Yahoo Search Class  

I (John) attended a class in Houston this last week covering Yahoo Search.  Google search was also included in the class discussion.

The class was taught by Mark Evans who was the General Manager of the US search business of Overture Services, with profit and loss responsibility at the largest pay for performance search provider on the Internet. Overture was purchased by Yahoo.  He and some of his associates created Telic Media to help companies utilize search engine advertising.  Mark knows search engine operations and provided some great insight to search engines.  

A quick primer on search engines.  When you enter your search term in the input box of Yahoo or Google, this is considered the "keyword" to the search engine.  It will search its database for the information that most closely matches the keyword and display it on the left side of the results page.  This information is supplied by the search engine at no charge to an advertiser and is from information that the search engine gathers from the Internet.  These results are called the natural or organic results.  On the right side of the page, the search engine will display what Google calls "Sponsored Links" and Yahoo calls "Sponsor Results".  These are paid ads that are set to be displayed for the specific keyword that the searcher enters.  The ad has a link in it that will take the searcher to the advertiser's website.  The advertiser only pays if the searcher clicks on the ad.  

Now back to the information on the class.  The morning was a basic presentation titled "Getting the Most Out of Your Search Advertising".  It started by teaching how to generate keywords.  The most important lesson was to always think like your customer and to imagine the keywords that the customer will use to search for your product.  The customer goes through three phases in the buying process.  First, she becomes interested.  Second, she shops.  Third, she purchases.  The keywords for the first step are very broad like "television".  The words begin to become more specific with the next step and the keyword might be the brand name.  In the final step, the keyword might be the actual model number for the brand name.  

Next we learned how to generate keywords.  The best tool (and it is free) is the Yahoo Search keyword tool.  You can access this at http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/rc/srch/.  When you finish reading the newsletter (I don't want to lose you in the middle) go to that site and click the Keyword Selector Tool under Tools.  This will present a form for you to enter your base keyword.  Click the blue circle with the white triangle.  It some tim es takes 30 seconds to get the results, but you will see your keyword and the number of searches that were made on it in the prior month.  The tool will also generate related keywords that have the base keyword in it and the number of searches for each additional keyword.  

Advertisers spend millions of dollars trying to determine the right keywords to use to reach their customers.  There is an entire industry that has developed in the last few years that focuses on this pay per click advertising (PPC).  The advertiser bids for position on a particular keyword and if the ad is clicked, the advertiser is charged for the click.  

Just for fun, go to http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/rc/srch/ and select the View Bids Tool.  Enter your keyword and the tool will tell you the price a company is bidding for the word.  If there are multiple companies bidding, it will tell you the bid and the company in each position.  

There are many more topics that were covered, but if I continued, I would teach the class in this newsletter and that is not the intent.  

The afternoon was very advanced and assumed that all the students were very familiar with search marketing.  The title of the session was "Advanced Search Expertise: Take Your Campaign to the Next Level".  It went deeper into keyword generation and taught how to manage search advertising campaigns.  I found it very interesting and exciting.  I learned some great information that I am implementing in some of my Google and Yahoo campaigns.  

These classes are taught in various locations around the country.

If you have the opportunity to attend one and you want to make a living on the Internet using search engine advertising, I highly recommend that you attend.  

Report on Site Build It  

I said in the previous issue of Boomer eZine I had made the decision to purchase Site Build It (SBI) and evaluate it.  I went on the site, gave them my credit card, and plunged forward.  I was emailed my user name and password and I logged on the site.  

It has been a great ride since then.  At this time I will say that Site Build It is a well kept secret on the Net.  Creating a website under SBI is a very structured, organized procedure.  The process is broken into ten days.  Each day is not necessarily a true calendar day, but it takes you through the process the way you should really do it.  I am experienced in building websites, registering domain names, and other facets of the Net so I am forcing myself to follow every step and not take any shortcuts so I can truly evaluate the process from the perspective of an inexperienced person starting on the Net.  

SBI makes you go through the first five days before you are even allowed to register your domain name.  

The first five days are broken down as follows:  

1.     Mastering the basics

This teaches you about the Internet and outlines the process for the next 10 days.  There are videos for each day to accompany the very detailed instruction manual.  

2.     Develop Best Site Concept

You pick three site concepts and then brainstorm for the keywords for that site.  You also evaluate the profitability of the concept.  SBI has a tool called BrainStormer to help you with this process.  There is also a tool to help you with managing your keyword list during this research process.  

3.     Fully Brainstorm Profitable Topics for Your Best Site Concept

On this day you take the keywords that you have gathered and create a site blueprint from the various good keywords that you have developed.  You evaluate the number of searches (demand) and available sites for the searches (supply).  

4.     Investigate and Plan Monetization Options

Unless you are going to develop your site to strictly be an information site (a true infopreneur), you need to have a plan on how the site will make money for you.  This day teaches you the options that you have available to you for making money with your site.  

5.     Refine Site Concept and Register Domain Name

Only after the market research, the evaluation of the competition, and the evaluation of the profit potential for the site are you allowed to name your domain.  SBI helps you create the domain name out of the research that you did during the previous days.  Only after all this can you name and register your domain.  SBI takes care of registering the domain name and the registration fee is part of the annual fee.  

I am just about to name my domain, and it is not the name that I had in mind when I started this project.  

I will have more info for you in the next issue.  If this continues to go as I expect it will, the SBI method will be a great way for Boomers to get into business on the Internet.  

Well, I just checked and one of the ads that I set up on Yahoo Search early this morning is already active.  This is a record, and I will attribute it to what I learned at the Yahoo Search class.  

That's all for this week.  To my new subscribers, if you would like to do so, please read the past issues at www.Boomer-eZine.com. 

Stay tuned.