First of all, it is important that this be done with the understanding that Yahoo! Answers is not a place for spamming, and this technique should not be used to help increase your backlink count, though it will of course. However, that being said, Yahoo! Answers is a great place for people wishing to promote their personal and business websites. By using the unique answers that only you possess as an expert, you can market your site to people who are specifically in need of the information on your site or in need of the services you provide.

Yahoo! Answers is a forum where people can ask, or answer, questions relating to various topics and these are all well organized and easy to browse through. By creating a user account with Yahoo! you can speak with people from around the world on topics that you yourself know best. For example, perhaps you are a real estate agent looking to grow your business by creating a website to show your contact information and listings. Why not answer questions relating to purchasing or selling a home? Make you answers thoughtful and concise, and be sure to include your “signature” at the bottom of the page with a link to your site. Now it is very important that you use moderation when answering questions. Do not answer any question that comes your way; be sure to respond to those who would specifically benefit from your particular expertise. This way, you build a good reputation for providing solid answers, as opposed to a reputation as a Yahoo! Answers spammer. Also, you want to select questions that are directly related to the content of your site, as then each person who reads that post will be a potential end user or customer.

It is important to always remember when trying to increase your exposure online: No matter what you do, there will be another company out there doing the same thing with greater resources. Yahoo! Answers is a place that larger corporations do not frequent which allows you to set yourself apart by showing a passion for your field and the subject matter of your website. Should your answers be well received, you will soon start seeing these question and answer posts in the search engine ranks.

N.B. This is not to be used to build links or help your search engine optimization. The links in Yahoo! Answers are all nofollow and they won’t help you in the Google SERPs. The pages will appear, however, in the Google search engine and will rank well for a short period of time. In addition, I have experienced several of my answers being adopted on other sites for inclusion for content, and these give me links.

I originally wrote this on April 9, 2007.