Yahoo! Store Blog

Whoops. Don't put a %20 on the end of your URLs. Thanks, Mike!

http://www.robsnell.com/ordermanagementsoftware.html

http://www.robsnell.com/ordermanagementsoftware.html%20 won't get you there in Google Reader. Thanks for the heads up! -- r

Fill out my Yahoo! Store Order Management Survey, get free stuff...

Howdy! We currently use OrderMotion for my mom's Yahoo! Stores. While it's not perfect (reporting: boo!), it works pretty well, but it's NOT cheap. And, as you might already know, OrderMotion is rolling out a another HUGE rate increase in 2009 with their new OMX software, so we're currently looking at alternatives for a PLAN B.

Going from Web-based software ("in the cloud") back to locally-based software on a network server makes me nervous. I know we'll need a server with all kinds of back ups, a better firewall, and probably a contract with a local IT company, but I hate this! This is SO frustrating! I'm used to concentrating on getting more sales, not finding out what I don't know that I don't know about maintaining an IT infrastructure...

Yahoo! Store owners: Can I ask you for a quick favor because I'm researching order management software and I need your help because you know more than I do! Can I pick your "retailer brain" for less than 5 minutes? Please take my  survey on order management software.

Answer 10 survey questions and I'll make it worth your while by sharing some unpublished transcripts of interviews and presentations I did earlier this year. Included in your PDF will be info from SOME of the following 2008 content:

    * Excerpts from a couple of video interviews from eMetrics,
    * text from a radio interview on increasing conversion rate,
    * my notes from Internet Retailer 2008 Presentation
    * info from my Brazil SMX2008 "Content is King" speech,
    * notes from when I testified to Congress this summer,
    * notes on Y! Web analytics videos we did with Avinash & Co.
    * and my PubCon 2008 presentation on 17 things you can do to make more with your Yahoo! Store...

I'm making up a nice little New Year's present in PDF for my Y! Peeps which I'll pull together by the end of New Year's Day and the ONLY way you can get it now is by taking this quick little survey.

Personally, I obsess over increasing conversion rates, ramping up your Internet marketing, maxing out your SEO efforts, not going broke with PPC, etc., but I figured if I shared some unpublished goodies with you, you would share what YOU know, with ME about YOUR experience picking order management software!

Anyway, you share a few facts with me and I'll share some new info I picked up this year with you. Thanks for your time!

Here's to your continued success and dealing with these "interesting times" in 2009!  http://www.robsnell.com/ordermanagementsoftware.html

-- Rob Snell,
Somewhere in rural Mississippi freezing his tail off...

14 Anagrams for Yahoo! Store

• A Horsey, Too
• Say Hero, Too
• A Hooters, Yo!
• Teary, Ooh So  
• Ratso Hooey!
• Are Hos To Yo   
• Sorta Hooey
• A Hoe Rots, Yo!
• Hero Oat-Soy
• Easy, Ho Root!
• Has Yore, Too  
• So, Hoary Toe!
• Aye! Ho Roost

and my fave: Hooray, Toes!

Yahoo! Store genius Istvan "RTML 101" Siposs launches RAPID EDIT -- a huge leap in productivity for Store Editor

This weekend I got an email from my good buddy, Istvan (RTML101) Siposs about a cool new add-on to Store Editor. He said he came up with "Rapid Edit" which was saving tons of time by giving him a shortcut straight to the EDIT PAGE of every page.

EDITING YOUR STORE THE OLD WAY -- As most Yahoo! Store owners know, nowadays if you want to change something on a product or section page, first you log into the Store Editor, browse to that page, then click the EDIT button. The EDIT PAGE window appears, you make your changes fields and click UPDATE. It's not too bad once you're logged in, but browsing and waiting for pages to load can take a little bit of time.

RAPID EDIT WORKS ONLY IN THE STORE EDITOR -- Anywhere there's a link, RAPID EDIT puts a small red asterisk * next to it. Links work the same as before, but click that red asterisk and you jump straight to the EDIT PAGE.  This  saves one click and one full page load for every page you edit!

Istvan installed a demo on one of my Yahoo! Stores and the staff loves it. He also added an on/off switch. I've tried it and if you do any editing at all it saves a ton of time. Sweet!

Man, I've always wanted to know how to do this! Istvan's RAPID EDIT is an order of magnitude better than my JUMP TO EDITOR. See http://www.ytimes.info/raedforyast.html for more info.

