5 SEO Tips for Yahoo!

Even though Google is the search engine powerhouse, it’s not the only search engine. If you ignore Yahoo!, you could be wasting your efforts. By focusing only on Google, you’re missing out on a huge source of traffic from another popular search engine.

Address SEO for Yahoo! now, and you will save yourself time in the future. (And we all want to save ourselves some time, right?) By reading this article, you’ll learn a few ways you can improve your SEO for this alternate search engine. But let’s start with a quick overview of what SEO is.

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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 the 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.

Links Are Important

Yahoo! values inbound linking and backlinks more than Google. This means that if your website has a high number of quality links, you may rank very well on this search engine, even if other factors that Google considers priority aren’t quite where they should be.

The Age of Your Website Matters

Next, Yahoo! gives great importance to domain age—that is, how long you’ve had the URL or address associated with your website. Therefore, having an older domain is an advantage.

While there’s nothing you can do to age your domain any faster, it’s a lesson on rebranding. If you want to rank high in Yahoo!, don’t change your domain name.

Video: What Is SEO?

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 a 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 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!

Need some help optimizing your website for search? Want to know more about how a leading SEO company like WebFX can make your site rank better in multiple search engines, and for the keywords you are targeting? Take a look at our SEO plans and contact us today to find out what we can do to help you succeed online.