[TSHIRTHUB]

Is anyone out there using Yahoo Merchant Solutions? I have some questions for anyone that is using this service. I've been using for close to 6 months and would like to start a discussion with any number of people who are current users.

First question - where are the best places in the templates to focus on SEO?

Also - some technical questions about file managers w/ YMS and embedding pictures into page content. I can't find a way to make a "non-product" page w/ pictures embedded into it (that aren't a product image). Is this as simple as loading a picture to the file manager and inserting the proper html to pull that image? Because I'm having a tough time accomplishing that as simple as it sounds.

Please advise YMS customers!!!

Thanks - Mike

 

[aokusman]

Hey,
nice site. I see that your tees are USA made, what brand are they?

 

[TSHIRTHUB]

Thanks,


We use Royal Apparel. Similar to American Apparel. This works for me since I'm on the east coast and they're on the east coast. It eliminates a higher shipping cost like that of American Apparel coming out of the west coast. Nice shirts.

www.royalapparel.net I believe.

 

[Twinge]

I would have to suggest removing your search engine spam at the bottom of your pages; as search engines advance (especially Google), that's potentially more likely to hurt you than it is to help - plus, it looks bad to customers.

Also, your vote link at the top only links back to the index.

As far as SEO goes, adding alt text to your images is a good start. You might also change up the titles a bit, e.g. "Weird T-shirts: I Like Potatos" instead of simply "I Like Potatos"

 

[TSHIRTHUB]

I would have to suggest removing your search engine spam at the bottom of your pages; as search engines advance (especially Google), that's potentially more likely to hurt you than it is to help - plus, it looks bad to customers.

Also, your vote link at the top only links back to the index.

As far as SEO goes, adding alt text to your images is a good start. You might also change up the titles a bit, e.g. "Weird T-shirts: I Like Potatos" instead of simply "I Like Potatos"

Thanks Twinge for the advice. Are you a Yahoo Merchant as well?

Mike
www.tshirthub.com

 

[Twinge]

I am not, so I can't give you any of the specific details you asked for, that was general site review advice =)

 

[Logo-Mechanix]

Mike, I built my website through yahoo small business which I believe is the same as far as building the website using sitebuilder. I don't have an online store since I mainly sell a service (graphics and illustration) there is no need for a store but I did put a bunch of pictures on my site. I found that changing the titles a bit for each page seemed to help. I also subscribe to an online news letter called websitepro and sometimes they have some helpful hints about seo in the news letters.

John www.Logo-Mechanix.com

 

[novatila]

Hi there, I'm using the same Yahoo Merchant Starter. But, it looks like you build your website based on the Yahoo! Sitebuilder. Well, I used HTML program to build my website. If you want to check it out at

http://www.anonymousapparel.com

So far, I'm pretty familiar with the YMS, so if you have any other questions besides Yahoo! Sitesbuilder, I'll be happy to answer.

Is anyone out there using Yahoo Merchant Solutions? I have some questions for anyone that is using this service. I've been using for close to 6 months and would like to start a discussion with any number of people who are current users.

First question - where are the best places in the templates to focus on SEO?

Also - some technical questions about file managers w/ YMS and embedding pictures into page content. I can't find a way to make a "non-product" page w/ pictures embedded into it (that aren't a product image). Is this as simple as loading a picture to the file manager and inserting the proper html to pull that image? Because I'm having a tough time accomplishing that as simple as it sounds.

Please advise YMS customers!!!

Thanks - Mike www.tshirthub.com

 

[TSHIRTHUB]

Hi there, I'm using the same YahooMerchant Starter. But, it looks like you build your website based on the Yahoo! Sitebuilder. Well, I used HTML program to build my website. If you want to check it out at

So far, I'm pretty familiar with the YMS, so if you have any other questions besides Yahoo! Sitesbuilder, I'll be happy to answer.

Wow, that's incredible. I'm not saavy with HTML, but I am very interested in understanding how you got your site to look like that using Merchant Starter. Are you plugging store-tags into another design program or are you lugging into the Merchant Solution template. I would love to have something more flexible than the template they provide. Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated!

edit: removed weird links.

 

[cameo]

Is anyone out there using Yahoo Merchant Solutions? I have some questions for anyone that is using this service. I've been using for close to 6 months and would like to start a discussion with any number of people who are current users.

First question - where are the best places in the templates to focus on SEO?

Also - some technical questions about file managers w/ YMS and embedding pictures into page content. I can't find a way to make a "non-product" page w/ pictures embedded into it (that aren't a product image). Is this as simple as loading a picture to the file manager and inserting the proper html to pull that image? Because I'm having a tough time accomplishing that as simple as it sounds.

Please advise YMS customers!!!

