Have you ever seen (or tried) Yahoo! Site Explorer?  Yahoo! describes it as a feature which “allows you to explore all the web pages indexed by Yahoo! Search.” But it’s more than that.  Site Explorer allows you to view a comprehensive list of all the pages that link to a particular site or any page.

Yeah, sure Google’s a great search engine, but it’s not a ‘one fits all’ solution.  You might be quick to retort that Google offers a similar feature inside its “Webmaster Tools” suite, but think again because Yahoo! Site Explorer blows it out the water.

How so?  Unfortunately, Webmaster Tools requires that individuals are verified/authenticated as the administrators or owners of a domain.  This means that only the registered owners have access to a site’s link map.  In my opinion, this is against the spirit of the web.

Using Yahoo Site Explorer to your advantage

Remember the underlying key to promoting your blog is to attain more and more links. Well, this is where Site Explorer comes into the mix. Ever wondered how the top blogs in your niche attract readers? Ever considered which sites link to these blogs? Have you considered how they manage to find their links? Study the ‘competition’.

Before we continue, I’m using the word “competition” very loosely. All-in-all, I don’t really see other blogs in the same niche as competition; instead, they provide a possible means of unforeseen success, but that’s another article…

Study Linking Techniques

Let the competition do all the hard work. You might feel as if this is taking the position of second best, but think again. Imagine how much you could learn if you studied the linking strategies of around 20 sites in your niche? You would be pleasantly surprised.

Furthermore, how many of you have the time to sit, searching aimlessly on the web for the next best link-building strategy? Not me, at least.

Points to consider when analyzing links:

1. Who submitted the link?
2. What was the overall result of the link being submitted? Positive or negative?
3. Is the link the result of a potentially broader scheme (ex: a site-wide link exchange)?
4. Who was the link’s target audience?
5. Does the link fit the type of content on the corresponding page?
6. What is the link-site’s Alexa rank?
7. What is the PageRank of the page containing the link?

Submit your Blog to corresponding Sites

Finally after you have considered the seven (7) points above, submit your blog’s link.  Sit back and watch the results.