The question as to whether or not it is worth paying $299 for a chance (not a gurantee) for inclusion into the Yahoo Directory has been a question asked by many business owners on various website forums. Owners of websites have also analyzed this in their mind as to whether it would make sense and whether they would get their return on investment from the inclusion into the directory. I would like to share my perspective on this subject and whether or not it is the right decision to submit your website to the Yahoo directory or not. I would say:
Do not submit your website to the Yahoo directory if:
1. Your website does not confirm to Yahoo directory’s listing terms.
2. Your website does not support multiple browsers including Microsoft internet explorer, Mozilla firefox, Apple Safari, and Google Chrome. In other words, if your website does not show up correctly in any of these browsers, then you need to fix the problem prior to directory submission and wasting your money!
3. Your website is not in the English language. At this time, Yahoo directory will not allow websites that are not written in the English language.
4. Your website does not contain unique content that is relevant to other web users. In other words, if you have a turnkey website that hundreds of others also have or something like an adwords website with articles that thousands of other people are posting to their website, then do not even bother wasting your time or money.
5. If any part of your website is under construction.
Benefits to Submitting to the Yahoo Directory
1. Your website is in a recognized website directory that is one of the most well known. You will get increased traffic directly from the website directory.
2. The potential for an increase in natural search engine results from both Google and Yahoo search. I have personally our website move up in organic search engine results since our inclusion in the Yahoo website directory.
We have tracked this by using both Google Analytics and Google Webmaster Tools. Google Analytics is showing an increase in search engine traffic after getting included in the Yahoo directory and Google Webmaster Tools is showing that our search engine rank for specific keywords has increased.
Suggestions for Measurement
I advise to take measuring your return on investment from traffic from the Yahoo Directory and organic search results very seriously. If you are not getting your return on investment, it may be a flaw with what you are offering or the price you are offering it at. I strongly suggest using Google Analytics and setting up goals and funnels to help you determine if you are meeting your website endpoints and if Yahoo Directory is helping you to establish these goals.
Remember though, you cannot measure by Yahoo directory traffic alone, but you must also take into consideration, increased organic traffic as a result of directory inclusion which you cannot really tie down to a specific statistic. However, you can bet your website appears more reputable in the sight of search engines, if they believe first that your website is worth $299 to just get listed in Yahoo directory and secondly your content is good enough to get approved for inclusion.
