You can create an object (suppose you want to save firstname and lastname in the same column, just for example), something like this (VB example):
public class myClass
public property firstname
public property lastname
end class
then create an instance and assign properties
dim cls as new myClass
cls.firstname= ...
cls.lastname = ...
Then use JavaScriptSerializer to convert this object into json string and store that string in the column. On the way back, desialize the value from the column using JavaScriptSerializer to get back an instance of myClass. Search on this site if you need information about how to use JavaScriptSerializer (it has been answered here several times, hence, not repeating).
If using SQL Server, you may also have a column of XML data type and store XML (instead of json) in the column. You can search in XML in SQL Server. See How can I query a value in SQL Server XML column. MySQL newer versions also support searching in data stored in json format.
