Search Rankings: Is a Yahoo Directory link worth it?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) techniques are always evolving. Emerging internet trends challenge us to stay on track as to what is working. There has been a small debate recently over whether or not paying for an annual listing in the Yahoo directory is really worth it for SEO purposes. Does it help your business website?

Yahoo Directory Factors

To list your website in the Yahoo directory you pay $299 per year. This serves as an editorial fee for Yahoo to determine the quality of your website. Businesses have different budgets, so the value you receive by listing your website in the Yahoo directory will be dependant on budget size. For larger businesses who have substantial budgets, take the exposure. Smaller businesses however may pause.

Yahoo reserves the right to determine the quality of your website as mentioned before. What does this exactly mean? For the Yahoo Directory guidelines refer below:

Must be in English
Must be up and running 24 hours a day
No pages under construction
No broken links
Proper categorization of pages

If a business has a quality website that follows the criteria above then it should have no problem getting accepted to the Yahoo directory. The next step is picking a category. When picking a business category, pick one indexed by other directories with authority, such as Google and Bing. Major directories reference each other for information.

The Answer for Small Business

If you are a business wondering how to best allocate your marketing budget, here are some tips. Yahoo is one of the major directory listings for SEO purposes. It has authority over many competing directories however, Google is the king of the jungle.

Our recommendation for small business owners who pause at $299 per year is to concentrate on Google first. With a quality website and an enhanced Google + listing, you can get off to a great start in terms of SEO and online visibility.

There is also an alternative to the Yahoo directory that adds more value for small local businesses – joining your local Chamber of Commerce. There is still a cost involved but it is based on the number of employees so for a small business it will be affordable.

Chamber of Commerce Benefits

By joining your local Chamber of Commerce, you automatically get added to their online business directory under your category of business. Here you can add your contact information and a link to your website. This link will be from a local organization that residents and business owners trust to find products and services within the community.

Being affiliated with the local Chamber of Commerce adds two very important benefits in regards to SEO – Trust and Authority. Local chamber websites offer a trusted source for information and they have high domain authority. So high in fact, Google uses these trusted links when calculating search rankings. For small local businesses looking to attract more attention, nothing is better than climbing up the ranks of Google.

Visit the U.S. Chamber of Commerce website to find your local chapter.