Although a potential buyer might find your eBay items by following a direct link from your own website or some other location such as Facebook or Twitter, the vast majority of your auction views will come from those actually searching for what you have for sale.
In other words – by entering keywords into their search bar. When someone decides to browse eBay for a particular item they will enter various keywords that describe what they are looking for, and when those keywords match up with words in the titles of eBay listings the relevant results will be displayed.
Why you should be making the most of your title keywords
Different buyers will often search for drastically different terms when trying to find a particular item, and that can occasionally make life difficult for a seller.
Let’s say that someone is after a leather laptop case, but can’t actually remember the make in question. Instead they search for the look of the particular case that they’ve seen in a shop in the past, by entering a query such as “large black leather laptop case”.
If your own listing is for the case in question but is just listed as “laptop bag” then you may miss out on this prospective buyer simply because you have not included enough relevant keywords. A better title would incorporate all of the keywords, such as “New Large Black Leather Laptop Bag Case Cover 17 inch”.
The difficulty comes in recognising exactly what keywords your customers could be using in order to find the products that you have on offer. But without a good selection of keywords in your title you will be limiting the amount of money that you can make, so before creating a new listing make sure you run through the following step by step guide to creating an eBay title that will get your product seen.
Research Your Keywords
The best place to start when it comes to thinking of the best keywords to use for your goods is to put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers. Try not to think from a selling point of view, but instead just as a person looking for that book or that handbag or that camera. Start to jot down any thoughts that come into your head regarding the specific words you might search for in order to find that particular item.
Those initial keywords are a fantastic starting place, however you should also consider using some different tools to help you along your way.
Start by looking at eBay itself and considering those listings that are similar to your own; what keywords do your rivals use? Are there any particular keywords that seem to generate higher profits in the Completed Listings? You don’t need to copy a competitor directly, but you might as well learn from their mistakes and successes.
Then, once your eBay research is complete consider using the following online resources to help you to learn what real customers are searching for:
• eBay Pulse. This website shows the top searches on the eBay website in any given category. It will also help you to discover the keywords that are really in use for the products that you’re offering.
• Google Trends. Google provides a service linked directly with its search engine to show you trends over time for certain keywords and phrases.
• Google Keyword Tool. Many people search for products in Google nowadays, and your eBay listing could be one of the results. Google’s Keyword Tool can provide you with valuable information as to the numbers of people searching for specific and similar keywords.
Use those keywords
It might sound obvious, but after taking the time to research the very best keywords to advertise your items, you really must make sure that you actually use them within your title!
If your list of potential keywords is too long to fit within your 80 character limit then narrow the options down based on those that were the most popular within eBay Pulse and Google’s Keyword Tool. The keywords may well include the make and model of the item in question, but could also feature more generic information.
Take a simple example like the title: “Girls T Shirt”. By adding the colour, size, material and whether it’s new or used will help you appear in the results for all of those search terms.
Include other relevant information
As well as incorporating the specific keywords related to your products that people are searching for, if you have space, you should also incorporate any extra additional and relevant information. Remember back to our laptop case example; by adding in information such as that the bag is lockable, you then open your search up to individuals that might not even be interested in information such as the brand or material, just in the fact that it is secure.
From sizes to colours to technical specifications; you have 80 characters and you should try to squeeze in all of the information that you possibly can!
Use capital letters carefully
The best strategy for attracting attention with your eBay title is generally to capitalise the first letter of each word contained within it, instead of capitalising every letter or leaving the entire heading in lower case.
Too many capital letters can attract attention because it’s the online equivalent of shouting! But it can also make things difficult to read and put off some shoppers who would much prefer to read what you have to say in a normal title style.
Leaving the entire sentence in lowercase on the other hand, can result in your title appearing lost amongst its rivals within the search results. Capitalising the start of words is a happy medium.
Check your spelling!
If I had a pound for the amount of listings that I have seen selling for far less than the product is worth because of a spelling mistake in the title I’d be a very rich woman!
I can’t stress enough how important it is to make sure that those keywords that you spent time searching out are spelt correctly. No one will be able to find your laptop case if it appears in eBay due to the slip of a finger as a “Laptip Bqg”!
These tips will really help your eBay listings stand out, and help them to appear within the search results. Just make sure you work through the important keywords every time you add a new item to eBay – it’s worth taking the extra time over!