Tip #1: Focus on answering recent questions, posted within the first three hours.
Tip #2: Always post a relevant website link in the Source box using a URL that sounds similar to the topic.
(example: If I was answering a question regarding weight loss, I would create a landing page specific to that niche and include it in the source box: yourdomain.com/weight_loss_tips.html)
Tip #3: Answer questions as thoroughly as you can. The more specific you are with your answers, the better chance you have of being selected as the top choice.
Tip #4: After your limits are raised and you are able to answer more questions each day, start answering questions regardless of when they were posted (older ones are fine at this point). Every answer you submit will be included in Yahoo’s search engine results page regardless of how old the original question was.
Tip #5: Be sure to include your keyword (that you are optimizing for) in your answer as best as you can. You can also add your URL (using a href tag) but if you do this incorrectly and your answer reeks of spam, you will not be chosen as the top answer and in some cases your answer may be removed completely.
Tip #6: It isn’t just Yahoo’s search engine that will pick up your answers (and links). Google may also spider your answers and give you credit for a back-link to be sure to answer as many questions as you can each day, until you reach your limit.
Tip #7: Stick with it. Building an impressive portfolio and developing your back-links takes time but if you create a strategy where you are answering questions on a daily basis, incorporating your keywords into your answers and linking to your websites within the source boxes you will see results relatively quickly.
The more effort you put into answering questions thoroughly and being chosen as the top answer the more traffic your website will receive. Always keep this mind when you are answering questions.
While quantity is important, so is quality!
Tip #8: Since you are answering questions across a variety of categories and niche markets, be sure that you know enough about the subject to provide a helpful response.
If you answer a question incorrectly, your credibility will wear down. It is important that you focus on answering questions relating to topics that you are familiar with. If you are unsure about a question take a few minutes to research the correct answer before posting. It is not possible to edit your answers once they are published!
There have been times where I was unsure of the correct answer to a question but I was slowly getting involved in the niche and wanted to direct people to a landing page where I was showcasing a product via an affiliate link. I took a few minutes to search out the answer and posted it, only after I was certain it was correct. It resulted in my answer being selected as the “Best Answer” and a nice comment from the original poster:
And one word of caution; Once you begin to receive positive ratings and feedback you’ll find Yahoo Answers quite addictive! ;)
Tip #9: Don’t underestimate the power of custom landing pages. Instead of directing people to the main page of your website, creating specific pages where you can lead people to find out more information, while sticking to the topic or subject that you are answering. This way you will avoid confusing your visitors who are simply looking for additional information about specific topics.
Tip#10: Points & More Points
You will receive points for answering questions (2 points per answer), 10 points for being selected as the best answer and an additional point for every answer you vote on. When you are building your levels it is important to collect as many points as you can so by voting on answers submitted by other people you are able to generate more points quickly, however you must be a LEVEL 2 to be able to vote on answers, so do your best to get to that level as soon as possible.
As you begin to earn points and answer more questions, you will become a top contributor and a badge will appear near your avatar picture. Once you are a top contributor you will be selected more often as the “best answer” and more people will view your answers, profile and your websites.
Use The Answers To Build Your Website
As a Yahoo Answers contributor you will begin to see a pattern emerge where the same types of questions are being asked over and over again. This is a great way to learn about the current topics that people are interested in and if you are clever enough to see the value in this, you can utilize these topics to create interesting blog posts that will capture attention and receive comments.
You can take it a step further and write articles based on the questions that you review. Submit these articles to EzineArticles.com and other directories to generate even more traffic. It’s an easy way to research various niche markets and see just what people are interested in or needing help with!
To make things easier, you can choose to keep track of specific questions that you plan to address by clicking on the “SAVE” option under each question. You can save it to your RSS feeder or to your private watch-list.
Be The First, Every Time
One quick technique that will help you answer more questions before others is to subscribe to the RSS feed available through Yahoo!. You will receive a listing of recently asked questions that are still open and available to be answered, and best of all, these questions will be related to your chosen niche markets!
Here’s how to set this up:
Go to the “Advanced Search” page as discussed earlier. Search for your specific keywords (primary ones that best describe your niche) and view the results page from your search.
At the very bottom of the page in the left hand corner, you will see the option to add that search query in your RSS reader, as shown below:
Once you have added this feed to your RSS reader, you will receive updates of new questions relating to your niche market (based on the keywords you just entered).
This makes it easy to be the first to answer new questions!
Repeat this process selecting keywords for each niche market that you are involved in and wish to receive notifications of.
Daily Tasks:
Every day, log into your Yahoo Answers account and view the open questions from the different categories or use the advanced tool to search for more specific questions based on keywords.
Answer the questions that are posted via the feeds.
Build landing pages that you can include in the source box with every question that you answer. Once you have designed a landing page for each niche market, you will always have a place to refer people to based on the subject of the question you are answering.
You should also take the time to create multiple pages for each niche so that if you answer a lot of questions in the same category you can direct your traffic to various places on your website. Writing articles relating to the niches that you are involved in is the best way to generate traffic and continue to address different topics on your website.
One easy way to categorize your articles or create new topics on your website for different questions you answer is by installing a WordPress blog and organizing topics into groups. This way whenever you answer a new question or you find that certain questions are continuously asked, you can create a category on your blog for these specific topics in the event that your blog covers a wide variety of topics.
Tip: Purchase a domain that is generic, so that you can create a multi-topic blog. This will make it easier to direct people to the same website without having to create multiple blogs or purchasing multiple domain names.
Create A Yahoo Swipe File
By creating a swipe file of previously answered questions
you will be able to cut and paste your answers and cover more ground. Be sure to modify your answers whenever required so that the person posting the question believes you have answered it exclusively for them.
While this is a time-saver and a method used by a lot of Yahoo Answers marketers, be careful not to simply paste the same answer repeatedly. Every question is different and you need to ensure that you modify to your answer or change it up a bit from time to time, depending on the nature of the question.
Cover Multiple Niche Markets Easily
If you are involved in multiple niche markets, you might benefit from creating multiple Yahoo Answer accounts. This will also help you answer more questions each day under different accounts while building up levels on all of them.
By creating multiple Yahoo Answer accounts you can also create different characters, (men/woman, parents, single men, divorced, etc) which will lend credibility when you are answering questions in different categories.
Yahoo Answers allows multiple accounts so you don’t have to worry about breaking any rules, however voting for your own answers or point gaming is not allowed.
To make sure that you are familiar with the rules, you should read the Community Guidelines overview:
http://answers.yahoo.com/info/community_guidelines.php
In the meantime, have fun with Yahoo Answers. It can be a very enjoyable and rewarding experience and an easy way to generate targeted traffic to your website. Just be sure to log in every day and build up your levels. The quicker you reach a level where you are able to answer an unlimited number of questions the more exposure you will receive.
To your success!
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