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Yes, I know the business express service was (and still is), no
guarantee of inclusion. The fee just guarantees a review not a
listing. But before you throw your hands up in disgust, consider
this. The application form has an extensive checklist of things
your website should achieve before you submit your site. They're
giving you big hints here folks! Then, if it fails to get listed,
they undertake to tell you why. Finally, you have one chance of
appeal ,as long as you make it within 30days.
So, if you want a listing, follow their instructions and make
it easy for them to say yes. Follow the checklist religiously.
Then if you get refused, find out why , act on it, and re-apply.
They aren't just going to take people's money and refuse them
needlessly - they're a Nasdaq listed company, so they won't risk
the wrath of a media backlash from idly taking the money and running.
So before you submit, check the following:
1. The official business name of the site should be clearly visible.
2. All links must work - use a link checking program.
3. Test your site thoroughly for errors. You can use HTML checking
software for this.
4.Your site must not have any incomplete, or "under construction"
areas.
5. Your site must be available 24 hrs a day, seven days a week
If your ISP is routinely unreliable, you may want to change them
first.
6. Make sure your website functions properly in different browsers
(Latest versions of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator as
a minimum)
Your site must have substantively unique content. Anything you've
personally written is unique, so articles are a great example.
Self replicating websites, however, won't get past this rule.
If your business relies heavily on affiliate schemes, make sure
you have some content, such as original reviews, about them.
It is generally also advisable that your website loads in a reasonable
time, is well designed and generally looks professional. Basically,
put yourself in their shoes. They want their directory to be the
best quality directory. Therefore they want quality, professional,
functional websites for their users. So, if yours is a one page
sales letter, you might have to make some changes. Get some well
presented content on your site, articles related to your subject
for example (use an article library to supplement your own) You
can always change your site back once you've got your listing!
Many people are going to flinch at having to pay out to be listed
at Yahoo! Unfortunately, as the old saying goes, "there ain't
no such thing a s a free lunch"! Many Internet search engines
are huge companies, that eventually have to make a profit, so
this trend can only develop further. Compare the costs with offline
advertising in newspapers, telephone directories,etc, and then
compare the exposure you get from Yahoo!. Suddenly, $199 doesn't
seem so expensive after all!
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