Oh, one other thing: I think Istvan & Mike want to do another seminar in early 2009, but this time in Hawaii! Any takers? -- ROB

Avinash Kaushik's 4Q

Avinash

ECOMMERCE
Buy
Check prices
Compare products
Check order status
Check promotions

LIST OF POSSIBLE QUESTIONS for RobSnell.com

value="1"   Add a review
value="2"   Ask an expert
value="3"   Buy
value="4"   Change my status
value="5"   Check for product updates
value="6"   Check friend updates

value="7"   Check messages
value="8"   Check my account
value="9"   Check news
value="10"   Check order status
value="11"   Check profile
value="12"   Check promotions

value="13"   Check prices
value="14"   Compare products
value="15"   Consult a review
value="16"   Create an account
value="17"   Download materials
value="18"   Download software

value="19"   Enter contest
value="20"   Expand my network
value="21"   Find a job
value="22"   Find contact information
value="23"   Find store locations
value="24"   Learn about products

value="25"   Listen to music
value="26"   Look at pictures
value="27"   Make a payment
value="28"   Make a request
value="29"   Obtain company information
value="30"   Post a job

value="31"   Post blog comment
value="32"   Read
value="33"   Read blog
value="34"   Read blog comment
value="35"   Read latest news
value="36"   Research

value="37"   Search for friends
value="38"   Seek technical support
value="39"   Sign up
value="40"   Submit a complaint
value="41"   Subscribe to RSS
value="42"   Try a demo

value="43"   Update account information
value="44"   Update profile
value="45"   Update pictures
value="46"   Upload video
value="47"   View profile(s)
value="48"   View/share widget(s)

value="49"   Watch a demo
value="50"   Watch videos
value="52"   Browse
value="53"   Check schedule
value="54"   Download podcasts
value="55"   Find locations

value="56"   Get directions
value="57"   Give feedback
value="58"   Learn about company / brand
value="59"   Make a donation
value="60"   Make a reservation
value="61"   Post item

value="62"   Register for an event
value="63"   Register/Become a member
value="64"   Report a problem
value="65"   Request a quote
value="66"   Seek support
value="67"   Subscribe to a mailing list

value="68"   Get information about a disease
value="69"   Find the cause of a symptom
value="70"   Get information about a drug
value="71"   Find online tools to help with management of a health condition
value="72"   Get information about a healthy lifestyle topic
value="73"   Get information about a medical test or procedure

value="74"   Add a listing
value="75"   Apply for a loan
value="76"   Ask a question
value="77"   Become a partner
value="78"   Become a reseller
value="79"   Become an affiliate

value="80"   Book a trip
value="81"   Browse events
value="82"   Chat
value="83"   Check events calendar
value="84"   Check shipping costs
value="85"   Choose a destination

value="86"   Comment
value="87"   Compare offers
value="88"   Complete transaction
value="89"   Consult job opportunities
value="90"   Contact company
value="91"   Contact customer service

value="92"   Contribute to the forum
value="93"   Download music
value="94"   Find a doctor
value="95"   Find a hotel
value="96"   Find a solution to a problem
value="97"   Find a specific article/publication

value="98"   Find activities
value="99"   Find hotel information
value="100"   Find information
value="101"   Find opening hours
value="102"   Find pricing information
value="103"   Find suppliers

value="104"   Find vacation ideas
value="105"   Get information on an already-booked trip
value="106"   Join forum
value="107"   Learn about services
value="108"   Learn about solutions
value="109"   Learn about volunteer opportunities

value="110"   Lease
value="111"   Modify a listing
value="112"   Obtain detailed information on post grad courses
value="113"   Obtain detailed information on undergrad courses
value="114"   Plan a vacation
value="115"   Post a review

value="116"   Read ratings
value="117"   Read reviews
value="118"   Redeem a gift certificate
value="119"   Rent online
value="120"   Rate an item
value="121"   Request a sample

value="122"   Request catalogue
value="123"   Request more information
value="124"   Reserve a room
value="125"   Schedule appointment/activity
value="126"   Seek admission or scholarship information
value="127"   Seek product specifications

value="128"   Take a tutorial
value="129"   View account details
value="130"   View partner information

Yahoo! Store Technical Supports Rocks!

OK. Not a real substantive post, here, but more of a shout out to some people who probably only get feedback when folks are pissed off.

Yahoo! Store Technical Supports rocks! Been working on some experimental RTML stuff and I keep locking up my store. I get the error message: Your store has 5 or more pending requests.

