Poor indexing with Yahoo even though I Pay the $300 - Please help a poor man out!

[netricksdotcom]

I have a shopping cart site called WebBikiniStore.com. I have been paying yahoo now for 2 years to include it in the directory, but Yahoo refuses to index more then my home page and I get relatively zero traffic from Yahoo.

WebBikiniStore.com
offering swimsuits, bikinis, and beach clothing for women.
Category: Swimming Apparel
www.webbikinistore.com-

However, I do fairly well with Google and MSN where they index every single page of the site which is 11,000, with all the products and images.

What can I do to get Yahoo to carry more pages of the site?

Thank you to anyone that has a clue, because I don't.

Greg

[Marcia]

Hi Greg, and welcome to the forums.

First, paying for a directory listing and being included in the Directory is completely unrelated to being crawled and included in the index. Having a listing like this does not look too promising, I'm afraid it's not a good sign

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv1-&p=site%3awebbikinistore.com

I have a shopping cart site called WebBikiniStore.comYes, and you also run and maintain several other related sites, and they are generously interlinked, so they're very easy to find. Yahoo can be very touchy about related sites selling the same line of goods, especially when they're included in a network of links among other related sites.

Frankly, I don't think we have to look too much further for finding roots to the problem.

[netricksdotcom]

So is there no hope? Or what do you recommend doing to resolve that issue?

Thanks,

greg

[lobofenris]

Hey man, I feel your pain. Yahoo has many of my webpages in their index, but nothing but my home page ever appears for any searches. I too have a directory listing with them and, whether correct or not, have been blaming this listing for my non-home-pages not appearings in relevant searches. As of yet I haven't found a good reason why Yahoo hates me so.

[netricksdotcom]

I appreciate the feedback and the fact that I am not alone, but I cannot help feeling that there must be some empirical reason to the nature of my problematic situation.

Now be it structure or what have you...

My sites are set up as such:

I sell clothing for several companies. These companies also have other resellers. So often there are sites that are selling the same clothing as my own sites. Yet they get indexed completely. Why is that?

I have basically 6 shopping carts that all feed off a single database. Each cart is structured slightly different to emphasize certain product lines. Is it because they all use the same database? All six of my sites have their own unique IP address. Could it be that their ip addresses each come from the same subnet? So they really don't count as being unique?

Or is there a more simple SEO based reason? The truth is that MSN and Google both index all the pages of all my sites and I get decent traffic from them.

Web Bikini Store (webbikinistore.com)
Designer Cocktail Dresses (bestdesignerdresses.com)
Women's Fitness and Workout Clothing (femaleactivewear.com)
and a few more like those.

Structure the same, feed off the same database, but emphasis slightly different.

There must be something taboo in my setup.

Thanks for the input.

GREG

[dannysullivan]

First of all, ask Yahoo. They have feedback mechanisms. Ask them why Google and MSN are spidering you OK but they are failing, especially when they claimed recently to have spidered more of the web than competitors.

Second, understand that what Marcia's saying is that Yahoo may have decided they simply don't like your sites for some reason. Why exactly we can't say. Maybe too much interlinking. Maybe something else. Maybe nothing. You've got to check with them to get any official read.

Look at End Of Size Wars? Google Says Most Comprehensive But Drops Home Page Count (http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3551586). You'll see in there someone with the exact same situation you have. Yahoo's response in his case was they thought the site had poor quality.

Third, consider Yahoo paid inclusion, or Search Submit, as they call it:
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/srchsb/index.php

If they take you into the program, they'll spider all your pages and you'll pay only if you get clicks off of them (plus a flat per URL fee, depending on the program you do). Downside is, you have to pay, of course. Upside? You find out in short order whether that Yahoo traffic is really worthwhile or not worth worrying about. You'll also find out in short order if there's an actual issue with your content or not, in case they don't get back to you on feedback.

Last, you might drop out of the directory. There are some benefits to being there, and if the traffic you get -- plus whatever traffic you think you might get through the link popularity of being there -- is more than you are paying, then stick with it. If not, save the money. As explained, being in the directory is completely different from being in the web index.

[Marcia]

I was trying to be tactful, I guess I didn't make it clear enough. If you write to Yahoo, they'll more than likely send you to read this page

Yahoo! Search Content Quality Guidelines (http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions-05.html)

Start looking here, with a search for linkdomain:

http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv1-&p=linkdomain%3awebbikinistore.com

womens-bikinis.com looks to be OK
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=site%3Awomens-bikinis.com&prssweb=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=slv1-&fl=0&x=wrt

bellachica.com seems to be OK
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv1-&p=site%3abellachica.com

myshopgirl.com seems to be OK
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=site%3Amyshopgirl.com&prssweb=Search&ei=UTF-8&fr=slv1-&fl=0&x=wrt

femaleintimatewear.com - also looks to be banned, only the homepage
http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=utf-8&fr=slv1-&p=site%3afemaleintimatewear.com

What Yahoo! Considers Unwanted

Some, but not all, examples of the more common types of pages that Yahoo! does not want include:

Pages that harm accuracy, diversity or relevance of search results
Pages dedicated to directing the user to another page
Pages that have substantially the same content as other pages
Sites with numerous, unnecessary virtual hostnames
Pages in great quantity, automatically generated or of little value
Pages using methods to artificially inflate search engine ranking
The use of text that is hidden from the user
Pages that give the search engine different content than what the end-user sees
Excessively cross-linking sites to inflate a site's apparent popularity
Pages built primarily for the search engines
Misuse of competitor names
Multiple sites offering the same content
Pages that use excessive pop-ups, interfering with user navigation
Pages that seem deceptive, fraudulent or provide a poor user experience They've got you on three points right there, and there are footprints all over the place - starting with here:

http://www.klickcommerce.com/klick_commerce_affiliates.htm

There's more, but that's enough to show what the problems are.

[David Wallace]

Good work, Marcia!

You are not the only one this happens to, netricksdotcom. I had a client earlier in the year in which we had to clean up a mess similar to this before yahoo would let them back in the index. The bottom line is that Yahoo doesn't want sites that either have similarly the same content strewn out across several domains or multiple sites that are essentially the same business. I don't blame them and am glad to see them taking a harder stance against this.

Your only resolve is to fix your web business model to conform to their guidelines and once you have done that, then send in a re-inclusion request. There is no other way around it.

[netricksdotcom]

Well Gosh Damn! That clears it up a bit now doesn't it!

Thank you very much. It looks like I have some work to do.

I really appreciate all your input.

Greg