Now that Yahoo has pulled the plug on Google and brought their
search results back in house, we as webmasters must once again
focus on a different algorithm.
Optimize for Yahoo: The Next Big Step
Not only does this indicate a challenge of Google's authority
from yet another prominent contender in the search market but it also prepares the war of SEO between the top
search
engines and all eyes are now on Yahoo.
The New Guy
The SEO rules are constantly changing and so must you now that
Yahoo has a new search engine on display. Good thing for
webmasters that the new Yahoo algorithm is a slight resemblance
of the Google algorithm in a few ways, making it less cumbersome
to optimize for the new Yahoo. This erases the need to start
over fresh while optimizing for Yahoo.
Although Yahoo is using part Inktomi algorithm for its SERPs and
that algorithm being similar to Google's algorithm one would
have to find the line that formulates the distinct separation of
the two and to find out what works and what doesn't to rank well
in Yahoo.
Keyword Density
In SEO labs where the new Yahoo algorithm was examined, it
appears that Yahoo gives more weight, compared to Google, to a
page that displays more keywords. The study suggests that most
of the high ranking pages generally had a higher number of
keywords or keyword density in the body and title of the page. Of the top placed pages most had a keyword density of
around 10%, however some of the highly ranked pages had a
keyword density of around 3%. This was an indication that
backlinks with anchor text played a part. Below is a chart of
the on page elements Yahoo looks at and the keyword densities
that make up the total keyword density of the page:
.
Title - 15 to 20% (title tag is one of the more
important on page elements for the new Yahoo algorithm)
.
Body Text - 3%
.
Meta Tags 3%
Anchor Text of Incoming Links
Anchor
text has been one of the most focused aspects of search engine
optimization since Google stepped into the arena however Yahoo
looks at them a little differently.
Although anchor text of
incoming links is looked at with a slight twist in Yahoo they
still play a major part of ranking well, however not with as
much weight as Google puts on them. You will still need to
incorporate strong keyword density into your title and body
tags.
Keywords in Directories and File Names
In our labs we studied the relationship between keywords in
directory names and file names. As stated above keyword density
plays a major role in ranking well for the new Yahoo algorithm.
Naming your directories and file names as such:
www.my-domain.com/keyword/file-name-with-keywords.html
will have a slight impact on your overall keyword density.
Conclusion
Keywords in title and body tags and anchor text of incoming
links are the areas you should focus on when you optimize for Yahoo search engine to be well ranked. Also ensure
that you have proper Meta Tags as Yahoo ranks sites partially on
that as well.
Discuss this topic in our
Yahoo Forums.
If you are interested in providing our Yahoo tips on your site
you may link to it by clicking on the "Get Link" below
and pasting it onto your webpage. It is recommended that you first
paste this link in Notepad and then into your webpage.