For the past 2 weeks I'd like to say that the fine folks in Yahoo! Store / Yahoo! Merchant Solutions tech support have been extremely helpful and have not made fun of me once. KILL THE EDITOR again fellas!  --

Rob Snell

Somewhere in rural Mississippi about to head to the jungle

Yahoo! Store Folks Take Note > Blogging Works!

And I still don't even have this blog's title tags set up right. Typepad is FRUSTRATING... Wordpress here I come...

Cool Flickr Slideshow Maker -- Yahoo! Store Book Reviews

from http://flickrslidr.com/index.php

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Garmin 496 Aviation GPS: Yahoo! Store Skygeek Gets It

Our fellow Yahoo! Store owner Mr. Steven Styles gets it. Check out his Youtube video on the Garmin 496 Aviation GPS.

Baby Bro Steve and I are in upstate NY visiting a couple of rev-share clients. Mr. Styles took us for a ride in his aeroplane where he showed me how cool his Garmin 496 GPS is.

Check this video here:

What is your best converting keyword? You want that in the anchor text of any link. Whether your keywords are car flags, or autism awareness, or custom rubber wristbands/ cancer wristbands - always always always get your most popular / valuable keywords in that dang anchor text! -- r

What do Dog Training Collars have to do with Yahoo! Store and SEO?

Just got an email from someone who attended the email Webinar a couple of weeks ago. Based on that email and a few other comments at Internet Retailer, I think folks want more info about SEO.

Honestly, the secret to good Yahoo! Store SEO is write good text CONTENT and get more LINKS than the other guy.

For example, when I'm working on my Dog Training Collars pages, I get my brother to write out what he says on the phone to customers who call and ask questions. This content is good for two reasons: 1) It answers the questions from folks who might NOT call and may only read the Web page and 2) it's keyword loaded and great for free search engine traffic.

Then you need LINKS. Some folks say great content gets links by itself, but I like to give my content a little bit of help. More on that in a bit...

Rob

PS Thanks to all the folks who have been so patient over the past year or so. I'm back in the saddle again and promise to crank out more content, so I'll get more links... ;)

Yahoo! Store Testimony from Rob's visit to Congress is now up.

Yahoo! Store Testimony (written) from Rob Snell's appearance at the "How Online Advertising Impacts Small Firms" Congressional hearing is now available on house.gov.

Technorati Profile

<a href="http://technorati.com/claim/7t58wfed" rel="me">Technorati Profile</a>

Search Engine Strategies NYC Party List -- SES NYC 2007

Just got an email from my cousin, Joe Morin, SEO to the CEOs about the SES NYC Party Schedule. If the TSA guys would let me, I'd bring him a big ole jug of mamaw's mash.

Thanks, Joe! I'm looking forward to SES NYC and having some fun after weeks of dealing with the house fire fallout. :/

See SES NYC 2007 Search Parties

OK - Here it is. This is the thread that I will be updating with all information that I receive regarding parties, events and gatherings for the upcoming Search Engine Strategies Conference in New York City April 10 - April 13, 2007.

If you are a search engine or vendor events coordinator and are planning an official gathering or even an informal one that you would like me to promote, then send me a PM with all of the details that you would like included. If you are an attendee and you've heard of a great event, also feel free to send me a PM and I'll look into adding it to the list.

Yahoo Store blogger, Rob Snell's house burned down. (Everyone's fine.)

Howdy. Haven't been blogging much lately, but that has more to do with new girlfriend, new client workload, new content I've been writing for other folks, and wrestling with an 800 lb. purple gorilla. Long stories, all. I have lots to tell and soon, but then my house pretty much burned down this weekend. (See excerpt below when link expires. Must've been a slow news day because I made the front page of Starkville Daily...)

SHORT VERSION: I was out of town for a wedding in Memphis. Volunteer firefighters risked their lives and got my dog out from under the house, and Georgia's fine. It's just stuff, but lots was photos and family stuff.

I have insurance. Probably not enough. Check your CONTENTS insurance as well as the details on what is and is not covered!

I'll be back blogging, but it may be a while. Y'all be good, now! -- Rob

Overnight fire damages local man's home

Kirk Rosenhan/SDN The home of Rob Snell on Highway 12 West was heavily damaged in an predawn fire Sunday morning. The cause of the fire is believed to be electrical in nature, said County Fire Services Coordinator A.K. Rosenhan. 

By BRIAN HAWKINS
Starkville Daily News

An Oktibbeha County man's home was partially gutted and sustained heavy heat and smoke damage during a predawn fire Sunday morning.

The home of Rob Snell was discovered burning by a passerby about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, said County Fire Services Coordinator A.K. Rosenhan. Snell was not at home at the time of the fire, Rosenhan said.

