How to Advertise Web Sites on Yahoo Shopping

If your business is Web-based, then you know how important site traffic is. It's not enough to have a Web site if no one is visiting it! That's where advertising your Web sites comes in: Using a resource like Yahoo Shopping to advertise your Web sites, you'll see a dramatic increase in traffic as well as profits. All you need is the knowledge to make the most effective use of the services offered by Yahoo Shopping.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Internet access
• Computer
• Yahoo account
• Yahoo Shopping account

Create a Yahoo Shopping Account

1. Log on to Yahoo Shopping and create an account (see Resources below). If you've already got a Yahoo email address, you can use this information to speed the process, although you'll still need to give your payment information for the use of the Yahoo Shopping service.
2. Create a storefront for Yahoo Shopping, especially if you are selling a wide variety of products. There is a charge to have a dedicated web presence for your products, but the benefits include a much more streamlined interface for potential customers.
3. Set up email alerts for your Yahoo Shopping account so you know when your Web sites are visited as well as when people make purchases.

Submit and Advertise Web sites on Yahoo Shopping

4. Contact Yahoo Search Marketing by clicking the 'Contact Us' link to begin the sign-up process. You will be placed in contact with a Yahoo representative who will help you determine what range of services are best suited for your Web sites.
5. Provide the XML feed that connects to your Web sites to Yahoo Shopping. They will need to be reviewed before approval is given to advertise.
6. Include keywords and hyperlinks that are relevant to your own Web sites. These will be used by Yahoo Shopping to power the search engine's ability to make your Web sites relevant to potential shoppers.

Tips & Warnings

• Update your Web site regularly to reflect new products, and make those products available on Yahoo Shopping. Make it part of your daily task list to make your products prominent.
• Stay on top of your orders and customer questions like you would any other business. Your ratings will have a fairly big impact on the extent to which people return to you for service in the future. Treat your customers with care and respect, and answer questions and concerns in a timely manner.
• Don't include 'Portal Pages' on your Web sites. Due to security concerns, they will disqualify your sites from being made available through Yahoo Shopping.
• Get more questions about Yahoo Shopping answered from the Yahoo Help section of the Web site (see Resources below).