Have you been to Yahoo! lately? It's a whole new directory. There are extensive changes in the way results are ranked and displayed. But the big news is that the Yahoo! algorithm formula has changed dramatically.

The improvement? More relevant results. Ever since Google started serving more relevant results with link and click popularity, other search engines are doing the same. And Yahoo! is no exception.

Here's the scoop: Yahoo! has changed three basic factors in its algorithm formula that affect category rankings, including Web sites (directory listings) and Web pages (Google listings). These factors are: keyword use in Title, Description and URL, category weight, and alphanumeric importance.

More Attention to Key Words

Algorithmic factors now place importance on keyword placement and density in the Title, Description and URL. Yahoo! will return search results weighted more heavily toward keywords than alphanumeric and category factors.

Keyword Density: The ratio of keywords versus non-keywords appearing in your Title, Description and URL is now a decisive ranking factor. For instance, consider the Title, Description and URL below:

Title: Small Business Software
Description: provides small business software solutions
URL: www.1small-business-software.com

If your search phrase is "small business software solutions," the keyword density in your Title would be 75 percent (3 out of 4 words match). Keyword density in your Description would be 60 percent (3 out of 5 words). For your URL, the keyword density would be 33 percent (1 out of 3 words). If your URL were www.small-business-software.com (without the 1), you would have better relevancy because the keyword density is higher. Note the hyphens in the URL, which also improve keyword density.

You can vary the Title and Description to improve relevancy, but you can't change your URL (unless you change your domain name). But don't repeat keywords needlessly because Yahoo! editors might edit your copy, especially if you use keywords indiscriminately. It's important to be pithy in writing highly-relevant HTML Titles and Descriptions so you don't tempt Yahoo! editors to edit and possibly remove some targeted keywords.

Keyword Placement: The location of strategic keywords in your Title, Description and URL is critical with the new algorithm. In other words, it matters exactly where you place your keywords. The closer your keyword phrase is to the beginning of your Title, Description and URL, the better your rankings. The presence of your keywords in your URL is now an important factor, and you need to separate them with hyphens to rank well for all of them.

For example, on a key phrase search for "small business software solutions," with the URL www.1small-business-software.com, all three keywords will contribute to relevancy if hyphenated. But you wouldn't rank as well for relevancy with the URL www.1smallbusinesssoftware.com, because the first word is 1, and subsequent keywords are not separated by hyphens (which scores points). The first keyword is more important, and subsequent keywords count only if hyphenated.

Make a keyword the first word in your Title, Description and URL if feasible because the first word is more valuable than subsequent keywords. Also try to keep your keywords together. The new formula places more weight on the first word in a search phrase, and on keywords grouped together rather than those separated by non-keywords. For example, "small business software solutions" is more powerful than "software solutions for small business" because the word "for" separates the keywords in the second phrase.

It's more important than ever to conduct thorough keyword research. Tools such as the GoTo Search Suggestion Tool, WordTracker, or WordSpot can be used to find your most popular keyword phrases. This is not a simple task, and it's easy to make mistakes that could penalize your rankings. So it may pay to outsource keyword research to SEO specialists.

URL Keywords: It may be advantageous to purchase some additional domain names in various extensions other than .com to include some strategic keywords in your URL (e.g., eSoft Inc. www.esoft.com may be a company providing small business software, but it does not have "small business software" in its domain name. This company could try to purchase the domain name www.esoft-small-business-software.net.)

More Weight in Top Categories

Yahoo! has 14 main categories with numerous subcategories buried within. Categories closer to the main category will now carry more weight. If users search for the phrase, "small business software," a company like eSoft would score better if its site were listed in a category closer to the top (example 1) than one located a few levels deeper (example 2).

1. Business and Economy > Business to Business > Electronic Commerce  > Software
2. Business and Economy > Business to Business > Computers > Software  > Business Applications > Business Management > Small Business

No More Alphanumeric Formulas

Alphanumeric order is no longer a factor. It used to be that sites with names like 1 Small Business Software, AAA Small Business Resource Center, and ACE Business Software would always be listed more prominently than sites without alphanumeric advantage. But it's all different now. Data will be sorted with a formula based on a specific set of algorithmic factors that improve relevancy.

New Yahoo! Display

There is a big change in the way Yahoo! displays its results. Note that you now have a choice between "Category Matches" and "Web Site Matches." In the past, result queries defaulted to the directory "Categories." With the recent changes, queries default to "Web Sites." This makes a difference in the way you design your Web pages.

You might be wondering if you should design pages that are optimized for search engines or for directory category results (alphanumeric). The best bet is to design for search-engine friendliness. More people know how to query on search engines than how to navigate through directory categories.

Where Does This Leave You?

You need to change your optimization strategies for Yahoo!, and it takes a degree of expertise. It requires careful keyword research, professional copywriting for the Title and Description, and a lot more precision on selecting a category. According to several recent SEO studies, marketers have a lot to gain from outsourcing SEO services.

In fact, MarketingSherpa stated that over 90 percent of Fortune 100 sites are not optimized properly (despite in-house expertise), and most marketers spend less than 0.5 percent of the marketing budget on optimization even though it can increase Web site traffic up to 75 percent. CyberAtlas stated most marketers (nearly 70 percent) were less than satisfied with the Web traffic they currently receive from search engines. So don't be afraid to outsource, you'll find it pays in the long run.    

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