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1. Yahoo! Web Analytics more exclusive than Google?
2. Trim the Fat in your Yahoo! Store’s Ad Budget with Analytics
3. What can you do with Yahoo! Web Analytics?

Google Alerts is a content monitoring service offered by Google. If you’re a Yahoo store owner – this service can be invaluable for keeping track of your competitors, your site’s performance and any related content that you feel would be helpful in tracking your products and your industry. Track product lines, track your competitions newest pages that have been indexed, and follow your own indexing. If you are actively blogging – Google Alerts can also be a great way to determine how quickly your posts are being picked up by google and indexed. Once you’ve signed up and selected  your various alert matches and preferences, you’ll be notified automatically, once a day or once a week if those terms are served via web content, blogs or video’s.

Currently the following alert types are available:

• Comprehensive
• News
• Web
• Blogs
• Video
• Groups

It’s very easy to sign up. Here’s what you’ll do:

Be sure you are logged into your google account. Head to: http://www.google.com/alerts . You will see a text box where you can enter various terms you’re interested in. You’ll then need to enter in the following:

Search Terms
Type of Alert you Want
When you would like to be Alerted (Daily, Weekly or Automatically)
Your Email Address

To start off with we would suggest the following search:

Search term: YourDomainName.com (change it to your Yahoo Stores domain)
Type: Everything
How Often: As It Happens
Number: Up to you
Email: Up to you

This will provide you with an email every single time google indexes a new page within your site. An invaluable resource to understand and see.

Once you’ve completed those steps you’re finished. You can set up as many alerts as like. Get Creative, you can always delete them if the content isn’t what you were expecting. It’s worth the time and effort to track terms related to your industry. Knowing is half the battle and Google Alerts is a great step in gathering detailed information pertaining directly to your site and products.

Matt Sampson | CEO | Colorado Web Solutions
http//www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

Sign up for your Free Yahoo! Store SEO Report today at: www.15seo.com!

Related posts:

1. Yahoo! Web Analytics more exclusive than Google?
2. Google Datafeed Submission Changes

Part 14 of our month long Cyber Monday Prep Tips Series. Every day, we have been giving you one small piece of advice to check, fix or confirm within your Yahoo Store in preparation for Cyber Monday 2009. View Past Yahoo! Store Tips.

Weekend Edition: Cyber Monday Yahoo Store Preparation Tip #14: Checking the last Minute Details

Hi everyone, I know it’s the weekend and I typically only post for you on weekdays, but Cyber Monday is in just two days, so I think this is a good time to give you a few last minute things to consider. These should all be fairly simple ideas so you should be able to take care of all of them in just a few minutes.

1. Make sure that your Yahoo Store Analytics are turned on and collecting data. Read more about this here.
2. Double check the credit card you are using for Google Adwords payments. Has it been paid down enough to avoid getting declined and thus shutting off your ads this weekend?
3. Be sure to import your current customers from previous orders into your email campaign program before you send out your next promotional email.
4. Post something about your store on your Twitter page. Do the same for Facebook. Encourage people to click the link they see.

That should be enough for you today. It’s a busy weekend, but be sure to check all those items off as soon as you can.

I’ll see you all on Monday. It’s time. :)

Matt Sampson | CEO | Colorado Web Solutions
http//www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

Sign up for your Free Yahoo! Store SEO Report today at: www.15seo.com!

Related posts:

1. Cyber Monday Tip #12: Finalize Last Minute Promotions
2. Cyber Monday Tip #11: Your Holiday Shipping Deadlines
3. Cyber Monday Tip #13: Get your Email Campaigns Ready

Today I’m going to highlight one simple case study regarding Analytics.

Before I get too deep into this, I want to remind Yahoo! Store owners again to ACTIVATE YOUR ANALYTICS! If you have not yet activated your analytics, you’re not collecting data, so please do that ASAP, even if you don’t know what to look for in your reports. Start collecting Data now. [Learn More Here]

Once you have activated your account you will be collecting data which is critically important. To take advantage of what I’m going to write about below, you will need to take your analytics account one step further and start tracking your specific marketing campaigns (Google Adwords, Yahoo Search, etc) If you are not familiar with how to do this, please contact Colorado Web Solutions and we can get your account set up to track campaigns and provide you with all the necessary instructions for only $100.

Ok, now it’s time for the details.

Last week we were doing some work with a client and the goal of the meeting was to try to reduce the expense of Google Adwords without sacrificing sales. It was a common goal that we hear time and time again.

Analytics has been set up on this account since the beginning of the year and we have been tracking specific campaigns as well for a few months.

