looksmart yahoo $199 submission

[kickster]

I paid $199 to looksmart and got my site listed on several major search engines.
Has any one tried Yahoo's express submit? Does it work? are they picky?

------------------
Are you a Web master?
Check our CGI Resources.[nbsp][nbsp]http://www.bigperl.com
Tons of CGI resources for you to choose from.

[JoeRT]

Question I've always had is WHERE did you get listed?[nbsp][nbsp]I was always afraid of paying the $199 and being 199th.[nbsp][nbsp]:D

I just had a third site accepted that I simply submitted to Yahoo, and GREAT positioning, too.[nbsp][nbsp]Traffic increased over ten times what it was.[nbsp][nbsp]Thank you, Yahoo!

-----------------------
Joe Torsitano
www.weatherforyou.com (http://www.weatherforyou.com)
www.tiswest.com (http://www.tiswest.com)

[jimbo]

Yeah, Yahoo! is one of my biggest referrers.[nbsp][nbsp]All I did was submit it to the category it belonged in.[nbsp][nbsp]At first they rejected it, but at that point my site sucked :).[nbsp][nbsp]After I redesigned it (same content) they listed it with no problem.[nbsp][nbsp]As it stands, besides my IRM subdomain, Yahoo! is my second or third biggest referrer.

Yahoo is all you really need, as most other SE's appear to take their sites, as well as Google's.

-jim

[BOF]

Id be grateful for pointers towards site submission services, whether paid or free.

Thanks.

------------------
Best wishes to all from Hong Kong.
Chris Nowell
http://www.plainwebdesign.com

[jmarella]

I just can't adjust to the idea of paying for a "rapid" submission. So far I've been very lucky with Yahoo. My hits doubled last month over the month before, thanks to them. By the way, I've written a tutorial about getting listed on Yahoo that you may want to look at if you're having trouble. It's at http://www.domainiq.com/yahootips.htm
Of all the major search engines and directories, Yahoo is definitely the one that drives traffic. I'm amazed.
By the way, anyone out there have the word on what kind of numbers are considered "good" traffic? I'm perplexed.
Thanks in advance.
JoAnn

[Stephen]

joann,

i think you've missed an important aspect of the yahoo submission process--if you have a good site which contains useful and publicly accessible information, then it will probably get listed. however, if you SELL anything from that site you probably won't. al least, no time soon. and that's what the express service is all about.

i submitted my site two months ago. i think it's a useful site. but it certainly doesn't look as though i'll be appearing in the yahoo directory until i fork over the dough. so i'm coming around to the idea. slowly...

------------------
Stephen Carter, Random Mouse Software
Putting Customer Reviews On Your Site
U R L:[nbsp][nbsp]www.randommouse.com (http://www.randommouse.com)

[Tatu]

Word to the wise: While trolling a few webmaster forums and usenet threads for awhile, I've found a handful of people saying how Yahoo "rippped them off" for not listing them... even though they paid the 199 (which does not guarantee anything except speed of acceptance/denial). Unless I had money burning holes in my PJ's (aka work-wear :) ), I wouldn't pay for express service if I wasn't confident that my site would even be accepted.

;)

-Tatu

[Dan Kaplan]

True, but the more I "work with" Yahoo, the more I'm thinking quality has little to do with their submission process.[nbsp][nbsp]Quite bluntly, there's some downright awful sites in there (and some of them recent additions).[nbsp][nbsp]Checking stats on a site I cannot get listed, either they've never visited or they're covering their tracks (which they didn't do for a site I did get listed).[nbsp][nbsp]Months of non-reviews, but a listed site gets successfully modifed almost instantly after submitting a change request...[nbsp][nbsp]It all seems dependent on who happens to be receiving submissions and how congested the category is being submitted to.

Thus, I'm inching toward thinking the $199 is worth it.[nbsp][nbsp]In many cases, there appears to be virtually zero chance of getting reviewed without the fee, and fee or no fee, a pretty bad site can make it in.[nbsp][nbsp]You do the math.[nbsp][nbsp]If it's a business site, one day of a good Yahoo listing will probably cover the express fee.

