How many hits to expect?

A loaded question, of course.

[jonbach]

I would like to do the paid submission to Yahoo and Looksmart in the near future, but I would love to have some sort of projection in regards to how many hits I will receive. Is there any resource out there that allows you to see how many searches Yahoo gets per day for any given keyword or phrase? If I can get 1000 well targeted visitors per day, then the paid submissions should pay for themselves rather quickly. So, is this kind of hit projection even possible, or should I just close my eyes and jump?

[skiguide]

close your eyes and jump.

it all depends how competitive your category is in Yahoo, plus level of need for your product or service.

the paid submissions to Yahoo & LS are well worth it, and you probably will find that it will be with under 1000 visitors per day (even highly targeted) they do pay for themselves rather quickly, in my experience. all depends on the product.

[JamesR]

Hi jon, glad to see you got in :)

It all depends on the title and description you receive from the editors. It also depends on what kind of product you have, and of course, how many people are looking for it. I would use something like the Goto.com search suggestion tool [inventory.goto.com...] get a very rough idea of how many people are searching for what you offer. 1000 good hits a day is tough, most sites would not get that from Yahoo unless you get a fantastic listing.

[jonbach]

Would you recommend using any of the many search-engine-optimization companies? I really can't afford to make a mistake, so if by spending $1000 more, I can make sure not to make mistakes...I'm thinking that is worth it. Especially with the search engines, where you don't really know where you stand fot 2-6 weeks. It could be all summer before I get the rankings I want!

[Brett_Tabke]

I can't every remember getting more than a few hundred hits a day from the Yahoo directory. We've got many sites in Yahoo that produce Zero per day (not uncommon). If it weren't for the Google boost, I think Yahoo would be a serious question mark in many categories.

Using a seo firm with a good Yahoo track record can be very rewarding. Hard to determine how much help they have been in creating your description, but the difference between a good description and a bad one can be night and day. It may very well be worth it to you.

[paynt]

I agree with Brett. A good description goes a long way. Also, make sure that you have selected the perfect category for your site. There may be more than one choice that will work.