This is the first thing anyone looking on ebay sees about your product,your title and thumbnail of your product(if you have a gallery picture,see No2).
Your title will be searched for by item and by category,lots of people browse the categories just seeing what takes their fancy going down example:
Home ,Buy,Clothes, Shoes & Accessories,Men's Shoes,Athletic Shoes,
seeing every trainer available on ebay,another person will search for:
"mens trainers",
and get a list of all trainers(training shoes),AND ALSO,training equipment for men such as weightlifting gear,(unintentional,but for those selling weightlifting training gear very welcome extra publicity).
Yet other people will use ebays serach engine to find exactly what they want first time by putting in:
"NIKE JET STREAM III , SIZE 8"
and get straight to the product they want if it is there.
We can use this search engine to our advantge if you write your title correctly, to help some one looking for your product to find it.
Include EXACTLY what your product is and the make or model number plus put "NEW" if people are also selling second hand items in the same catergory.(A pet hate of mine is looking up something I think is very reasonably priced to find it is 15 years old and only available for collection in channel islands,(U.S. equivalent Hawaii)). If you have any space left over(unlikely as ebay are a bit stingy on title size 55 characters),don't just waste it ,think about what people may be searching for that these are and include it as a keyword,such as "trainers ,boxed,low shipping" etc..
A few don'ts...
- don't repeat yourself ,it doesn't help
- don't copy someone else's title,even if they are selling the same item. Ebay have strict rules against it and you will find yourself reprimanded and on a 3 strikes and your out rule,by the time you find out,if your listing a lot you could be thrown off ebay for 3-6 months.
- don't put L@@K or "SUPER VALUE" or"WOW!" in the title,it marks you as an amateur and people will not take you seriously.
- don't use lots of ****and>>>>and(((()))),these are gimmicky and as above.
- don't use abbreviation except in specialist auctions.ie:Collectors know "BINB"(brand New in Box",but DVD buyers won't (put un-opened).
- don't use loads of underlines "_____"to space out your title this wastes space you could be using to bring in sales!
a few do's
- do include the make and model No. of your product
- do put in "new" if people are selling second hand in the same category
- do include special selling points, such as "free shipping" or "plus extras" or "no reserve"
- do include general terms such as "trainers, mens ,footwear" which will bring a wider audience for your listing (only do this if you have space left(ebay are a bit miserly over this you only get 55 characters)).
The same goes for Highlighting and Bold characters ,yes they will make your ad seen, but they are no substitute for a well written title, which is probably worth a lot more than the extra money ebay will charge you!
More in this series later. Cheers Peter
