For a long time I didn’t really see the value in marketing over at Yahoo Answers even though I had heard some people say that it was great. I knew that any link that we put on there would have the nofollow attribute and therefore not help my pages rank in the search engines. But after analyzing other factors I have found that it truly is a worthy place to market online.
*By the way you might want to read this article on ranking keyword phrases and the influence of nofollow links to understand more about the nofollow attribute.
Why is Yahoo Answers valuable?
I have seen many pages on Yahoo Answers ranking in the search engines for longtail keyword phrases. This means that the internal linking structure of Yahoo Answers is really great (other than of course it being an authority site). If you provide a thorough answer there and get picked as the best answer, the link to your website will be seen not only by those people that are currently on the site, but also by other people that search for this information for years to come. Even if you don’t get picked as the best answer, you might still get traffic from that page. So even though the link itself has the nofollow tag, the visibility that it provides is important. Other than the fact that many of the answers are ranked, there’s also a community over there. The more you are known, the more chances you have of getting links pointing to you.
Market the Right Way
Unfortunately, some people have seen this value and take it a step too far. They go over to Yahoo Answers and every answer they give has link pointing to their website (even when it’s completely irrelevant). This kind of thinking is detrimental to your reputation first of all. The key to marketing is engaging and truly caring about others. And throwing off topic answers just so you can get a link back to yourself will only turn people off and possibly get you banned.
So what’s the best way to market there?
First of all it would be great if your username is the name you use on other social media websites such as Twitter and Facebook. Unfortunately I already had a nickname long before I thought of marketing on Yahoo Answers. My nickname is Creativeheart. If I had known that I would be marketing over there, I would have made it my real name: Eren Mckay. But I already had points accumulated to CreativeHeart so I made the decision to keep my nickname. If you don’t already have a nickname there make it your brandable name. Also upload a real picture of your face so that others can feel connected to you. If you already have points accumulated to your nickname like I did, then simply end each answer with your name. That way people can know who you are and find you online if they really appreciate your answer.
Yahoo works with a system of levels and points.
In order for your links to go live you need to reach level 2. To reach level 2, you need at least 250 points. You can receive points for answering questions and other kinds of engagement there. Once you do reach level 2 make sure to strike a healthy balance of answering questions without linking to your pages and answers that do. I would definitely go for a 4 to 1 ratio. 4 answers without links and 1 answer with a link. Also link to other places on the web – not only your own websites.
Here is Part 2 of Marketing Your Site on Yahoo Answers.
Eren Mckay is a work at home mom who has a family website with ladybug baby shower ideas, backyardigans party supplies and finding nemo birthday resources.