The Secret Power of an eBay Auction Title

I get frequent emails from my newsletter readers wondering why their eBay auctions aren't working.

You might have the most brilliant auction description page with a fantastic set of pictures offering a superb item at an incredible price. But the page counter shows after seven days of your auction that it’s only been seen by 3 people. Has that happened to any of your auctions?

If it has, I always start at the same point. The auction title.

In 99% of cases, the reason for low viewing figures is that your auction title isn't smart enough.

Here are a few facts. At the end of this small list you’ll understand the secret power of eBay auction titles:

a) 79 million times each day buyers use eBay's search box to locate items in which they are interested.

b) eBay's standard search system takes the search words keyed in, and compares them with the titles in its database of 10 million auctions. (Note it doesn’t compare them with sub-titles, or auction descriptions)

c) If an auction title doesn't contain the words keyed into the search box, the auction won’t get returned in the search list. And that’s another of the 79 million searches you’ve missed out on!

d) If an auction isn't returned in a search list, it can’t be clicked on to have the auction description viewed.

So, the whole of eBay's default search system relies on matching keywords with auction titles. And that’s the secret power of auction titles. If your title contains words which the buyer searches upon, your auction will be returned time and again in search return lists.

Actually, that’s not quite everything. Let’s say you want to create a new auction. Your auction title has three functions:

1) To contain keywords. (Number one on this list for the reason you now know!)
2) To persuade buyers to click through to your auction description page
3) To convey what the item is

To decide on the keywords to use, you have to think like a buyer. What words would be used by a person interested in searching for an item like yours? At this stage, just list them. Don't put the words into a sentence yet. Spend as long as you like on this exercise. The more effective you are with this, the less likely you are to have one of those sleepy auctions that rarely get a visitor.

Having listed as many keywords as you can think of, you have to decide which are the strongest. Remember, you only have 55 precious characters for your auction title.

Taking your best keywords, you now create your auction title. It's not an English exam, so it doesn't matter if it doesn't scan like a sentence.

You can add a power word or two if you've space. By this I mean words like stunning, limited edition, unique, rare, new, one-off, exclusive, distinctive, dramatic etc. These are words which can influence buyers to click through to your auction description. They won’t be searched on by buyers, so use them sparingly. For the same reason, I don’t advocate the use of "clever" words like l@@k or w0w!

Finally, do the words in your title convey what the item is? If so, that's it. You've created a powerful and compelling auction title. And your title will appear more often in search return lists. And, as you know, that’s the key!

If you can get your auction to appear more frequently in search return lists, more buyers will view your auction description page. The more people that visit your auction description page, the more likely you are to make a sale at an acceptable price.

Now you know the secret power, why not create a new title today for one of your auctions? If you do, believe me you’ll get your fair share of the 79 million eBay daily searchers.

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