Crosslinking means linking websites you own together.

Crosslinking is acceptable to search engines. Excessive crosslinking is not.

If you link in a logical, sensible way, crosslinking is accepted by search engines.

For example, in an article about purple widgets you could link to a site you own that is all about purple widgets.

Excessive crosslinking means linking sites you own together in multiple ways and doing it so much than you attract a penalty from a search engine. Both Google and Yahoo! warn you against excessive crosslinking.

This site was penalized for excessive crosslinking.

I hope the following story will help other sites that have been penalized.


Getting a Yahoo! penalty lifted

In mid-2005, after a long wait, Yahoo! lifted its penalty on AssociatePrograms.com.

Because Yahoo! never explained what I did wrong and what I did right, some of the following story is guesswork. That's the way things often are in search engine optimization.

I linked three of my sites together. That helped my visitors and helped me. I added a few more links, and a few more, and then dozens of links. Things went well for many months.

I added more links, and Yahoo! penalized me. Google didn't.

As far as I was concerned, there were good reasons for the links. I guess Yahoo! didn't see things my way.

For ages, while the site remained in the Yahoo! directory, it was nowhere to be found in the Yahoo! search index.

Then for a while a search at Yahoo! for...

url:http://www.associateprograms.com

...revealed that AssociatePrograms.com WAS in the search index.

However, being there didn't do me any good, because none of my pages was showing up in any Yahoo! searches, in spite of having No.1 and No.2 rankings in Google. I was obviously being penalized.

Here are the steps I took to get the Yahoo! penalty lifted...


I checked the Yahoo! guidelines

I went to http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/deletions/deletions-05.html and checked the Yahoo! quality guidelines carefully to ensure I wasn't breaking any of their rules.

I removed almost all the crosslinks among the sites I owned.


I tried the Yahoo! feedback form

If you do a search at Yahoo! and scroll down to the bottom of the page you'll see this:

"Help us improve your search experience," and a link that says: "Send us feedback."

So I clicked on the link and wrote a polite message in the contact form saying AssociatePrograms.com pages were not showing up in the search results, although they were being found in Google.

I waited several months. Nothing happened.


I wrote a polite email

I hunted around the Internet for helpful articles and at WebmasterWorld.com I found an email address...

webmasterworldfeedback AT yahoo DOT com

I wrote to that address and asked for a review.

I won't tell you word-for-word what I wrote, because I don't want Yahoo! to receive dozens of emails that look exactly the same.

Explaining that my site appeared to have been penalized by the Yahoo! search engine, I said that the only possible reason I could think of was excessive crosslinking.

I explained that I respect search engines and see them as my friends, so I'd removed nearly all of the links between AssociatePrograms.com and other sites I own.

After deciding that it might be easier to get ONE ban lifted, rather than multiple bans, I mentioned only AssociatePrograms.com.

I wanted to give Yahoo! a strong reason for replacing my site in its search index, so I wrote...

"AssociatePrograms.com has been a respected directory of affiliate programs ever since it was launched in 1998.

"It has ranked highly in Google for years, so if it is not found in Yahoo! that reduces the effectiveness of your search engine."

I didn't expect it to make any difference, but I also mentioned that I'd been buying advertising on Yahoo! for several years.

I said I'd done my best to co-operate, and repeated my request for a review.


I waited, and waited

I'd been warned that I'd have to be patient. Getting a review can take weeks.

However, it was only after waiting four months that the site reappeared in Yahoo!'s search index. It looks as though I've been forgiven.

I can't say for certain that my email did the trick.

However, the site I mentioned in the email is no longer penalized.

Of the other two sites, one has been freed from the penalty and is ranking well in Yahoo! but the other still appears to be heavily penalized.


Is your site in the Yahoo! search index?

To see if your site or page is listed in the Yahoo! search index, Yahoo! advises you to enter an identifiable phrase (5-10 words) in quotes, that matches the title or text on the web page you are looking for into the Yahoo! search box at: http://search.yahoo.com.

"If your site appears in the results, it's listed in the Yahoo! Search Index, and you don't need to complete a feedback form as your request will not be processed," Yahoo! says.

If your site was once in the index and is currently not found in a unique phrase search, and you feel that site is in full compliance with the Yahoo! Content Quality Guidelines, you can inquire about your site's status by completing the following form: http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/ysearch/cgi_urlstatus

If that doesn't get you anywhere and you've waited several weeks after fixing everything wrong with your site, you can try this Second Review Request form:

http://add.yahoo.com/fast/help/us/ysearch/cgi_rereview


I'm trying to get another penalty lifted

What if your site IS in the search index but is obviously being penalized? Yahoo! doesn't really tell you, except to direct you to its Quality Content Guidelines.

At the bottom of that page, Yahoo! asks: "Is this enough information?"

I've clicked on "No" and told Yahoo! that another of my sites IS in the search index but is obviously being penalized (because of my past excessive crosslinking, I assume). I've politely asked for a review. Now I'm waiting to see what happens. I've been waiting a long time.

I'll update this article if there's any news.

If your site is being penalized by Yahoo!, I hope this helps.

Good luck!


Search engine tips

For excellent search engine tips updated every month, the best source on the Net is Stephen Mahaney's Unfair Advantage Book On Winning The Search Engine Wars. This is the source the professionals use.