Responding volunteer firefighters from the Central Oktibbeha and Adaton-Self Creek departments found the west end of the house engulfed in flame, with fire piercing both windows and the roof.

The room where the fire was primarily concentrated was a former carport that had been enclosed and renovated into a library, Rosenhan said.

"What was formerly the exterior wall helped stop the fire from spreading too far into the rest of the house, but there was extensive heat and smoke damage throughout the entire home," Rosenhan said.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the bulk of the flames in a just a few minutes, but were on the scene for more than two hours ensuring that flames didn't reignite, Rosenhan said.
Firefighters were also concerned that Snell's dog, which is kept in a fenced area behind the house, was missing, Rosenhan said.

"We were told that when the dog got scared, he would run under the house, so there was a bit of concern. Fortunately, the dog was found was unharmed," Rosenhan said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation, but is believed to be some sort of electrical malfunction centered around a specific wall, Rosenhan said.

Your search marketing ads are, like, so 2006

Your Yahoo! Store's search marketing ads are, like, so 2006...

I'm waiting on some cool new CONVERTING KEYWORD harvesting tools to finish running and thought I'd remind everyone to check your paid search ads for references to 2006. First, search your ads for 2006, then change those ads until you see something like this:

 

Also, make sure your STORE has no more outdated references to 2006 in CAPTIONS or NAME fields...

To find pages with 2006 in the NAME field, search each engine for this: site:yourdomain.com intitle:2006

Back to harvesting $3,750,000.00 worth of keywords for Mr. S... Whew. I'm getting tired...

2007 Yahoo! Store Reviews -- Now is the time to check yourself

Wow. Happy New Year, Yahoo! Store Peeps...

After doing that free Webinar with Monitus Mike, I've been totally swamped with Yahoo! Store Site Reviews.  I'm seeing so many of the same issues across all these Yahoo! Stores, that I thought I should post about it...

I address many of these issues in my column in next Yahoo! newsletter, but I'm going to share a little free pre-info with y'all. Click the link below to read some questions you should ask yourself about YOUR Yahoo! Store:

I got klogged over the holidays

http://blog.karlribas.com/2006/12/interview-with-rob-snell.htm

I got "klogged" over the holidays by my good friend, Karl Ribas. He took it pretty easy on me most of the interview, but his follow up questions were pretty brutal... Happy New Year, folks! - -Rob

Yahoo! Store Owners Should Also Pimp Out Their Yahoo! Local Listings, too

Blog reader, Mark, just pointed out that the Yahoo! Local page for Copy Cow is actually better than the Google local page for Copy Cow. He called me on it and he's right! For a college town, Google is even more important than ever, but why turn down free traffic from Yahoo?

ALSO -- Looks like I dropped the ball on optimizing the Copy Cow Copy Shop name on Yahoo!, too.  I have the flu thing going around (post CHICAGO SES) and am home, so I'm playing on the Net instead of getting caught up on 3 weeks of work (read on...)

Yahoo! Store Owners Should Signup for WebmasterWorld Supporters Forum

Seriously! Brett Tabke and crew ROCK! Sign up here. $150 a year gets you stuff like this: http://www.webmasterworld.com/supporters/3182425.htm

Last night I posted this reply last night in the Webmasterworld Supporter's Forum:

(About negative keywords...)

Personally, I hate editing these big honking keyword lists with thousands and thousands of keyword phrases! It's no fun. I guess I'm just lazy, but I want a very fast way to see ALL the keywords driving traffic to my Web site: the Good, the Bad, & the Ugly.

Making ATOMIC KEYWORD LISTS and using that word list to generate a NEGATIVE MATCHING or CULL LIST is one of the most effective things I've ever done to tighten up my flabby PPC campaigns. (Continued...)

 

Yahoo! Stores should sign up for Google Local

Am back from Chicago SES 2006 where I froze my drawl off. Catch up is a REAL bear! Here's an off-topic post, which falls under secondary search engine optimization for Yahoo! Stores (with phone listings in the Yellow Pages).

Ok. I know, I know. "Google, Google, Google." Yahoo has local search and local Web sites, too. I'm posting this particular post because I just got my Google Local postcard today with my PIN number so I could activate my Starkville, MS copy shop's Google Local page, and I'm posting these screen shots so Craig and Rachel and Joe and Karl and Sally and Dave and Jessica and Kelly can see that I really did get the postcard and that the SEO efforts are already working!