I wouldn't pay for express service if I wasn't confident that my site would even be accepted.
I might rephrase that as:

I wouldn't submit my site unless I were confident that it is worth the price of express service.

Disappointed

[Tatu]

One good day to a business site would certainly pay back the 199 and more. You also made a good point I missed.

However, Yahoo people have their limits. Sure they are lax, but they have their limits. I simply said I wouldn't pay for express service if I knew I was beyond them. For instance, if you know you are beyond their limits like many webmasters in affiliate-marketing who have a page with JUST text advertising, you shouldn't complain that Yahoo ripped them off 200 bucks... in fact you shouldn't have even applied for express service (for them, a normal free application is always worth a shot). ;)[nbsp][nbsp]

With your site, though, I'm sure it would be worth the 199... and we all know any sites I make are... :)

-Tatu
[This message has been edited by Tatu (edited 09-14-00@6:46 pm)]

[kickster]

After 6 days Yahoo added my site. I am happy with the speed however
I am only getting 10 hits per day from Yahoo so not a big deal!

------------------
Are you a Web master?
Check our CGI Resources.[nbsp][nbsp]http://www.bigperl.com
Tons of CGI resources for you to choose from.

[Dan Kaplan]

Tatu, I agree completely.

kickster, have you included the google and yahoo searches in those numbers?[nbsp][nbsp]They often show up in a variety of places in referrer logs, and generally add up to quite a bit more than the category listing alone.[nbsp][nbsp]Having the category listing should make you come up higher in the google spillover searches, as well.

Dan

[kickster]

Today was the first day. Yahoo Admin said that it will take up to one week before it shows up in yahoo searches, right now I am getting hits from category only. Lets see what happens in next few days. Up to now I have received 14 hits that adds to 25 hits in 24 hours one hit per hour. I still think its worth it 25 x 365 x several years adds up
------------------
Are you a Web master?
Check our CGI Resources.[nbsp][nbsp]http://www.bigperl.com
Tons of CGI resources for you to choose from.

[Tatu]

1 hit per hour for 365 days = 8760 clicks.
8760 clicks for $199 = 2.28 cents per click (rounded up)

1 hit per hour for 730 days = 17520 clicks.
17520 clicks for $199 = 1.13 cents per click (rounded down)

I'd say you still got a nice deal... especially when search results kick in.

Congrats. :)

-Tatu

[kickster]

Update

After one month
Looksmart[nbsp][nbsp] 20 hits
Yahoo[nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp][nbsp]166 hits

Looksmart is not worth it.
------------------
Are you a Web master?
Check our CGI Resources.[nbsp][nbsp]http://www.bigperl.com
Tons of CGI resources for you to choose from.

[Tatu]

1,992 clicks a year translates to almost 10 cents a click for you. I'd almost say that isn't worth it unless you have a high conversion rate for your service or ad.

-Tatu

[Dan Kaplan]

Don't forget about the spill-over yahoo/google searches (influenced by the directory listing) which probably double those numbers, unless they're already included.

Double

[kickster]

Yahoo is well worth it. Other search engines will use Yahoo to rank my site.

by the way 10 cents per click is very low![nbsp][nbsp]Industry Standard Cost per click is around 40-80 cents
------------------
Are you a Web master?
Check our CGI Resources.[nbsp][nbsp]http://www.bigperl.com
Tons of CGI resources for you to choose from.

[Terra]

Doesn't $199.00 sound a bit excessive, especially when you are gambling with a possible denial...

I remember when everyone was so venomous over this Yahoo practice...

It would take someone 10 minutes to review your site and stamp it accept or deny...

That's $199.00 x 6 == $1194/hr
not bad if you ask me!

And to think the person reviewing your site is making $6.00 to $10.00 per hour...

How do they get away with it?

--
Terra
--Maybe I'm just having a brain cramp trying to justify it all--
FutureQuest

[Dan Kaplan]

Supply and Dmand...[nbsp][nbsp]:(

[kickster]

with drop in advertising demands Yahoo must make their million$$$ some where else
------------------
Are you a Web master?
Check our CGI Resources.[nbsp][nbsp]http://www.bigperl.com
Tons of CGI resources for you to choose from.