Like most other search engines, Yahoo ranking relies on a complex ‘interpretation’ program that assesses the relevance of your site content to search queries. Yahoo reads your text, its titles and descriptions, its sources, associated links, and other distinctive document elements.

How do I get top Yahoo ranking?

Develop superior content. The quality of your content is still the biggest determinant of your Yahoo ranking. If you keep it unique and specific, Yahoo finds and associates it to search queries easily. Fill your content with relevant keywords and phrases without sacrificing form and quality. You should likewise be very careful when writing your title – it has to contain words or phrases that match commonly-searched terms.

Use meta tags. Your Yahoo rankings can also be greatly improved by your meta tags. Decide on what optimal keywords to use in this string – they have to be accurate and straight to the point, and interesting.

You should likewise use a “keyword” meta-tag to catalog keywords for your web pages. Experts agree that it is better to make use of a divergent list of keywords associated to a particular page on your site instead of using one wide-ranging group of keywords for every page.

Use HTML. Putting your links and other important text within graphics or images may seem like a good idea, but remember that when it comes to Yahoo rankings, HTML is still the king. It’s better to put relevant texts and links (such as a site map) in HTML because this helps Yahoo crawl through all of your pages. If you really want to put graphics on your site, use ALT text. This way you preserve your creative efforts, and boost your Yahoo ranking at the same time.

Network, network, network. The more websites link to your site, the more ‘valuable’ it becomes in the eyes of Yahoo ranking engines. Network with webmasters and other content providers – you can ask them to link you back. Building linkages between related pages is one of the most effective ways of improving your Yahoo ranking. All it really takes is a polite email and quality content. Editors and webmasters would be happy to link you back if your site is worthy.

Beware that create links between unrelated pages for no reason except to increase page link counts is considered illegal according to Yahoo’s Site Guidelines. Yahoo ranking engines are able to detect such unethical activities, and your Yahoo ranking will not improve even if you do this.