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!
- Pimp your product knowledge and profit
- Work product by product, start with your best-sellers
- Build in the basic SEO and conversion elements
- Collect your converting keywords and cash in
And now, Mr. Michael Whitaker…
THE END