Thanks - Mike www.tshirthub.com

Maybe i missed it but If I were to buy the iowa t- shirt from you, I'd like to see what I'm buying first. Didn't see the merchandise.

 

[Rodney]

Maybe i missed it but If I were to buy the iowa t- shirt from you, I'd like to see what I'm buying first. Didn't see the merchandise.

You mean the iowa t-shirt here?
http://www.tshirthub.com/iowa.html

Are you saying you (as a customer) would like to see the picture of the design on an actual t-shirt in order to help you make a buying decision?

 

[cameo]

Correct, I was thinking about buying one for both my brothers, but I would like to see the actual t- shirt with the image on it.

Cam

 

[Rodney]

Correct, I was thinking about buying one for both my brothers, but I would like to see the actual t- shirt with the image on it.

Cam

That's interesting. I hadn't heard that before. I always assumed that people knew they were at a t-shirt shop and know what t-shirts look like. But that's a good point, showing them on a t-shirt can help reassure the buyer about how large the image prints, where it's printed at, and imagine the shirt on someone (themselves or a loved one).

That's a good tip If it can help a buying decision, it should definitely be there!

 

[TSHIRTHUB]

That's interesting. I hadn't heard that before. I always assumed that people knew they were at a t-shirt shop and know what t-shirts look like. But that's a good point, showing them on a t-shirt can help reassure the buyer about how large the image prints, where it's printed at, and imagine the shirt on someone (themselves or a loved one).

That's a good tip If it can help a buying decision, it should definitely be there!

I absolutely agree with both of you - I do need pix of the actual product up there. I believe it does boost consumer confidence and I think it will increase conversions and the rate at which my traffic grows. Top 5 on the to-do list in January.

If you are interested in the Iowa shirt I can forward you a pic tonight - it's placed pretty standard on the t-shirt.

Mike

 

[TeaseNeed]

Hi. I use Yahoo Store and Merchant solutions. I don't know how to program but built an effective site with their Yahoo Editor. I think if we had a pro do it our sales would increase, but I'm not convinced it would go up too much.

For our product we think Search Engine Optimization is the way to go.
Unfortunately, Yahoo Store can't be read by spiders, google, etc for SEO very well.

Right now we are trying to make a decision to outsource everything and go with an effective ecommerce and marketing company build a new site and optimize for $6000 + your regular monthly fee

OR

do an incremental improvement with someone who specializes in Yahoo Store building metatags and other improvements and SEO for $2000. We found this programmer by googleing "yahoo store" and search engine optimization.


IF anyone out there has a recommendation with this l imited info they can make a rec.

 

[Rodney]

For our product we think Search Engine Optimization is the way to go.
Unfortunately, Yahoo Store can't be read by spiders, google, etc for SEO very well

Why do you say that Yahoo store can't be read by spiders?

I've seen a lot of deeply indexed Yahoo stores that show up just fine in search engines.

Actually, I think the structure of the Yahoo store lends itself for easy search engine optimization. Just read the tips on the Google website and you'll be able to implement most of the stuff the "pros" will do on your own.

 

[TeaseNeed]

Why do you say that Yahoo store can't be read by spiders?

I've seen a lot of deeply indexed Yahoo stores that show up just fine in search engines.

Actually, I think the structure of the Yahoo store lends itself for easy search engine optimization. Just read the tips on the Google website and you'll be able to implement most of the stuff the "pros" will do on your own.

I should have clarified. If built with the Yahoo Store Editor and not HTML then many/most of the product descriptions and text at your site is displayed graphically rather than textual. Therefore the spiders/engines don't read as much as they could.

If you are good with HTML then you can get around this.

Yahoo is fine, but our Yahoo store needs more work to get it to be optimized to a higher degree. I built it with Yahoo Editor. It looks fine and works well.

I like Yahoo store a lot but am not a programmer; so meta tags, and spidering and professional search engine optimization is something I want to farm out.

We are looking at hiring a professional SEO- programmer who specializes in Yahoo store. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

I have a Yahoo Merchants solution plan. I built my site with Sitebuilder. If you have only been open for 6 months you should have access to some free SEO tools. I cant remember how long they were free but I went ahead and signed up and paid for the service for an extra 6 months.

 

[TSHIRTHUB]

Hey - Great to see this string still getting some action!

Actually - I haven't done much SEO yet on my site. I'm planning on doing it soon though. This company seems to offer some interesting products. www.YStoreClick.com. They specialize in Yahoo Merchant Solutions...they basically modify 'templates' to do what you want. They have all sorts of neat little products to choose from. My friend has used them (www.chowdaheadz.com) and I've been pretty impressed with some of their work (www.wickedcoolstuff.com). Check 'em out.