Hopefully, Craig should have more info about using Google Local / Google Maps in your secondary SEO efforts. I think Rachel has an article about local search optimization, too. Wonder if they read this? If they do, they'll get a link! It's almost like writing good ole Yahoo! Directory listings! Hope that's not keyword stuffing!

OLD NAME: Copy Cow

NEW NAME: Copy Cow Copy Shop, Color Copies, and Fax

Yahoo! Store Webinar Recap...

Dear Folks,

Howdy! Thanks to everyone who made it to the free SEO Webinar last Friday. Mike & I had a blast! Looks like we’ll being doing more and more of these!

ATTEND MIKE’S FRIDAY WEBINAR
Mike has a webinar on his MONITUS tools on this Friday, and I wish I could be there, but I’ll be up in the air somewhere over Illinois headed home to Mississippi about the time he gets cranked up. Good luck, Mike! Y’all need to see this:

MIKE'S 12/08/06 Webinar
Unlocking keyword data from your Yahoo! Store
https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/145776187 -- Keywords are the life and blood of any e-commerce operation. Learn how to find your best converting keywords and how to optimize your site in this informative 60-minute webinar. See https://www.gotomeeting.com/register/145776187

CHICAGO
Am in Chicago for Search Engine Strategies 2006 freezing my drawl off! I speak on Thursday at 12:30 doing SEO site reviews. As you probably know by now, I get pretty excited about this stuff! If you happen to be here for SES, come by and get your site reviewed.

SES is always crazy busy and there’s not enough time to see everyone I want to see. So far I’ve seen lots of fellow Yahoo! Store developers: Dave & Sally Burke from VisualFuture.com, Michael Roebuck and the crew from All Web Promotion, and even met some really nice folks from OneChoiceForYstore.com.

FREE META DESCRIPTION RTML TEMPLATES
Like I said in the Webinar, if you posted a Yahoo Store book review of my book on Amazon, and attended the Webinar, and your store uses custom RTML templates, I’ll give the first 25 people who email me my super-meta-description RTML template. I still have a few templates left, and they’re going fast. I’ll even install them for you, if you’d like.

Thanks to all the folks who already posted reviews of my book on Amazon. My flight was earlier on SUN than I thought, so I'll get your free META DESCRIPTION templates uploaded when I get back from CHICAGO SES 2006. I get a little paranoid mucking about with real sites when I'm out for a week with somewhat intermittent net access and with SES I'm pretty much unplugged and trying to learn as much as possible...

WEBINAR NOTES:

Here’s why I obsess over SE
Search Engine Optimization works for free Web traffic

NUTSHELL: 60 Second SEO Webinar

• Start with a SE friendly foundation
• Collect converting keyword phrases  (CKWP)
• Put CKWP in TITLE tags and body text
• Use internal links (CKWP in anchor text)
• Get off-site links (CKWP in anchor text)
• Write unique content in CAPTION text
• Get more links than the other guy

FOUNDATION: Unlock Parking Brake

1) Pick your main domain
2) Redirect Yahoo! Store URLS (301)
3) Create custom error pages (404)   
4) Use free search engine tools    
5) Turn on XML feeds   
6) Fix the WWW / non WWW problem

FOUNDATION: Pick Your Main Domain   

• Use one domain per store
• Use main domain as Store Entry Point
• Link consistently on the site
• Set the Google WWW / non-WWW Switch

FOUNDATION: Redirect Yahoo! URLS   

• Yahoo! Domain Redirect Settings
• Use the Y! URL 301 Redirect
• All store URLS >>> to your main domain
• So account.stores.yahoo.net/pagename.html becomes …www.domain.com/pagename.html
• Consolidates link popularity
• Fixes the CART / SEARCH problem

FOUNDATION: Create custom 404’s       

• Yahoo: Page Not Found Handling (404s)
• YUCK: Default error page redirects to your homepage
• Make a whoops.html page
• Use Apple.com’s 404 as a model
• Turn Custom 404 on under MGR: Preferences

FOUNDATION: Turn on XML Feeds       

• Free Shopping Engine Traffic
• Google’s Froogle, Shopping.com, etc.
• Allows some 3rd party XML export tools to work
• Monitus tools, tools.solidcactus.com, visualfuture.com
• YUCK: Folks can steal your store
• Client example, scrapers will anyway …

FOUNDATION: Search Engine Tools       

• MGR: Create a Google Sitemap for Your Store
  • http://www.google.com/webmasters/
• MGR: Authenticate with Yahoo! Site Explorer
• Use SE Advanced operators
  • Site:domain.com to see pages indexed
  • Link:domain.com to see back links

