For audio 1 866.788.0546 passcode: 1682 4374 Preparing for the Holidays: Making the most of this years critical shopping period Yahoo! Small Business presents

For audio 1 866.788.0546 passcode: 1682 4374

Preparing for the Holidays:Making the most of this year’s

critical shopping period

Yahoo! Small Business presents

10.07.2009

04/10/23For audio 1 866.788.0546 passcode: 1682 4374

Preparing for the Holidays

Moderator• Paul Boisvert, Lead Product Manager,

Yahoo! Merchant Solutions

Developer Partner Panelists• Michael Vorel, CEO & Founder, Vastplanet

Corporation

• Matt Sampson, CEO, Colorado Web Solutions

• Coby Erez, Co-Founder & CTO, 4PSite


Agenda

Starting Additional Niche Stores• Niche store defined

• How to spot a niche in your current store

• Benefits of niche stores

• Points to consider

• Checklist for Getting Started

Developer Discussion

Merchant Q & A


Niche stores—what do we mean by “niche”?

Niche—Merriam Webster defines as “a specialized market”

Specific to ecommerce:• A specific product type with varieties and

accessories (e.g. binoculars, bar stools, baseball bats)

• A thematic clustering of products by user groups (e.g. birdwatchers, bridesmaids’ gifts)

• A seasonal product line (e.g. Halloween costumes, Christmas Ornaments)


Spotting a niche store—disparate buyer groups

Incompatible product messaging / buyer groups

• Evaluate current product lines and buyer personas• Re-evaluate quarterly / semi-annually depending on frequency of

adding new product categories


Spotting a niche store—internal search

Internal site search—zero search results• Yahoo! Web Analytics offers report

of terms with no results; Google Analytics can as well

• Report reveals customer interest inproducts you do not have for sale

• Can identify new products for currentsite or even entire niche

• Bonus—can identify misspellings youmay wish to add to site


Spotting a niche store—shopper feedback

Shopper feedback—monitor your:• Customer emails

• Phone support logs

• Live chat logs

• Social networking sites and blog comments

Difficulty in navigating site (too many levels)

Negative feedback in above support channels…but they may just aslikely bounce

Monitor your Search Phrases reportsfor high bounce rate terms; attractingtraffic, but landing page not converting


Spotting a niche store—market evidence

Google Trends—allows review of search terms to total volume as well as expanded terms and rising searches

Trend research sites such as springwise.comtrendwatching.com

Manufacturers—new product launches

Media and product evangelists in your vertical markets


Benefits of niche stores vs. one-stop-shop

• Easier to write copy and produce creative due to focused user group

• Typically easier to rank in SERPs due to targeted domain, content, etc

• PPC costs may be lower due to lower volume long-tail keyphrases

• Higher conversion rate—qualified traffic with targeted content

• Opportunity to try new things in safer environment (pricing, discounts, etc)

• Good to have multiple sites in case organic traffic crashes on main site


Points to consider before starting

• Extra work involved especially if internal processes not proven

• Loss of focus/ opportunity cost of same time invested in main site

• Be careful to avoid duplicate content or face penalty


Checklist for getting started

1. Start with competitive analysis—who is servicing this market already?

2. What is competition for key terms in organic search?

• Use Yahoo! SiteExplorer to check backlinks

• Use SEO tools to check keyword competitiveness

• Review competitor sites for SEO best practices

3. Review buyer interest at your own site(s)—do you have built-in buyers you can email, cross-promote?

4. Is there a good domain available for this niche?


Checklist for getting started—continued

5. Are your operations well documented, repeatable?

6. Do you have expertise on products in this niche? If not can you hire experts?

After Launch

1. Are you cross-promoting on-site, in emails, and offline to leverage existing traffic at main site?

2. If seasonal in nature, do you need PPC to drive traffic until search ranking achieved?

3. Are you spending appropriate time according to potential and actual performance?


Opening a new store for the holidays in 2 easy steps

1. Take advantage of our special offer – 3 months no subscription fees on Yahoo! Merchant Solutions Starter or Standard*

A. See the coupon in your Store Manager

B. If you don’t see it, email [email protected] with your name, company name, email address, and Store ID

2. Work with a developer partner to help make it as successful as possible. For a listing of developers offering 20% off:

developernetwork.store.yahoo.com/holidaypromo.html

* Offer available for new stores only and for existing customers only. Please see site for full details.


Speakers

Paul Boisvert, Lead Product Manager, Yahoo! Merchant Solutions

Boisvert leads strategy and product development for Yahoo!'s e-commerce business. Before Yahoo!, Paul was an interaction designer at Homestead Technologies, developing innovative and usable interfaces for web and desktop applications.

Michael Vorel, CEO & Founder, Vastplanet

Vorel’s firm provides e-Commerce Web Development, Internet Marketing and Management Consulting. He has expertise in affiliate marketing, social media strategy, video, PPC, SEO, SEM, email marketing and competitive analysis.

Matt Sampson, CEO, Colorado Web Solutions

Sampson has been building Yahoo! Stores since 1997. Based out of Arvada, Colorado, Matt and his team focus on high-end design work for Y! Stores as well as niche marketing and SEO optimization strategies.

Coby Erez, Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, 4Psite

Erez has extensive business and technology management experience with Fortune 500 companies as well as with small businesses. He holds a BSc in Aeronautic Engineering and an MBA from Tel-Aviv University.

send questions to [email protected]


Opening a new store for the holidays in 2 easy steps

1. Take advantage of our special offer – 3 months no subscription fees on Yahoo! Merchant Solutions Starter or Standard*

A. See the coupon in your Store Manager

B. If you don’t see it, email [email protected] with your name, company name, email address, and Store ID

2. Work with a developer partner to help make it as successful as possible. For a listing of developers offering 20% off:

developernetwork.store.yahoo.com/holidaypromo.html

* Offer available for new stores only and for existing customers only. Please see site for full details.

For audio 1 866.788.0546 passcode: 1682 4374

Please join us next week for our Store Optimization series• E-Commerce Best Practices• SEO Tips and Tricks • Live Site Reviews• Add-on and Features Showcase

Register at www.ystoreblog.com

Thank you for attending

Documents

For audio 1 866.788.0546 passcode: 1682 4374 Preparing for the Holidays: Making the most of this years critical shopping period Yahoo! Small Business presents