How Can Yahoo Search Assist Be Leveraged as an SEO Tool
Roberto in Florida wanted to know how Yahoo Search Assist can be leveraged as part of a search marketing strategy. Well first off, for those of you who don't know what Yahoo Search Assist is, here is a quick review of Yahoo Search Assist. In essence, Yahoo Search Assist is a real time query suggestion tool that helps users refine search queries so that they can find what they are looking for in "one search".
When Yahoo began their person-powered search engine back in 1994, it was mainly two people's guide to their favorite links on the Web. When Yahoo launched the new Yahoo! Search on October 1st they included a new feature designed to help users find what they were looking for in one search. This new feature as you may have guessed is Search Assist.
With the new Yahoo Search, Yahoo became the last of the four major search engines to offer blended search. Yahoo Search Assist expands on a person's query to suggest additional relevant searches and concepts for the searches they perform. So how can Yahoo Search Assist be leveraged as an SEO tool? Well first things first, Search Assist is not meant to be an SEO tool, it is meant to improve the search user experience. Having said that, there are a few ways that you can leverage the tool as part of your search marketing strategy toolkit.
How You Can Use Yahoo Search Assist as an SEO Tool
- As a Keyword Analysis Tool – Well in terms of search strategy, Yahoo Search Assist can provide a little insight into phrases that are related to specific user queries. For example let's say that you perform a search for "las vegas wedding" in Yahoo. (I'm using this example because I recently got married in Las Vegas…) With Search Assist on you get additional options such as "las vegas weddings, las vegas hotel weddings, las vegas wedding chapels, las vegas wedding packages" etc. You can scroll the list to find additional phrases. In addition you can use the "explore concepts" feature to find additional keywords for your campaign.
- Long-Tail Optimization Tool – Using Search Assist can help you optimize for long-tail key phrases that you may have otherwise overlooked. Search assist may provide you with alternatives to popular "head" phrases that you may have no hope for ranking for. Why not focus on the long-tail and improve conversions with long-tail optimization. (Conversion rates tend to be better with long-tail optimization, you simply don't receive as much traffic.)
- Understanding the User - Search Assist can help you understand your search user as you can learn more about how and what users are searching for. While it's unlikely that Search Assist factors in seasonality, you can get a better understanding of phrases that users may be using to find information. After all search and thus SEO should be all about the user. As Yahoo stated when they launched Search Assist, "One thing we've learned since launching our own algorithmic search engine back in 2004 is that at the end of the day, people really don't want to search; they want to get things done." It's all about giving the user what they want.
So here are three ways that Yahoo Search Assist can be leveraged as a tool for your search marketing efforts. I hope that answers your question Roberto. Keep them coming.
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Excellent insight, especially the help it provides in long-tail optimization. I was able to focus on a number of additional key phrases using Search Assist.