Yahoo Answers

[the goat]

Does anyone here answer questions on answers.yahoo and use their site as a reference?

I have done it a few times, but only when I naturally came across a question that is answered on one of my sites. I get lots of traffic from the few I do post, and I always think about using it as a marketing tool by searching for and answering as many questions as I could find that are relative to my sites.

Is this a really bad idea? Does Yahoo have measures in place to track this? Would it still be considered spam if my link is really a good answer to the question asked? How many questions can I ask in this one paragraph?

[vangogh]

It's not a bad idea at all. In fact here's a post you might enjoy about marketing through Yahoo Answers.

I think all the usual social media rules apply. Don't aggressively promote your content, but like you've been doing if you happen to come across a question where something on your site supplies an answer feel free to link to it.

I've been meaning to spend more time with Yahoo Answers and always let other things distract me.

What you're thinking sounds like the right approach. Search for questions where you can provide a good answer. If some of those questions would benefit by a link to your site go ahead. Just make sure the link is relevant and adds something to your answer.

[KristineS]

I think sharing information and answering questions can be a great way to increase your reach and advance your brand. If people think you're an expert or knowledgeable about some particular subject, they're more likely to turn to you when they need help.

One of our companies sells embroidery supplies and we sponsor a forum for screenprinters and embroiderers. I answer questions there all the time, and it does help increase our name recognition.

[yankeerudy]

We've spent some time on Yahoo Answers, and have focused on questions where we could provide a helpful answer. Since our site involves helping students study/understand schoolwork concepts, linking back to our site as part of the answer comes naturally.

We have had some success with ongoing inbound traffic from these, but it hasn't been that much. For our site, a decent link from Stumbleupon or Digg provides far more for much less effort.

[vangogh]

If the links are coming from edu sites they're probably seen in a good light helping with search traffic. Have you noticed an increase in rankings for the pages that get linked to?

[yankeerudy]

It's really hard to pin down cause/effect from .edu, because we get good results on so many of our pages.

[vangogh]

Yeah, I don't think there's anything magical about the .edu extension itself, but I do think they match up nicely with the things Google has determined to give weight to in the algorithm. .edus are generally going to be older domains that have acquired links and trust. Just the kind of link you want to get.

I'm still curious how how Google views individual pages. It makes sense if you get a link from the home page of the Harvard University site that it would be a great link, but what happens on the temporary student page at a local community college site. That really shouldn't be as trusted.

I'm guessing you get a good amount of links from the pages of professors and other University staff. Those I would imagine would be very good links. Plus the College Cram site would be very relevant to the pages that are linking to it.

[Marcomguy]

Marketing via Yahoo Answers makes sense. Yahoo answers show up fairly high on Google results. Not as high as Wikipedia, but still good.

[Business Attorney]

I answered about 15 questions on Yahoo! Answers over about a two-week period earlier this summer. I answered questions on a variety of topics, only a couple of which had to do with one of my sites. I did link back, when appropriate, but I never thought it was a stretch, only a very natural link. Two of my answers were even voted best answer.

Then I got an email saying my account was suspended for violating the Community Guidelines. No other reason was given. I wrote an appeal, but they simply reaffirmed the suspension from Yahoo! Answers "after review" with no detail. So I still have no idea why I was suspended.

The scary thing is that I used the same Yahoo! account I have used since 1997 and the notice seemed to say that I would lose access to the whole account, including the email and anything connected with the account. That did not happen, but I strongly suggest that if you are going to participate in Yahoo! Answers that you set up an account just for that purpose.

[vangogh]

David that's strange. I've not seen anyone else having the issue. I could understand if you were dropping irrelevant links into every post, but it doesn't sound like you did and I wouldn't imagine it's the kind of thing you'd do anyway.

I wonder if Yahoo is cracking down on anyone adding links in answers.