Yahoo and Local Search

Why local search marketers should try spending more time, money, and effort on Yahoo again.

Like many search marketers, I tend to devote my efforts where they will have the most impact. With a search market share of about 72 percent in February 2009, Google has earned most of my attention.

In contrast, Yahoo’s share is just under 18 percent. These figures include local search market share, but it’s difficult to tell just how big a piece of the pie Yahoo has in local search. Its local information is spread across three cross-linked platforms: Yahoo Local, Yahoo Yellow Pages, and Yahoo Maps. Google, for its part, concentrates its efforts within Google Maps. Keep in mind, Yahoo may be just as important as Google Maps in the world of local search. Why? Because the Yahoo family includes many niche portals — including the three already mentioned — that are widely used by those searching for what is very often local information.

Yahoo Everything

Go to Yahoo Everything, a directory of Yahoo sites, to see all the special services, programs, searches, entertainment, directories, blogs, and portal sites that make up the world of Yahoo. Yahoo shares information across its network and its network is extensive. Think about that and I bet you’ll begin pondering new ideas for using Yahoo more in your search marketing. Theoretically, if an ad for a car is placed on Yahoo Autos, it should show up in Yahoo Shopping, too. While this doesn’t always work the way it’s intended, you can see the potential power of everything Yahoo.

Yahoo Local

Yahoo Local is a portal site in typical Yahoo fashion. It has well done City Guides for metro areas and many small cities, towns, and tourist areas. The portal pages contain links to popular local topics like shopping, dining, and events, making it easy to browse for the information you want. Like Google Maps, businesses may create, edit, and enhance their listings. Also like Google, Yahoo local business listings appear within the blended search results when local intent is interpreted from a query. (Over the past year, Google has begun adding features to Maps in order to make it more of a portal site.)

Yahoo Local Maps

This platform looks and works much the way Google Maps does, allowing you to search the local business listings, get directions, and see locations on a map. It is part of Yahoo Local, so information is naturally shared between the sites.

Yahoo Yellow Pages

This offering is one of the most widely used Internet yellow pages. Here, you can submit your business for free, pay for better placement, and/or pay for a bigger, better listing on Yahoo Yellow Pages. You can also make certain your Yahoo Local listing is as complete as possible and Yahoo Yellow Pages will draw from it as, perhaps, its most trusted source.

Yahoo Travel

Essentially a local portal, Yahoo Travel Guides include themed vacation ideas (beaches, honeymoons, golf, etc.), photos, hotels, things to do, maps, along with reviews and recommendations, and the ability to book flights, hotels, cruises, and more online. Yahoo Travel creates daily travel picks, depending upon your preferences. It also allows you to plan your own itinerary, save it online, and share it with others, if you choose. You can view the public itineraries and travelogues of other travelers to get ideas, see photos of their adventures, get their commentary on where they stayed, what they did, and anything else they wish to share with others.

You can pay for placement in Yahoo Travel and depending upon the type of business you have, this may be worthwhile. At no cost, you can add attractions to the Travel Guide pages and upload photos to Flickr that can appear in the guides.

Depending upon your niche, other Yahoo sites, such as Shopping, Autos, Finance, etc. may be able to contribute to your local search marketing efforts. Most allow paid advertising through Yahoo Sponsored Search, which may be appropriate for some businesses. Also, check out opportunities to get targeted attention in your area of expertise through Yahoo Answers and Yahoo Groups. Those social media sites get prominent links from the pages of industry portals and can rank well in relevant searches, as well.

Go to Yahoo Everything and check out your options for increasing your presence across all of the Yahoo sites. Then, try out some of them to see what works for you. Like me, you may be inspired to spend a little more time, money, and effort marketing on Yahoo again.

Join ClickZ Expert Julie Batten for a new Webinar: Leveraging Outsourced Online Marketing Services for Your Web Site, Thursday, April 16, 2009, at 1 pm (EDT). Learn why outsourcing your online marketing activities — including search marketing — can help you save money and achieve better results.

Subscribe to get your daily business insights

Whitepapers

US Mobile Streaming Behavior
Whitepaper | Mobile

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

5y

US Mobile Streaming Behavior

Streaming has become a staple of US media-viewing habits. Streaming video, however, still comes with a variety of pesky frustrations that viewers are ...

View resource
Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups
Whitepaper | Analyzing Customer Data

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics for Media Groups

5y

Winning the Data Game: Digital Analytics Tactics f...

Data is the lifeblood of so many companies today. You need more of it, all of which at higher quality, and all the meanwhile being compliant with data...

View resource
Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its people
Whitepaper | Digital Marketing

Learning to win the talent war: how digital marketing can develop its peopl...

2y

Learning to win the talent war: how digital market...

This report documents the findings of a Fireside chat held by ClickZ in the first quarter of 2022. It provides expert insight on how companies can ret...

View resource
Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy
Report | Digital Transformation

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Experience Economy

1m

Engagement To Empowerment - Winning in Today's Exp...

Customers decide fast, influenced by only 2.5 touchpoints – globally! Make sure your brand shines in those critical moments. Read More...

View resource