Although Google is the target of most search engine optimization efforts, Yahoo should not be ignored, as it still commands a significant percentage of search. The good news is that you can improve your rankings in Google while helping your site rank better in Yahoo at the same time. Here’s how you do it:

Yahoo’s algorithm, like Google’s, relies heavily on links to your web site. So the more links you have coming in from other web sites, the better your site will rank. However, one significant difference between the way Google ranks pages and the way Yahoo ranks pages is the kind of links each sees as being important.

For Google, contextual links and directory-style links are both highly valued. Contextual links are links that appear within the content of a page. Directory-style links are links that appear, for instance, on a links page — one after another, with maybe a brief description following the link. Google loves both kinds of links, so it’s good to get as many of both as you can.

Yahoo, however, only values contextual links. So if your site’s ranking in Google is based primarily on directory-style links, you won’t rank well in Yahoo. The great thing is that you can improve your ranking in Google and Yahoo simply by getting more contextual links. A great way to get these kinds of links is by writing and distributing articles and putting your link within a paragraph-size resource box.

So instead of just focusing on Google, why not get as much traffic as you can by taking the steps necessary to increase your Yahoo rankings, while at the same time benefiting your site’s ranking in Google?

The author of this article runs inexpensivedigitalcameras.net, which also offers products and information about polaroid digital cameras and professional digital cameras.