5 SEO Tips for Yahoo!
Understanding the Basics of SEO
Search engine optimization (or SEO) is the process of improving your website so it ranks higher in the search engines. SEO is one of the most reliable, effective, and inexpensive ways to make your website more visible to the people who are actively seeking out answers to their questions, the products they need, or the services they desire.
Society today depends on search engines for locating information and businesses. If your business has no presence on the Internet, and your SEO isn’t on point, you’re missing out on a large portion of potential profits.
Why is Yahoo! Important?
Yahoo! is a search engine that, as of April 2017, makes up 11.7% of US search share. That’s reason alone not to ignore it: one in every ten people use it on a daily basis.
Late in 2014, Yahoo! and Mozilla announced that Yahoo! would take over for Google as the default search option in the Firefox browser. This is a deal that has brought many more searchers to Yahoo!, and may continue to do so over time.
Even though Google still owns the lion’s share of search authority, the future of Yahoo! is promising. And when people search for the services you offer on Yahoo!, you want to appear in the search engine results.
Let’s take a look at some specific tips you can use to beef up your site’s optimization for Yahoo! searches.
What You Should Know About Yahoo! SEO First
If you’re convinced to engage in SEO for Yahoo!, it’s important to recognize some of the differences between SEO for Google and SEO for Yahoo! Here are a few things to know right away:
Competition is Potentially Lower
Just because the competition is stiff on Google doesn’t mean it will be as competitive on Yahoo! For example, a site that is leading Google for the keyword phrase “best lemon cakes” might be satisfied with the success on Google and, therefore, ignore the other search engines.
If you’re aiming to rank for the same search phrase on another engine, there might not be as much competition if the Google-leader competitor is opting out of ranking in Yahoo!
Yahoo! Isn’t as Complicated as Google
SEO for Google is arguably more complicated than SEO for other search engines. This, according to some theories, means that SEO for Yahoo! is going back to the basics, to a time when ranking a site depended on fewer factors.
Google has implemented many algorithm updates over the last few years, many of which have mystified Internet marketers. Yahoo! hasn’t done this.
Yahoo! and Bing Are Similar
First, SEO for Yahoo! and Bing are similar. So if you’re optimizing for Yahoo!, you’re also essentially optimizing for Bing. Both search engines have their own algorithms—that is, automatic systems that determine how to rank websites for any given word or phrase—but they are very similar to one another.
SEO Tips for Yahoo!
Consider the following tips when engaging in SEO for this alternate search engine:
1. Conduct keyword research
Find out what people are searching for on Yahoo! in relation to the services you offer. Once you know these search terms, you can add them to your website and content.
SEO for Yahoo! places an emphasis on keywords in page titles and tags, so be sure to include them there. While you shouldn’t stuff them in or create sentences that don’t make sense (more on that shortly), you should aim to get the most important and relevant words and phrases into these spots.
2. Use keywords, but don’t stuff
While Yahoo! isn’t as quite sensitive as Google to keyword stuffing, it’s important to opt for natural use. This means you should write phrases and sentences that make sense and are readable first and contain your keywords as a secondary factor.
3. Create engaging content
Some rules for SEO are exactly the same, regardless of the search engine. This is true for creating engaging, high-authority content.
SEO for Yahoo!, like the other search engines, depends on relevant content. Make sure that the blog posts, articles, and other content pieces on your website are sensible, informative, and actually relevant to your content. Don’t try to game the system by creating long pieces that contain lots of keywords but little substance—Yahoo! will catch on and hurt your rankings as a result.
4. Opt to bring something new to the conversation
Create content that’s valuable to your readers. Don’t regurgitate information that’s already been published. Add a new, interesting perspective to a trending topic or publish content that’s fresh and relevant to your audience.
5. Keep an eye on the news
Finally, don’t assume that Yahoo!’s algorithms and ranking factors will stay the same forever. Just like Google, you should watch for news updates that contain information on what website owners should be doing to deliver a better user experience on search engines. From this, you can glean new SEO information that will affect how you try to rank.
Are You Optimizing for Multiple Search Engines?
Remember that SEO is constantly changing, so it’s never wise to put all of your efforts into one place. The only way to ensure you get—and stay—on top of the search results is to optimize for every search engine out there, including Yahoo!
