Getting listed in Yahoo! (The Very Top Search Engine/Index) is a lot like getting a date with the most beautiful girl in high school - often all you have to do is ask PROPERLY. I can make that statement because I have NEVER submitted a site to Yahoo! that wasn't listed. I've read a lot about how difficult it is getting listed, and how frustrating it is - so maybe I am just very lucky. Then again, if you follow the same steps that have ALWAYS worked for me, there is no reason to believe that they won't work for you too. So I wanted to share with you in four short steps how to get listed.

The first step is ensuring your site is READY. The staff at Yahoo! is very busy. A person has to physically look over your site and decide if it's appropriate for the category submitted and if it's worth listing. They get thousands of submissions to review. So begin by putting yourself in the reviewer's shoes; if you would be unimpressed by reviewing your site, then the reviewer probably will be too. If that's the case, fix the problems with your site before submitting it. The reviewers are humans - with all the quirks that humans are subject to, and you must account for that.

Site readiness means two major thing to me: (1) It contains sufficient content worth listing and (2) It is complete enough that it contains absolutely no dead links, and it can be easily navigated. Every site should be under constant update - so that's not a real problem - just leave off leave the unnecessary "under construction" gifs.

Most people who visit the internet are looking for free information on some topic - furnish this information and your site fills a need and is therefore worth listing. My main site is a perfect example of this. It contains articles on internet marketing by a variety of diverse, experienced authors. A surfer gets a lot of very useful CONTENT from visiting and therefore my site is "worth" listing. I am constantly adding to this storehouse, so it is never really complete, but it was ready for listing when first submitted. Every link led to some real resource, and not a disappointing "file not found."

After you know that your site is ready, step two is simply submitting it properly. Using the Yahoo! search box, find sites similar to yours. Click on the "suggest a site" icon and suggest your site in the same category. Fill in all of the fields completely and accurately. You're not going to fool the reviewer and if you submit to the wrong category you annoy a very busy reviewer - and guarantee that you won't be listed.

Step three is probably the hardest - you wait. While some search engines list your site within days, Yahoo! may take months. So after you know that you have properly submitted your content rich, submission ready site in the proper categories, you display a little patience.

But not too much patience; step 4 is resubmitting. If your site isn't listed in about 6 weeks, resubmit. Keep resubmitting until it is listed! That's partly how I can honestly say that I have never submitted a site that wasn't listed - I am very, very persistent. In marketing, whether on or offline, persistence is the key. Sort of like asking that pretty girl out again - eventually she would probably say "why not." While my main site at http://www.williecrawford.com was listed the very first time it was submitted, and shows up under "INTERNET MARKETING 101" (with quotation marks) as the first listing, I have client sites listed in Yahoo that I did have to submit several times - but they all got listed.

It all boils down to realizing that of all the search engines and indexes, Yahoo! generates the most hits. So it's definitely worth the effort! You will not get listed if you don't submit your site, and you probably won't get listed if you don't submit properly. Do it right the first time and profit from this most cherished of listings.