FOUNDATION: Fix the non WWW problem   

• One URL for every page
• stores.yahoo.net/account/pagename.html
• I use BASE HREF
• Fixes links off the page
• Consolidates link popularity
• RTML hack for lack of non-www 301 redirect
• Most RTML folks can do this

Optimize your online store

• Profit from your product knowledge
• Work your most valuable Web pages (MVP’s)
• Create a self-optimizing store with templates
• Collect converting keywords

1) Retailers: You are an expert

• Show your expertise
• Write relevant copy
• Tell me what to buy

Collect your expert content

• Harvest product Q&A from your sent emails
• Record & transcribe customer phone calls
• Ask customers if they have product questions
• Add this product info to your product pages

Pump up your product pages

• Rewrite manufacturer product descriptions
• Play “20 Questions” with each product
• Use competitors’ ideas (both retailers and manufacturers)
• Use other manufacturer content:
  • Press releases
  • Product sell sheets
  • Owners’ manuals
  • Catalogs & brochures

2) Optimize your most valuable pages

• Home page
• Info page
• Top 15 Section pages
• Top 100 $$$ Products

Optimization starts at home

• Branding
• Merchandising
• Navigation
• WISMO?
• Load speed
• SEO

HOME PAGE: SEO Powerhouse

• Title tag - Use 10-12 words
• Meta description - Company info SERPS snippet.
• Body copy - Keyword-loaded. 500+ words
• Text link navigation - Keywords in sidebar / footer
• Embedded links - 100 votes
• HOME PAGE: Merchandising
• HOME PAGE: Navigation
• HOME PAGE: Customer service

Get the 411 on INFO Pages
“More than 50% of folks who order view our info page…”

Use FAQ style links

• Show me how I can contact you
• Who you are & where you are

SEO SECTIONS (Category pages)

PRODUCTS: Start with best-sellers

3) TEMPLATES: Self-Optimize

• Create a self-optimizing store by using RTML templates
• Build SEO elements right into your store pages
• TITLE tags, META DESC, H1 headlines, links
• Use SMART RTML for better SEO
• Automate marketing messages with RTML
• Free shipping, you save, mfg logos, free gifts

Create automatic TITLE tags
CUSTOM TITLE TAG = Name + price + savings

Create automatic Meta Descriptions

Add FREE SHIPPING text (detail)

Show manufacturer logos

Build in links for good navigation

• Link to PREVIOUS, UP, NEXT product
• Anchor text gives SEO benefits
• Makes easier browsing / editing

4) Cash in on Converting Keywords
COLLECT: Converting keywords
OPTIMIZE: Store product and section page text/links
TRACK: Search engine rankings
ADVERTISE: Buy paid search ads

Rinse and repeat

COLLECT: Converting keywords

• Use your Yahoo! Store stats:
  • Emails. Orders. Reports. History.
• Get third party analytics
  • Monitus + Google Analytics; Indextools, ClickTracks
• Use PPC conversion tracking data
  • Google Adwords / Yahoo! Search Marketing

Converting keywords case study
(thanks for permission JK!)
200,000 unique keyword phrases
194,305 phrases did NOT convert
5,695 phrases DID convert
4,758 unique terms with one order each
1,150 unique terms with 2 – 1000 orders
Obsess over the $$$ money terms

OPTIMIZE: Product / section pages
Broad match:  keywords on page
Phrase match: exact phrase on page
Find Most Relevant Page on Your Site
If not, create a Landing Page
Link to most relevant page in CAPTIONS

TRACK: Search engine rankings

TRACK: Your top 200 $$$ converting keywords
Watch your Top 1000 Converting Keywords
Don’t ignore your more obscure words #1001 - 6000

ENGINES: Google, Yahoo, MSN, Froogle

TOOLS: Bruce Clay’s SEO Toolset + Web Position Gold

ADVERTISE: Buy paid search ads

• Google Adwords – IMPROVED!
• Yahoo! Search Marketing (Overture) -- NEW!
• MSN AdCenter -- NEW!

So now you know what to do with your Yahoo! Store!

1. Pimp your product knowledge and profit
2. Work product by product, start with your best-sellers
3. Build in the basic SEO and conversion elements
4. Collect your converting keywords and cash in

And now, Mr. Michael Whitaker…
THE END

Free Yahoo! Store Webinar on Friday

We're already "sold out" but I'll hold a few more slots for blog readers who didn't sign up in time.