We immediately navigated over to the “Campaign Summary” reports and started digging into the data. When the campaigns are set up properly to track data, we are able to not only see which campaigns people entered the site from and how much (or little) they purchased from your Yahoo! Store, but we are also able to view which actual search phrases the clients customers were searching for.

Within 5 minutes we were able to identify that this client could save money immediately by adding a few negative keywords to their campaign. The client was bidding on the term “Coffee Cakes” but we discovered that their ad was being displayed when people searched for “coffee cake recipes” and was generating a large level of traffic that was not targeted to their products. They don’t sell recipes, they only sell the actual coffee cakes. There’s no reason to be paying for traffic that is not looking for what you’re selling!

Within a week of adding “recipes” as a negative (do not show my ad with this term) keyword, we were able to save this client an average of 19% immediately on their Yahoo! Store’s Google Adwords budget.

Imagine that.. 5 minutes of time saved 19% on the Advertising Budget.

And it’s all thanks to Analytics. Without being able to track the actual “search phrases” that customers were using, we would have never discovered the “leak” in advertising dollars.

This is just one simple example of the power of Yahoo! Web Analytics combined with your Yahoo! Store.

If you would like to schedule a consultation of your analytics settings or if you would like us to customize your campaign tracking on ANY of your campaigns including Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, Shopping.com, Facebook, etc, please contact us and we would be happy to assist you with that. On average, campaign tracking can be set up for only $100.

Have a great week everyone, and please set up your Yahoo! Store’s analytics today!

Matt Sampson | CEO | Colorado Web Solutions
http//www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

Sign up for your Free Yahoo! Store SEO Report today at: www.15seo.com!

Related posts:

1. What can you do with Yahoo! Web Analytics?
2. Are you using the Yahoo! Store Web Analytics?
3. Yahoo! Web Analytics more exclusive than Google?

Good afternoon everyone! I just came across this article about Yahoo! Web Analytics and how they are taking a completely different approach to their tool than Google does. Google wants the whole world to run Google Analytics (Imagine the master data they have!), but Yahoo! Web Analytics is a higher end analytics tool that is being reserved for exclusive clients, Mid to High end Yahoo! Stores and other invited users.

My point in saying this is that for those of you that are Yahoo! Store owners, you should really take advantage of the analytics Yahoo! has provided for you. They provide incredible insight to your business, your web store and more importantly, your customers minds. In case you missed the first article about turning your analytics on, you can read it here. Enjoy the article!

Matt Sampson
CEO
Colorado Web Solutions
http://www.ColoradoWebSolutions.com

Yahoo’s Web analytics tool upgrade takes a non-Google approach

Yahoo has upgraded its Web analytics tool with a new version that adds functions and makes it available to search and display advertisers working with the company. While some coverage has implied that the new product is a sign that Yahoo is attempting to compete with Google in this sector, analysts say the company is actually trying to focus its analytics efforts with a different approach.

“I think some of the buzz and chatter is somewhat misinformed,” says John Lovett, a senior research analyst at Forrester. “Google has more than 70% of the market share for Web analytics and Yahoo realizes it can’t swallow that — so it is taking a different approach to its analytics tool.”

The analytics tool was first rolled out to Yahoo Store merchants at the end of April, and the announcement that it is being made to search and display advertisers is a new rollout phase. “You or I couldn’t get access, so it’s a different market than Google Analytics,” says Lovett. “It’s a very methodical approach to go after different segments — you basically have to have a relationship with Yahoo to get this product.”

He adds that he believes this is a strong move for Yahoo, as it removes the “action chasm” that often afflicts Web analytics tools: “One of the historic problems with Web analytics is that the tools are very good at providing mountains of data, but notoriously poor at driving insight from that data.”

Yahoo’s upgrade provides new ways for search and display advertisers to gain more data insight, he says,including easier ways to analyze by demographics such as gender and age, as well as psychographics including user interests.

“With most Web analytics tools, you can access this information, but it’s difficult,” he explains. “This makes it more accessible to the average marketer.”

The new Yahoo tools, he concludes, assures scalability for the company in this sector. “If you’re going to provide analytics to everyone, you need to scale in order to collect the massive amounts of data required and provide it in a timely fashion,” he says. “This tiered rollout phase assures Yahoo can provide the services their users are seeking.”

A Yahoo spokesperson could not be reached for comment by publication.

Read the original post here at DMnews.com

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2. Are you using the Yahoo! Store Web Analytics?
3. Trim the Fat in your Yahoo! Store’s Ad Budget with Analytics

But it’s free! Yes it is, and we don’t discourage use of Google Analytics (we use it!), but we do discourage the use of ONLY Google Analytics. If you are a Yahoo! Store owner and do not have the base level package, you have access to some of the best analytics software available right from within your store. And you’re already paying for it, so start using it!

