Hi, my site www.learningsteps.com is listed as #15 for the word 'computer training' now i wish to move up to the first page of google. One guy recommended that i look at my competitors who all have listings in yahoo directory and i don't, he said an authority site like yahoo would push me up in SERP's to the first page. Has anyone any opinions on this, it $299 a year to be listed on yahoo (bit expensive). Am i better spending 299 elsewhere and if so please make recomendations - directories etc. Kind Regards Fergal.
I'd do it. Even though the Yahoo Directory has lost a lot of its prominene and importance, it's still worth submitting to. If it doesn't work out, then don't renew the submission. Another good one would be Best of the Web (botw.org). It has roughly the same price, but it's a one-time hit - meaning you can recoup that cost over 5 or even 10 years. And then there's the perennial joke called DMOZ. Once the gold standard of directories, it's become about as corrupt as (well, I won't go there, since that would violate the no-politics rule on the main forums). In your particular case though, removing the images from your headings and using actual text could be enough to get you into the top 10. If you still want the images to be present (for the visual aspect), you can look into CSS background images (for the presentational aspects) or just cover up the entire heading with a CSS based image substitution technique (just make sure the text is still visible when images are disabled).
I suggest that you can get the website to # 1 for that $ 299 by spending it on some off-site activity which is of good quality -- not the usual blog posts, directory submissions etc but high-quality optimization. You website has the potential to rank in the top 3 for the mentioned search phrase, its just a matter of opting for the right services. If you need any more help, do feel free to PM me. Seo Ocean