Make More with your Yahoo! Store
FRIDAY, DEC. 01, 1pm ET - 1 hour
$97 (FREE for Yahoo! Store Merchants)

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP - Free to Yahoo! Store Owners

Learn how to drive search engine traffic to your store and then all the way to the bank.

In this free, one-hour Webinar, you'll learn secrets of Store SEO (search engine optimization): How to optimize your Yahoo! Store products and sections to get free search engine traffic.

Also, guest speaker Michael Whitaker of Monitus.Net's Store Tool Set will show you how to measure how you're doing. See what's working and focus your efforts on the marketing that gives you the best bang for the buck. SIGN UP NOW!

EVENT: For Yahoo! Store Owners Only: Make More with your Yahoo! Store

SPEAKERS: Rob Snell, Michael Whitaker

DATE: Friday, December 1, 2006. 1:00 pm, Eastern. (10:00 am Pacific time).

HOMEWORK: Not mandatory, but recommended reading assignment: "Starting a Yahoo! Business For Dummies," CH16 + CH17. Now available in stores nationwide or online at Amazon.com - Just search for Yahoo! Store

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP - Free to Yahoo! Store Owners

Yahoo! Store RTML Data Extractor

My good buddy Dave @ Visual Future just tweaked his new export tool, the Yahoo! Store RTML Data Extractor: This tool extracts data from a specially formatted page at your store. It also comes in handy when you want to extract a particular section of your site, make backups of your data, or keep track of your images. If you have MS Access, here is a database that is set up to help manage the data from this tool. In General You'll type in your information and receive a .zip or .tgz file containing your results.  For Dave's Yahoo Store export tool, click here. And enjoy!

-- Rob

P.S. I'll be in Vegas, presenting at PUBCON on Thursday! Wish me luck!

MUST SEE TV: Google Analytics for Ystores

My buddy, Mr. Mike, can capture the revenue amounts from a Yahoo! Store and push the data (in some secret, mystical Jedi master method) to Google Analytics where you can learn all kinds of stuff about how to make more with your Yahoo! Store. And GA's free, dude!

And now he has a free one hour Yahoo! Store + Google Analytics webinar. Put this one on your calendars, folks. NOT TO BE MISSED! Tuesday, October 24, 4:00pm ET or Tuesday, November 7, 4:00pm ET. Sign up here: http://www.roirevolution.com/yahoo/.

--

Free Yahoo! Store Training

I'm going to do some free Yahoo! Store training stuff via rich media. Now's the time to tell me what you want. :) I'm getting all my notes ready for my presentation in Las Vegas for Pubcon and there's no way I can cover what I want to cover in 15 minutes, so you get all the material that wouldn't fit!

Have y'all seen the cool Lexus commercial where the car parks itself? I wish I had the online SEO version of a Lexus LS 460L. Holy cow! Parallel parking itself? I'd like an RTML template to do that!

FREE RTML Yahoo! Store Template

If you’re a client or friend of mine PLEASE DO NOT DO ANYTHING THAT DELETES YOUR CUSTOM TEMPLATES. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then relax.

First, what is that RTML all about?

If you’re a retailer, I think that you don’t need to know RTML. I think you need to know what you can get someone to get RTML to do, but unless you want to get into the Yahoo! Store development business, don’t bother.

I’m about to start giving away tons of FREE Yahoo! Store RTML templates, not just because I'm a nice guy, but there are too many people who need these suckers and fast!

Yahoo! Store Well-Represented at PUBCON Las Vegas

Hear me speak at 2006 Pubcon in Las Vegas! This should be a GREAT session! I know all my fellow panelists:

• Mr. Jimmy Duvall, Director, E-Commerce Products for Yahoo! Small Business;
• Stephanie Leffler, CEO, MonsterCommerce.com;
• Aaron Shear, Director of SEO with Shopping.com

Last year was a blast! Thanks, Brett for another PUBCON slot!

See http://www.pubcon.com/sessions.cgi?action=view&record=43

Everybody Loves Vegas, Baby!

WebmasterWorld's PubCon Las Vegas 2006

• Las Vegas Convention Center in fabulous Las Vegas Nevada
• Four Track Educational Conference with Exposition Hall
• Topics: Search, Net Marketing, SEO/SEM, Affiliates, General Webmastery.
• PubCon is scaled from novice to advanced experience levels.
• The leading edge event for sharing real world information about SEO, SEM, and general Site Owner/Webmaster issues.
• When: November 14-17, 2006
• Keynotes: Guy Kawasaki, Jon S. von Tetzchner, John Battelle, Danny Sullivan

Yahoo! Store Technical Support Phone Help ROCKS!

