Opinions on Yahoo Answers?

1. 77

   PurpleOneposted 15 years ago

   Hi, I have been writing here for about a month and am looking for ways to increase traffic. I read somewhere that answering on Yahoo Answers and posting a link to a relevant hub can be a good way to increase traffic.
   
   Does this actually work that well? I'd be really interested in hearing people's opinions on this...
   
   Thanks!

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   1. 58

      hubber-2009posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      You will get lot of traffic from YA if your link hub matches to the question.. but later some day you will be reported spam and your account will be deleted..
      
      But no worry, you can again create an id and continue..
      
      because they are not sharing any revenue with you..

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   2. 60

      itcollposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      ya .many people do this way and get couple of sales through them too.Make sure the site is really full of good information.

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2. 0

   Pacal Votanposted 15 years ago

   This is one of the many options you have. I find that Yahoo Answers pages rank well in Google search.
   
   Be sure to give the best answer.

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3. 61

   ediggityposted 15 years ago

   Be careful backlinking there.  I got banned.  I only answered 4 questions, and provided what I thought were relevant answers.  I think someone with points reported me, and the big Y sided with them because I had my backlinks along with my answers.  The links were also relevant to the answers though.  It's not like I went into the cooking questions, and posted a link on how to fix your car.

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   1. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      It was probably their automated spam filter.  If you post more than two or three questions with the same link, you'll get a 999 error and won't be able to post any more answers for a while.

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      1. 61

         ediggityposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Good to know.  Maybe I'll see if I can post again.

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4. 72

   stanwshuraposted 15 years ago

   I have found this same irrational (and often unfair) temperamentality on both Y! Answers and myLot.  Both can and do erase/delete/disable (ban) users and their accounts for rather arbitrary reasons, including posting the wrong viewpoint in certain political fora - at least that's how it was during the Bush (II) administration.
   
   And when Y!Answers says "suspended" - which implies a period of time which eventually ends and at which point full use/privileges are restored - they actually mean "banned".  And off-site (email/"contact us") appeals to review the situation results in the form-response of "your situation has been reviewed" that goes on to say tough luck, pal.
   
   Anyway, that has been my experience on both those sites. 
   
   -stan

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   1. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      It's not irrational at all.  These sites must have mechanisms to protect against spammers and the only practical solution is to make them automated.  For automated systems, some rules have to be set and those rules inevitably catch some people who are not spamming.
      
      That said, anyone who posts reply after reply with the same link IS spamming so they're being caught legitimately.

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      1. 61

         ediggityposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I guess you just have to know the 4 link trick, so you don't get banned.

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      2. 72

         stanwshuraposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Well, first, I hope you don't think I was a spammer.  I wasn't.  My crime was being a liberal.
         
         On my "irrational" comment.  I'd agree with you but for the fact that I made several subsequent (and always civil) efforts to resolve it.  Surely the automated mechanisms are an imperfect but necessary tool.  But, they should serve only as a filter through which a spammer wouldn't bother to follow through with an inquiry to support staff.
         
         And, such staff could verify legitimacy quite easily by a confirmation email.
         
         I don't fault the measures.  I fault their being used indiscriminantly, and that legitimate users/posters/writers do not have any recourse to fix errors on Y!'s part.
         
         -stan

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         1. 87

            Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Stan, that assumes these sites are adequately staffed to allow manual intervention - and they're probably not. After all, why should they bother - the odd mistakenly banned user is soon replaced by someone else.

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5. 78

   sunforgedposted 15 years ago

   I had a level 3 or 4 account on YA! that had an extremely high best answer % like 70%!
   
   One day, i pointed out that 3 or 4 answer on an affiliate marketing related question led directly to pay for info ebooks that were total crap, I said it nicely with links to free resources that were not mine as examples of better options
   
   The next day, my YA! account was suspended, i received a response from Yahoo china? and was denied and banned.
   
   I still get traffic from that accounts answers. So no real loss.
   
   I know now that the ansers I pointed out were all most likely the same user with multiple accounts who flagged me from all of them.
   
   I dont have time anymore for that method of promotion but I do have 5 or 6 level 2 accounts that I use occassionally...thats the best method, backlink according to niche, leave helpful responses and dont rock the boat since your main goal is probably just to get a few backlinks anyway
   
   on a more personal level,YA! really makes me doubt the future of mankind..the intelligence level there is dismal
   
   
   A trick that a lot of marketers use there (and you see in the forums here on weekends) is ask a question with Account A, than answer with  your other account (account B) linking to your article or site, use account a to vote account B's answer as best.
   
   Now that sites like hubpages exist, that share revenue with users, i hope and expect all the models like myspace and YA! that just take from their users will be decimated by smart marketers forcing changes in policy or revenue share copycats to replace them
   
   particularly YA!, I much prefer answer sites that have actual "experts" that have proven their knowledge

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6. 77

   PurpleOneposted 15 years ago

   Thanks to everyone who wrote in with opinions.. I do have a level 2 account with YA and think I will just be extra careful and not go overboard.. seems like even using it at all to post links could cause my account to be shut down but I guess it's a risk I'm willing to take.

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   1. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      PurpleOne, I post links all the time (I don't bother answering a question unless I can get a link in there somewhere!) but I do mix it up, and I always make sure I give a decent answer first.

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7. 65

   Lisa HWposted 15 years ago

   I've seen some traffic from there; but my approach is to go there once in a while and answer a few questions (when I have nothing else to do).  Over time, I've built up lots of answers that don't have links.  Sometimes I'll then go in, look for the most common subjects (about things like toddlers or toilet training) and post a couple of links.  It's not mass traffic or mass posting; but I think it's pretty clear my account isn't about spamming.  (I've often posted links to things like expert resources/organizations, too, so I'm not just posting my own links.)

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8. 78

   Janet21posted 15 years ago

   I have never personally answered a question on Yahoo, however, some people have answered questions linking to my pages.  And, I do receive a nice amount of traffic from them.  It is always nice when someone else thinks my pages are informative enough to be posted in their answer.

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9. 0

   R.G. San Ramonposted 15 years ago

   Also posts in Y! Answers, at level 2, and some 21% for best answers. It gives me traffic, although google is my main traffic source. Got suspended too, for a while, but still posts there when I have time and no hubs to publish...and still getting best answers. The thing is, even if not always best, people will still click on it. And some google search shows yahoo questions (and your answers) too, so like sunforged said, no losses really.

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