I’m writing about Yahoo! Web Analytics. Have you heard of it? The Yahoo! Merchant Solutions group has been quietly promoting this new analytics suite for Yahoo! Stores for a few months now, but many merchants missed the hub-bub because it was right before the Holiday Rush last year.

This technology is brand new to Yahoo! Stores, but the software and experience that are the base of the platform have been around for years. Yahoo! purchased a company called Index Tools and then integrated their services (that averaged fee’s of about $150 a month by the way) into Yahoo! Stores. I have personally been using Index Tools on my sites for almost 7 years and can tell you that the data from this service is far superior to that of the “free” variety.

In fact, just this month in the WebSite Magazine Blog Briefs, I read an article about how Yahoo! Analytics was providing more reliable data than Google Analytics in several key categories. It was a 470 page report if you’re interested.

You’ve got the best of both worlds at your fingertips. A service that has value provided to you as no additional charge.

It’s Free? It sure is!

If you have one of the top two tiers of Yahoo! Stores, you have Yahoo! Analytics included with your store at no additonal fee. Like I mentioned above, Index Tools averaged about $150 a month for the service, so this is a substantial value to Yahoo! Small Business Merchants.

Have you activated your Analytics Yet?

Before I ask you if you are USING the Yahoo! Store Analytics, I should probably ask you if you have ACTIVATED your Yahoo! Store Web Analytics? If not, stop what you are doing right now and activate it. It just takes a few moments, you have to accept the “Terms and Conditions” etc. and then you’re in and tracking. Head to your main Manager screen and look below the “Statistics” column and you will see the new Yahoo! Web Analytics heading. Just follow the links and you’ll be up and running in a few seconds.

I’ve got much more to say about analytics and their immense value to your business. Keep watch over the next few weeks as I delve deeper into Analytics and teach you a few critical techniques including tips that can increase your advertising potential while reducing your costs and give you greater control over your visitors. It’s all about using your analytics correctly and efficiently.

Stay tuned and in the mean time, Go Activate your Analytics!

Matt Sampson
Colorado Web Solutions
http://www.coloradowebsolutions.com

Related posts:

1. Yahoo! Web Analytics coming to a Store near you!
2. Start Using Yahoo Web Analytics
3. Yahoo! Web Analytics more exclusive than Google?

http://ystoreblog.com/blog/2008/10/what-can-you-do-with-yahoo-web-analytics/

We announced on Wednesday that Merchant Solutions Standard, Professional, and Yahoo! Store merchants will soon have access to our beta release of Yahoo! Web Analytics, and that these stores will be enabled in stages. Today, we’d like to give you a preview of what you can look forward to when the “Get Started” link appears in Store Manager. We think you’ll agree that enabling Yahoo! Web Analytics can open up a world of profit potential for your store — great news at any time, and especially so right now as we look toward the holiday shopping season.

Yahoo! Web Analytics features

To note every feature available with Yahoo! Web Analytics would take much more than a blog post — closer to a book. Luckily, Dennis Mortensen, Director of Data Insights and previous COO of IndexTools, is already busy writing that book. With over 100 standard reports, the ability to customize these or create brand new reports from scratch, options to apply cross-reference filters and visitor segments, and powerful scenario analysis and campaign tracking features, you can dig deep into your site activity to discover user trends, problem areas, and potential conversion opportunities.

Unlike many reports or analytics tools, Yahoo! Web Analytics provides real-time reporting of your site activity. You can immediately see the effects of site changes and marketing campaigns, and know how your site is performing right now. And once collected, historical data is always available when generating and segmenting reports, and applying cross-reference filters.

Here are just a few of the things you can do with Yahoo! Web Analytics:

Apply cross-reference filters and visitor segments

Cross-reference filters add a new dimension to understanding site performance. By applying filters to reports, you can gain insight into the different factors that may be influencing your key metrics, individually or in combination. Instead of spending hours manually digging through different reports, Yahoo! Web Analytics can automatically remove the data you don’t want to look at, and incorporate the metrics you’d like to focus on.

For example, when viewing a conversion summary report, you may wish to filter the results by conversions that came from visitors in a certain city or country, or that were related to a certain entry page or traffic source. Or, when viewing a visits report, you may wish to show only visitors who arrived at your site using a certain search phrase, or visitors that came from a specific referrer. Filtering allows you to see patterns that may otherwise be hidden.

You can also apply visitor segments to your reports, so you can see how different visitor groups engage with your web site. For example, you may wish to segment report data by results that apply only to returning visitors, or by results that apply only to visitors in a certain geographic location. Using the segmentation selector to explore visitor behavior can help you learn how to better optimize your site, and your marketing campaigns.

