Most SEO specialists focus on optimizing for Google. This is because Google is the largest player in the search engine market. Business Insider reports that back in 2018, Google held more than 90% of the international search engine market and had done so for some time. For this very reason, Google is also more saturated. This is causing more people to turn to Yahoo SEO to see how best they can optimize for ranking on Yahoo.

When marketers describe Google as saturated, they don’t mean Google has access to more webpages and information than Yahoo. Both search engines have the same resources to pull from. What it means is that more marketers are trying to optimize for Google than Yahoo, which can make ranking on Google a whole lot harder.

 

What Do I Need To Know About Yahoo SEO?

Knowing a little about a company’s background is a good starting point when tackling SEO related to its algorithms. When it comes to ranking on Yahoo, it’s important to note that Yahoo’s search engine has combined with Oath to form Verizon Media. There are some additional characteristics to keep in mind:

  • Similar to Bing: Yahoo’s search engine algorithm is closer to Bing than Google. Because of this, in most instances, if you optimize for one, you optimize for both. Note that Bing’s share of the American market has been steadily increasing since July 2010. It now owns 25.3% of the U.S. market.
  • Less Complicated: There’s a reason SEO specialists can make a full career out of Google SEO. Put simply, it’s complicated. This is why it can take up to six months to start ranking for keywords in Google and seeing real results, even with a dedicated staff. Yahoo SEO is a lot simpler. It relies on fewer factors and the requirements are fairly basic.
  • More Focused on Links: Links are slowly falling out of favor with Google but not so with Bing and Yahoo. This is one of the more basic indicators of good content that both search engines hold on to. Building up high-quality backlinks will, therefore, help your website to rank further up in these results, even it ranks lower for Google.
  • Greater Focus on Age: From as far back as 2017, marketers confirmed that domain age has little effect on search engine ranking for Google. In contrast, Yahoo SEO pays attention to the age of a domain and how long it remained associated with the website. If ranking highly on Yahoo is important to you, reconsider changing the domain name.

 

How Can I Optimize My Website for Better Ranking on Yahoo?

The information provided on Yahoo so far offers the basic information you need to get started with SEO for Yahoo. Beyond this, when you take a look at the actionable steps, you can find that they do not differ much from general SEO work.

1. Research Your Best Keywords

When researching keywords for your brand, it’s important to balance difficulty with your budget. The more competition there is chasing a single keyword, the more resources you would need to spend on outranking them. Examples include “travel” and “food.” If you have a smaller Yahoo SEO budget, look for long-tail keywords that are more specific or find an underserved keyword niche.

The big question is how do you find them? Your website’s analytical data is a good starting point. Whether you use WordPress Stats or have Google Analytics installed, you should be able to find the keywords that are already bringing visitors to your website. Use these as your base.

2. Offer a Unique Standpoint

A lot of the content online is merely a regurgitation of something else. Companies use the information on their competitors’ websites, spin the information and use it for themselves. This reduces the uniqueness of the information available online, causing consumers to go from article to article without finding anything new on the same topic.

Break this pattern and you could secure new readers for life. Yahoo also rewards originality by ranking your webpages higher in the search results. Here are a few ways to add unique information when doing Yahoo SEO:

  • Use videos from reputable sources instead of articles, as algorithms do not currently read video content word for word.
  • Go back to the basics of relying on textbooks for information, as only a few publishers have made digitized versions that can compete with you in the results.
  • Depending on the topic and the level of risk you are willing to take, tackle the issue from an angle that few people have considered or might readily agree with.
  • Turn to user-generated content to break away from the typical writing style of your website while you get to focus on the articles written to improve Yahoo SEO.

3. Write on What’s Trending

Writing on trending topics is good SEO advice regardless of which engine you want to optimize for. However, Yahoo puts greater emphasis on this than arguably any other search engine. Google keeps it simple with just a search bar and the occasional doodle on the home page. Bing pushes trending topics to the bottom of the search page. Yahoo dedicates most of its on-page real estate to trending topics and news.

This makes Yahoo’s search engine a great tool for finding the trending topics it already considers important. If you plan to publish the content within the next 48 hours or less, it is especially useful. To get ahead of the curve, monitor social media and consider using Google Trends.

 

Is Yahoo SEO Worth the Effort?

The answer to this question depends on a number of different factors. Take a look at the analytical data for your website. Which search engine recommends the most visitors to your site? Then, dig deeper to see which one recommends higher-quality leads. Not all visitors translate into sales and affiliate link clinks. Sometimes the smallest source of traffic also offers the best source of traffic, so see if this is the case for you.

Looking outside international data may also help to clarify the importance of other search engines. Google’s world-class lead relies on international figures. If you look at just the American data, it tells a slightly different story. According to Statista, as of January 2020, Google holds just 62.5% of the U.S. market and is experiencing a gradual decline. Yahoo currently holds 11.4% of the market and has held as much as 22.2% before.

 

How Do I Get Started?

The information provided in this article offers a great Yahoo SEO foundation for you to build on. If you find that you need more professional services to push forward, settle for no less than an award-winning SEO company that is a world leader in the industry. Boostability provides both small business SEO and white label SEO services at an affordable price to fit your budget while helping you achieve your business goals. Get started with a free SEO analysis to see what areas of your site can be improved on now!

Share:

Colton is the former Director of SEO Strategy at Boostability testing and defining the products and processes that make Boostability's customers successful. He was part of Boostability for over 8 years. Colton loves hanging out with his family and gaming. He runs a personal blog over at www.coltonjmiller.com where he discusses gaming, life, and SEO.