It's important to keep in mind that the Yahoo! directory is not a search engine. Yahoo! is a directory edited by humans. When you submit a site to Yahoo!, you will be submitting only a site title and description that will be reviewed by a genuine human being...not an automatic and unattended software spider.

The people at Yahoo value their reputation as providers of high-quality, relevant websites. Real, live people evaluate every submission. The key to getting listed is great content. Yahoo doesn't want to degrade their product by including poor sites. Make no mistake, those Yahoo! category editors will pare down your submission at their sole discretion.

Only Quality Sites Need Apply

So if you have a poorly written, badly constructed, or crassly commercial site, don't bother. Only a quarter of all sites submitted to Yahoo ever make it in. Your site should:

Be substantial -- if yours is a single-page site, don't bother.

Have value -- good content and/or a unique product that is well presented.

Be clean and fast loading.

Show a professional, polished layout, with a solidly-designed look and feel.

Be easy to use, including a simple, clear navigation system.

Contain good grammar and spelling.

Have its own domain -- not essential but it helps.

Prepare Your Answers

Before you submit, prepare the following information in a separate text document (let's call it your "prep sheet") that you'll use to copy and paste data into the Yahoo submission form. Here's what you need to prepare:

1. Title. If you have an especially important keyword that customers would use to find you, make sure it appears in the title. If you add promotional language, they'll cut it out. Yahoo still returns search results alphabetically by title, but don't play the alphabet game with Yahoo.

2. URL. Yahoo permits you to submit only one URL per domain. In most cases, you will submit your root URL (http://www.you.com). If another URL is more appropriate, submit it instead; then justify that submission in the Final Comments section of the Yahoo submission form. There is an important consequence to the "one URL" rule. If you sell a single product, Yahoo will be your most important source of traffic. The larger and more diversified your product line, the less important Yahoo becomes.

3. Description. Use your keyword at least once in your description. You are supposed to be allowed 25 words in your description, but at 25 words, you'll likely get edited down, and thus lose control of the wording. Instead, set yourself a 15 word maximum. Use a single sentence without commas. Don't make your description promotional or the Yahoo editor will chop it out.

4. Categories. Since yours is a commercial venture, you must list somewhere in Yahoo!'s major category of "Business_and_Economy." Search for competitive products and see where they're listed. Enter the most likely keyword for your product into Yahoo!'s search engine, and you'll probably bring up several high-potential categories.

Copy the URLs of your two chosen categories and paste these into your prep sheet. Yahoo may grace you with a listing in only one of your categories. So list these URLs in order of importance.

5. Contact Info. Type your full name and e-mail address. Make sure your e-mail address has no typos in it. Then list other company information.

6. Final Comments. Add a short blurb about the value of your site -- content, traffic, satisfied customers, etc. If you have to explain something about your submission, do it here, too.

Yahoo! will ask if you think it should create a separate category in which to list your Web site.Don't do it! As enticing as this might sound, resist the temptation! If Yahoo! grants your wish for a new category, you have no way of knowing whether or not that new Yahoo! category will be displayed for any of your keyword searches: Remember, the key to a great Yahoo! submission is to assess your site would rank if Yahoo! accepted your submission verbatim. You can know with certainty which Yahoo! categories are displayed and in which order when different keywords are queried, but you will not know if the new category you proposes will come up for any of your targeted keyword phrases. So, do not suggest a new category. Leave that pioneering opportunity to someone else. You can always ask to be added to a new Yahoo! category later.

Finally, if your site is accepted, celebrate! This is a major accomplishment.