Create custom reports and dashboards

Custom reporting lets you choose the key metrics most important to your business, and to design reports tailored to your reporting needs. You can use the Custom Report Wizard to modify existing standard reports, or to create brand-new reports from scratch.

While Yahoo! Web Analytics includes a default executive dashboard that displays key site metrics and performance indicators, you can also design new dashboards geared to your business needs. For example, you may wish to create a custom dashboard that includes reports geared toward SEO or SEM efforts. You can have up to 10 dashboards, and each dashboard can include up to 10 items.

Yahoo! Web Analytics dashboard

Analyze steps in an important site process

The Scenario Analysis feature allows you to pre-define and track the steps a user must go through to complete an important site process, such as a checkout or signup flow. By tracking these steps, you can learn where visitors exit a process (e.g. abandon their shopping cart), identify areas of weakness, and optimize the process to improve conversions.

Using ad-hoc scenarios, you can create and apply a scenario to historical data, allowing you to research and test possible steps in a process before implementing them on your site. Both pre-defined and ad-hoc scenario reporting let you “drill-down” into the data, revealing navigation path and exit page details for visitors who did not complete a process.

Example of a checkout scenario analysis, showing the number of visitors who began the checkout process compared to those who completed a sale, and at which steps drop-off occurred.

Set custom delivery options, and share reports

You can schedule Yahoo! Web Analytics reports for delivery by email to one or more email addresses, or have them automatically uploaded to an FTP server. You may also give other users access to your reports.

With Yahoo! Web Analytics, you can also:

• Define and track campaigns, including paid search, email, banner, and internal campaigns.
• Compare reports from different time periods, such as before, during, and after a marketing campaign, or month-to-month.
• Track internal searches on store pages built with Store Editor, to learn what visitors can and can’t find.
• Define, track, and analyze site events.
• Export reports to Excel, CSV, HTML, PDF, and .ZIP format.

The features highlighted here are just some of what’s offered by Yahoo! Web Analytics. To learn more, check out our Yahoo! Web Analytics help section.

How do I get started?

Once the “Get Started” link appears in your Store Manager, enabling Yahoo! Web Analytics is easy. Our automated installation option for checkout pages and store pages built in Store Editor means no messing around with tracking code. Simply follow the “Get Started” link in Store Manager and click the “Enable Analytics Tracking” button to start tracking your site.

Manual installation options are available for merchants who build their store pages with Web Hosting tools, or for merchants who wish to add custom tracking variables to their store pages.

Where can I learn more?

For information about enabling Yahoo! Web Analytics and using the reporting interface, please consult our extensive help section. We’ll also be offering a webinar later this month to introduce you to Yahoo! Web Analytics. Please watch the blog and our training page for webinar details.

Our training page also includes a free video from MarketMotive, showing four quick ways you can use Yahoo! Web Analytics to improve your store. The free video is one segment of a full Yahoo! Web Analytics training course developed by MarketMotive, available by subscription.

We’re excited to introduce this first phase of Yahoo! Web Analytics to our Standard, Professional, and Yahoo! Store merchants. Remember to watch your Store Manager in the days ahead for the “Get Started” link, and to check back soon for information about the webinar.

Jennifer Farwell
Yahoo! Small Business

Related posts:

1. Trim the Fat in your Yahoo! Store’s Ad Budget with Analytics
2. Website Analytics: Small Business Power Tools
3. Start Using Yahoo Web Analytics

In the coming weeks, we will be announcing Analytics packages covering training, implementation and advanced functionality. We’ll send out an announcement as soon as that is finalized.

In the mean time, here is the Official announcement from Yahoo! Small Business.

Yahoo! Web Analytics is available in beta release to Yahoo! Merchant Solutions Standard and Professional merchants along with Yahoo! Store merchants. We will be enabling access to Yahoo! Web Analytics over the coming weeks in stages.

So when will I know I have it?

When you see the “Get Started” link under the Yahoo! Web Analytics header in your Store Manager then you can enable analytics for your store. Please note that only the store owner will see the “Get Started” link within the Store Manager. Other users provisioned with store access cannot enable Yahoo! Web Analytics.

So what about Merchant Starter?

We are currently evaluating how to best offer Starter merchants analytics that can be integrated directly into the Store Manager. Stay tuned for more details on that in the coming year.

Where can I get more information?

Dennis Mortensen, Director of Data Insights at Yahoo! and previous COO of IndexTools, has posted on his personal blog about the renaming and launch of the new site. Also remember to watch this blog in the days ahead for a post detailing more of the features and benefits of enabling Yahoo! Web Analytics.

Paul Boisvert
Yahoo! Small Business

Related posts:

1. What can you do with Yahoo! Web Analytics?
2. Are you using the Yahoo! Store Web Analytics?
3. Start Using Yahoo Web Analytics