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I am thinking about putting a toe in the water with Site Match for a clients site.
The site has a top navigation system which used 'text graphics' with Javascript rollovers - NOT drop down menus, just a different 'active colour' applied on a mouseover. They use 'graphic text' for the navigation this as a requirement of their corporate ID.
I am greatly worried about an Editor rejecting the pages I submit due to it using a 'graphic navigation system'or 'Javascript rollovers'. Is this fear unfounded? I have checked through their terms of inclusion and can't see anything about this, but I do remember some similar rejections a while back for Business Express submissions.
Dependant on the answer to the point above, how are you handling a Site Match rejection?
I am hearing conflicting information about sites being 'blacklisted' entirely if they are rejected for Site Match.
If rejected, have you been reverting the the 'free submit' with any success?
The ironic thing is that pages from this site were part of the old Ink PFI without any problems and I actually want to try Site Match. What I will not do is run the risk of a clients site, which contains some great information, being totally blacklisted purely because an Editor takes a subjective dislike to it.
Look forward to any thoughts...
Thanks for posting on this. The Site Match Review is seperate from the review of the general index. To play it safe, it's always best to make sure the content you want to appear on Yahoo! aligns with the guidelines. Here are a couple of links that might come in handy:
Link for Site Match:
[content.overture.com...]
General Guidelines:
help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions-05.html
-- Yahoo! Mike
Similar what Yahoo! Mike has said, but I will give you the reseller perspective.
As a reseller, we do our best to on behalf of the client with Yahoo! to resolve any quality review issues that have arised. This includes getting feedback from the quality review staff who provide guidance on why a site was rejected.
Once the client has resolved those issues, the site can be re-reviewed. Whilst there isn't a hard and fast rule, I prefer that this happens only once. I wouldn't want to be the one constantly requesting that the same site is "re-reviewed".
I believe that this is the value that a reseller can bring.
In my experience with Site Match, I haven't seen a site rejected for the reasons that you have outlined. I have seen sites rejected that are blatently pushing the limits or outright abusing them in not one but a number of areas.
I also come back to the fact that if your site is clean of "black hat" tactics, than Site Match should hold no fear for you.
Happy to answer any other questions you may have.
Thanks for some very helpful and constructive advice.
Mike - I have checked the guidelines and I believe the URL's we would like to submit do conform. My main worry, which was based on bad experiences with Business Express from about 2 years ago, and seemed to place the bar so low on what was permitted that only 'plain text/HTML' sites were accepted (this was despite other sites appearing in the categories we requested which were clearly in breach of the terms used to penalise our sites).
My only slight concern was:
<< Pages using methods to artificially inflate search engine ranking >>
and
<<Pages that have substantially the same content as other pages>>
The client we are considering for Site Match are a niche, B2B orgainisation, so there will be no question of 'doorway pages' or simply 'packing a page' with low-quality information or 'techniques' to inflate rankings. However, what we would like to do is pull together relevant information from other parts of their site onto one page - which we feel will benefit a searcher who finds the page.
In doing so, we will try to make the page 'rank' as high as possible for a given search - mainly by presenting high quality, relevant information, NOT by any kind of unethical means.
I believe in doing so, we are no different to the majority of people working with Site Match. I fully appreciate that it's difficult to comment on an individual case, but do you feel this approach would bring us into conflict with the Terms of Inclusion?
We DO want to provide high quality information to searchers, but by virtue of participating in Site Match, we do want the URL's to come to the attention of a target audience who may be searching for information which our client can provide.
Mike, could you also comment on the 'rumours' that if you are rejected from Site Match your entire site is somehow 'blacklisted' from trying a 'free submit'. Again, I feel that absolute clarity on this would put a lot of people's minds at rest.
Warren - your post was very enlightening and I would like to applaud your approach of adding value to reselling Site Match (by the way, we are not a client of your company).
When I asked for some guidance from our supplier of the former Inktomi PFI, I was simply told that 'we are not involved in the Editorial process' and no further help or advice was offered!
I would also value your advice on our approach to Site Match as outlined above. I am sure other people here are also operating in an 'ethical' way, may want to try Site Match, but are worried that not only may we cost our clients a 'non-refundable rejection', but it may bar their site from being considered via the free submit.
Thanks again for your help and look forward to your comments.
Happy that I was of some assistance.
I am going to leave it up to Mike to clarrify those rumours once and for all. :) However, I will say that I have not seen any evidence of this. I do challenge the source of these rumors, as I wonder if the people who have tired to use SiteMatch, been rejected and then tried free submit, have not made any changes to their site.
In doing so, we will try to make the page 'rank' as high as possible for a given search - mainly by presenting high quality, relevant information, NOT by any kind of unethical means.
If you are doing everything above board, I would not be worried.
....Inktomi PFI, I was simply told that 'we are not involved in the Editorial process' and no further help or advice was offered!
We are not involved in the process either. However there is the opportunity to provide feedback to the quality review people from time to time. I personally have found serveral of the Yahoo! team very responsive and only too willing to help.
Best of luck. I hope your Site Match experience is a postive one.
