Different Search Engine Means Different Algorithm

All search engines have their own algorithms to determine the
value and, therefore, positioning of websites. While the
majority of SEO work tends to concentrate on Google because of
the sheer weight of searches they receive it would be foolish to
discount or ignore the other major search engines. Yahoo is
considered one of the big three along with Google and MSN and by
concentrating a little more time and effort on Yahoo
optimization it is quite possible to gain a good amount of
traffic. With ultra competitive keywords it may actually provide
an easier way to generate search traffic than gearing all your
efforts solely towards Google.

The Most Important Yahoo Optimization Factor

The first, and most pertinent point is that Yahoo judges content
to be the most important factor in their algorithms. They do
still consider inbound links and other factors but they are
attuned to the way of the content site and they love sites that
provide keyword-optimized content in large mass. While that may
make it sound easier than concentrating on generating a huge
base of inbound links as you would for Google, Yahoo
optimization presents its own challenges and its own unique
quirks that you should consider.

Looking At Keyword Density

Because of the relevance that Yahoo places on the content within
your site, the keyword once again becomes a vitally important
aspect of your research. While Google have been striving to
promote sites that use organic content and webmasters and SEOs
have been optimizing with around 2% to 3% keyword density Yahoo
prefers a much greater density level. The danger, of course, is
that giving Yahoo what they want may cause Google to deem your
content as being keyword stuffed but there is another difference
between the two algorithms that can help to counteract this
problem.

Using Stems, Inflexions, And Variants Of Keywords

Yahoo is very heavily language based. This means that it is,
strictly speaking, more aware of the nuances of the written
language. It will include synonyms and inflexions of a keyword
when considering your keyword density; something that Google
does not consider to the same extent. This means that it is
possible to optimize for both without diminishing your ranking
with one another.

How To Optimize For Yahoo Without Getting Penalized By Google

Google likes a density of around 2% and Yahoo likes a density as
high as 7% or even 8%. This means that you can effectively use 4
variations of a single keyword or phrase and a density of 2% for
each. This offers further advantages. With Google you are now
gearing your content towards four different keywords and
offering the level they want, and you are still providing Yahoo
with the much higher density rate that they require. Because you
can include plurals and further stems of keywords this means you
can write in a much more natural tone.

Using The Near Forgotten Meta Tags

One area that a lot of SEO professionals and webmasters alike
now tend to overlook is the Meta tag. However, Yahoo appears to
still give consideration to the keyword and description tags in
particular. This is quite rare in the case of most search
engines and Google certainly do not look for keywords in your
Meta tags. Do not attempt to dupe Yahoo, though, and only
include keywords that genuinely appear on your page and are
relevant to your topic.

Regular, Fresh Content Is King

You've probably heard the saying that "content is king" and this
is even truer when considering Yahoo optimization. The more
content you provide the better. This may mean making regular
additions to your site but it will generate the kind of results
you are looking for. Blogs are also a very good way to continue
adding relevant content to your site that Yahoo will smile down
on.

The Lazy Yahoo Bot

Compared to other search engine spiders the Yahoo bot is a
comparatively lazy animal. It doesn't crawl as often as other
bots and it certainly doesn't crawl as deep into your site to
find all of your pages and index them. This means you should pay
extra attention to creating a legible sitemap and keeping it
updated as regularly as possible. Yahoo has a sitemap submission
feature that is similar to Google's and using this is heavily
recommended to try and ensure that Yahoo stays on top of the
infrastructure of your site and ranks you accordingly.

Inbound Links And Controlling Them Yourself

Inbound links are still important to Yahoo, but again a lot of
emphasis is placed on content. Textual relevance seems to be one
of the most important factors so having control over your
inbound links and being able to determine the pages where they
appear and the anchor text of each is important. Perhaps the
best way to generate inbound links for Yahoo optimization is to
use the article directories to your benefit.

Yahoo Optimization Conclusion

Google may be the search engine that everyone talks about and
optimizes for but ignoring Yahoo would be foolish. This is
especially true because while the Yahoo algorithm is quite
different to the Google one and other algorithms, it is still
quite easy to optimize for both. The most important factors to
remember are to use relevant Meta tags for every single page of
your site, include as much content and update your site with new
content as often as possible, and update a sitemap both on your
website and with the Yahoo sitemaps function.

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