in it's SERPs. (Search Engine Result Pages).

Yahoo is more forgiving when it comes to spam sites, and tends to favor websites with higher keyword percentages. This is not to say that when conducting yahoo search engine optimization you should begin stuffing your webpage with keywords.

As part of any seo campaign, you should start by conducting indepth research and analysis of your competition. Looking at the websites that are currently ranking well for the keywords you want to target. It would not be advisable to try and "out do them" by doubling their keyword density for instance, this is a losing strategy.

With Yahoo SEO it is important to have proper website structure, keywords with relevant supporting content, and a solid base of links in comparison to your competitors. Your competition will always show you the path to success when it comes to yahoo search engine optimization.

Want to take your website to the next level on Yahoo? Call our team for a free consultation at 1-888-749-3832

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