Five Ways Marissa Mayer Hopes to Make Yahoo Competitive with Google

In July 2012, Marissa Mayer stepped into the role of CEO at Yahoo, after several years as Google’s first female engineer, in hopes of turning the company around. Despite the company’s size and relatively high traffic, the search engine has been dwarfed by the competition in many areas. Mayer hopes to bring a fresh perspective with a distinct set of priorities.

Become Mobile-Friendly
One of Yahoo’s biggest failings has been a lack of a viable mobile application. Users often complain that the mobile versions of the site are clunky and lack the features of its competitors. In one of her first interviews after taking the job, Mayer said that her “top priority” was improving the mobile functionality.  If she can deliver, Yahoo figures to see an increase in traffic from dissatisfied users of other search engines in search of an alternative.
Improve Employer Reputation
Several years of top-level turnover have hurt the reputation of Yahoo, which is a big problem in an industry where quality programmers and marketers are in high demand. In order to bring in the top available talent to the company. Mayer has said that she wanted to make Yahoo one of the best places to work possible.
Make it Faster
One of the biggest complaints from users of Yahoo is the overall search and website speed. While other search engines have simplified their front pages in an effort to increase loading speeds to provide faster search results, Yahoo has lagged behind, ranking near the bottom in page loading time among top search engines. Making the search experience faster should bode well for company profits.
Increased Company Focus
Yahoo currently has a number of products on the market, including Voices, Finance and Sports. Mayer has said that the company will attempt to focus on the things they are good at and invest in those. This could mean that we see some changes in the offerings of the company, but a more focused approach may help them regain the spotlight.
Become a Part of Everyday Life
Just as many search engines and social media platforms have created environments that are a part of everyday Internet use, Yahoo seeks to do this as well through personalization.  They already offer some of the most extensive options for users on its home page, and providing a more tailored experience for users, especially new ones, figures to be a breath of fresh air for cookie cutter search engine offerings.
Yahoo’s difficult financial past represents a tough road ahead for Mayer, but her ideas definitely have the company on the right track.