Long time Yahoo Store Blog reader writes a whole ton of Yahoo! Store questions. And then starts harrassing me.
Hey! Are you back from your SE conference yet? I am working on a list of questions for you. I also have my brother reading your book.
and then...
Since you had to leave for down-south, country band practice and my phone was dying and I am on vicodin from my surgery I did not get to ask the questions I wanted.
and even...
I was wondering why I had not heard from you since I sent a few emails. I thought maybe you got killed while playing fiddle at a hoe down in Mississippi.
Ok. I'm in a new band, but it's a ZZ TOP style, southern funk and rock and blues band. And I play drums. And I have never been to a hoe down, but we do have some pretty mean tractor pulls down here.
QUESTION: I have a Yahoo! Store with the normal RTML templates. How do I do create unique meta tags (META-DESCRIPTIONS and
META-KEYWORDS) for each page without using RTML?
ANSWER: Well, in a standard Yahoo! Store, you don't unless you're a masochist. Seriously. You really need custom RTML templates for custom META-DESCRIPTIONS and META-KEYWORDS tags on each page.
In theory, you could override the HEAD-TAGS variable on every page, but then you would have to hand-copy and paste all your HEAD-TAGS content (CSS, 3rd party tracking code, other javascripts, etc.) into every page. And then the nightmare would begin because anytime you made a global change, like say when you decide to switch analytics, you'll have to hand edit each product page with the new code.
It's easy, peasy RTML (for developers anyway) to add a snippet of code that put the first 200 characters of your caption as your META-DESCRIPTION unless there's something in the ABSTRACT field. And your ABSTRACT field should be just that: a short summary of what the page is about.
Also, in my custom RTML, nested inside the HEAD-TAGS, I like to call the text from a new property called ANALYTICS-CODE which is under the global Variables page.
When I need to change my Analytics code, I simply click the VARIABLES button, edit the ANALYTICS-CODE field, click UPDATE, and PUBLISH and made changes are made globally across the site.
Advanced users may want to use RTML with their WEB ANALYTICS software to tag different types of pages with different code.
For example, most of my product pages are usually two or three levels deep in the site, so one of my goals is to get a prospect from a section page to a product page. I use RTML to see if a page has a price on it, and if so tag that page as a PRODUCT page so I see just how many folks visited product pages like so:
30% BOUNCES -- one pageview and then out.
70% BROWSERS -- more than on pageview
45% DEEP BROWSERS -- +1 pageview AND looked at a product page
6% CARTERS -- added a product to their cart
4% DROPPED CARTS -- started checkout but didn't buy anything
2% COMPLETED CARTS -- placed an order
QUESTION: What type of page do you use for an article or non- product page on a yahoo store? An Item page?
ANSWER: Yep. Reread CHAPTER 11 in the DUMMIES book. I just click the SECTION or ITEM button, type my article content right in the NAME and CAPTION fields, upload an IMAGE, and then I have some good content. Just CUT this page to your CLIPBOARD and paste it wherever you think it would go.
I use this all the time to create content pags for Buyer's Guides, Product Reviews, More Info pages, Warranty info, copies of press releases, content from the box or product packaging, text from PDF owners' manuals, text from my email newsletters, and anything else I can think of...
QUESTION: Where do you put misspelled words on your page?
ANSWER: Sometimes in the META-DESCRIPTION. Sometimes I'll put text on the page in the CAPTION field waaaaaaay at the bottom of the page.
For example, I'll paste something like this in the CAPTION: "sometimes commonly misspelled as yayhoo stor, Yawho store, Y store, or Yahoostore."
Sometimes I'll even make a whole page of misspellings to keep normal product pages from looking all 'flickty.
QUESTION: I have a question regarding CSS but do not know how much you know about CSS.
ANSWER: Not nearly enough! CSS is amazing! CSS: Miami is the best.
But seriously, I'm just learning more and more. You can find CSS references all over the Web for free, but I would buy a book. CSS For Dummies works. Friend and fellow Yahoo! Store Developer Michael Whitaker of Monitus.com is a CSS monkey genius.
CSS allows you to define a region with a class and then define how all the elements in the class will appear and even where on the page something will appear.
QUESTION: Does it seem to help with SE rankings by adding the product name to the ABSTRACT and LABEL fields?
Yes, but only if those fields are used somewhere in your page template. For example, the ABSTRACT shows a snippet of text for each product on section pages if 1) you have some text inside the ABSTRACT field and 2) if you make ABSTRACTS show on section pages under CONTENTS-ELEMENTS under the global VARIABLES or under LEAF-CONTENTS-ELEMENTS under the CONFIG page.
With standard templates, the LABEL field is only used on the HOMEPAGE for specials and then only if you have SPECIALS-AS-THUMBNAILS selected. I use the LABEL field with some custom RTML for either a SHORT-NAME to use elsewhere on the page or a list of KEYWORDS to fly into my META-KEYWORDS tag.
QUESTION: Is Chris Malta's eBay book the best place to find companies to drop ship or do you recommend any other sources?
ANSWER: Probably. I just bought one on Amazon. Warning! This is an affiliate link and I get paid if you buy something, but WORLDWIDE BRANDS has the best publically available list of wholesale distributors and dropship companies for selling online that I've ever run across.
QUESTION: Do you have any suggestions for page layout on product pages?
ANSWER: Reread CHAPTER12. Think big, juicy product photo. ADD-TO-CART button above the fold in the first screen shot so folks don't have to scroll. BIG, RED ADD-TO-CART button.
QUESTION: Any suggestions on what would be reasonable to pay a link strategy company on top of my own link building?
ANSWER: Depends on the quality of the links. $25 a link for folks who can get you good one-way inbound links is wonderful. $5 for reciprocal links is "retail." Some companies charge $1500 for a directory package that gets you in 10 directories. I'm lazy. I hate to ask for links, so I try to build sites with content that get links by themselves. You need lots and lots of links...
QUESTION: Who do you recommend for custom RTML work?
ANSWER: Depends on what you want. There are 50 Yahoo! Store "developers" selling knock-offs of pretty much the same templates originally created by the original RTML Kings of Code: Istvan 'RTML101' Siposs, Michael Whitaker, Don 'YstoreTools' Cole, and a few other folk.
Me? I write my own RTML, but if I were buying (or renting) I would rather own an original than a copy any day. I have a list of about 10 folks I use. Email me for the "Friends of Rob" list.
That's it for today's mailbag. Keep those cards and letters coming...
Rob Snell
(Somewhere in rural Mississippi)
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