Got an email from a client with some nice things to say about Yahoo! Store Technical Support Phone Help -- Call Yahoo! Merchant Solutions Technical Support at (800) 318-0790

I'm a new Yahoo! Store owner, so I was at a bit of a loss when I discovered that something isn't working correctly for Yahoo! today.  I found myself unable to get into Yahoo! Merchant Solutions, or to load up any website that I know is on the Yahoo! Store platform ( www.yahoo.com finally loaded after more than 5 minutes). 

I had no problem with any non-Yahoo! related sites, so I knew that it wasn't my internet connection.  I contacted friends in other regions but they were not having similar problems.  I called my ISP and they impatiently told me that it was a Yahoo! issue.  So, I called Yahoo! Customer Service.

Imagine my surprise when I only had to answer two automated questions before I was directed to a live person.  Despite the fact that Yahoo! was aware that there were some problems, customer service took the time to confirm that I was in one of the regional areas that was having problems. 

The customer service associate could have stopped at confirming that there was a problem in my region and that the Yahoo! engineers were working on it. 

Instead, he took the time to look up my Yahoo! Store ID# and tried to give me a back door route into my store so I could get some work done.  He even took the time to confirm that there was not a problem with my store, www.quiltblockparty.com, as well. Finally, he put me on hold and did some additional checking to confirm that the matter should not be "escalated."

It is frustrating and stressful when things don't work right.  I am sure that Yahoo! is getting a lot of calls today.  However, they did not just tell me that there was an engineering problem and get me off of the line. 

Yahoo! customer service showed me today that they were willing to do everything possible to make things work for me as a customer, rather than treating me as a part of a "regional problem."

BACK DOOR LEGACY STORE:
http://us-f1-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.yourSTOREaccountnamehere/
BACK DOOR MERCHANT SOLUTIONS:
http://us-f1-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.yhst-0000000000/

Yahoo! Store Editor PUBLISH Trick

Mr. Allen Giglio, Steve's right hand man at Gun Dog, taught me this easy peasy Store Editor PUBLISHING trick.

NOTE: I recommend that you only have one PUBLISH button - the one on the home page (index.html), especially if you have multiple people in multiple locations working on your Yahoo! Store at the same time.

Why? To me there's nothing worse than being in the middle of something in the Yahoo! Store Editor and having your browser lock up because someone else decided to publish the site. It really irks my behind to lose edits or text or whatever I was working on just because SOMEONE clicks the damn PUBLISH button. Anyhoo...

You control where the PUBLISH / MANAGER buttons appear on the CONTROLS page with the SITE BUTTONS settings. Set it to HOME.

ALLEN'S COOL TRICK: Any time you need to get to the homepage, look in the URL window of your browser and chop off all the alpha-numeric gobblety goo past your account name. For example:

http://us-f4-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.yhst-37770412209435/67ffac4eef62/CB2auA6Q
http://us-f4-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.yhst-37770412209435/67ffac4eef62/CB2auA6Q
http://us-f4-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.yhst-37770412209435
and hit ENTER and you're zipped back to the HOME PAGE.

or if you have an OLD, LEGACY store:

http://us-f4-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.webstore-design/67ffac4eef62/CB2auA6Q
http://us-f4-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.webstore-design/67ffac4eef62/CB2auA6Q
http://us-f4-edit.store.yahoo.com/RT/NEWEDIT.webstore-design
and hit ENTER and you're zipped back to the HOME PAGE.

Client: k, i usually just click on my logo

Well, that works most of the time, but sometimes you won't be on a "real" page. Sometimes you'll be on an RTML template or on the UPLOADS page or one of 20 other utility pages.

This'll save you 3 or 4 clicks per publish which means you might have time to read my blog while you wait for your site to publish...

Actually... Hey YAHOO! SMALL BUSINESS FOLKS! Why don't you add a link to the latest Ystoreblog.com post on the PUBLISH Status page, show it via RSS, or flash random e-commerce conversion improvement tips while folks wait for their sites to publish?

Yahoo! Store QuickBooks friendly Order Management Software

Just got an email heads up from a long-time reader with permission to post to the blog. Thanks, Elliott!

 

How is the OrderMotion going? I have found a great new program. T-Hub from www.atandra.com which is designed to integrate Yahoo! Stores (and some other ecommerce stores) with either Quickbooks or Quickbooks POS. Good pricing and so far support has been great. Check it out IF you use Quickbooks or QB POS but definitely should be in your newsletter.

-- Elliott Raby, Sales Manager, beauticreams.com