Yahoo paid inclusion directory

[lukkyjay]

I was reading some other threads in WPW that were talking about the value that links from directories like DMOZ, and Yahoo directory have on your google and yahoo search rankings. Our site was #1 on Yahoo search for a couple years without being in the Yahoo directory and now is at #3, and hangs around #5 and #6 on Google. We've submitted to DMOZ, but the Yahoo directory (which is seperate from the Yahoo search) charges $299 to submit to.
In Yahoo search, I'm ahead of my competitors that are in the Yahoo directory already. But those same competitors are ahead of me in Google. So my question is: does Google pay enough attention to the Yahoo directory that it would be worth it to pay the $299/year to have my link in there? That REALLY seems a bit steep.

[dburdon]

Lukkyjay,

if you're big budget then the $299 might be worth paying. You can generally spot a directory entry. More often than not they do appear at the top of the rankings for their chosen category.

It seems to take out the fun and in my opinion is really just a bulk purchase of ppc.

[incrediblehelp]

I wouldn't pay for it. If your website is that good (or important) then it should be in there for free.

[lukkyjay]

I wasn't looking to get into the Yahoo directory (http://dir.yahoo.com/) to get traffic from it. We're consistently between #1 and #3 on Yahoo search. It's just that we're kinda stuck at #5 or 6 on Google. I'd read that Google counts links from the Yahoo directory as more important than normal incoming links (kinda like DMOZ or .edu or .gov - just not quite as important as these). Do you have any knowledge or experience with this being true for the Yahoo directory - that it might give me a little lift in Google? Or should I save my $$ and just keep pursuing .edu or .gov links for that extra boost? Because it looks to me like the Yahoo directory only lists sites that were submitted to it, and the only way to submit is to pay.

[incrediblehelp]

I wasn't looking to get into the Yahoo directory (http://dir.yahoo.com/) to get traffic from it. We're consistently between #1 and #3 on Yahoo search. It's just that we're kinda stuck at #5 or 6 on Google. I'd read that Google counts links from the Yahoo directory as more important than normal incoming links (kinda like DMOZ or .edu or .gov - just not quite as important as these). Do you have any knowledge or experience with this being true for the Yahoo directory - that it might give me a little lift in Google? Or should I save my $$ and just keep pursuing .edu or .gov links for that extra boost? Because it looks to me like the Yahoo directory only lists sites that were submitted to it, and the only way to submit is to pay.

OK how about this...if I was you I would not buy the position in Yahoo.