The Ape Bot

In the world of online auctions, the title is the only way to get more traffic. Traffic equals more bids, more bids equals more money. Sellers who want the most money from eBay will need to learn how to write a good title.

Statistically speaking, the vast majority of bidders will find your auction by searching for it. The search is the primary interface on eBay, and the first step to getting customers. When a user searches for an item, say xyz, all auctions with xyz in the title will show up. Keep in mind that auctions with yzx or x y z will not be there. Each term the users puts in the search (xyz for example) should therefore be included in our title if we want to get the most bidders. More bidders makes for a higher final sale price, and that is what we are aiming for.

This means that you must, no matter what, include as many potential keywords as possible. In order to perfect these keywords we need to first pretend we are a buyer. Particularly, a buyer who would be interested in your auction. You should decide what search terms you would use to find the item. Start writing down a list of all potential search terms. When you feel that this list is fairly complete, we can move on to picking which terms to include in the title.

eBay limits the length of the title to 55 characters, so we have to choose each word very carefully. Deciding which keywords, or search terms, to include can be a daunting process. Luckily for us, there are probably a lot of other people who have sold the exact same item. Why is this a good thing? Because we can search for completed auctions.

Pick a keyword that describes your item and search for it on eBay: you will be presented with a list of items. Now, on the lower left navigation bar select “Search Completed Items.” This will bring up a new list of auctions that have already ended. There will most likely be a lot of different items showing up, so you now want to refine your search to the point that only the exact product that you are selling shows up. Once that is finished, go to the top of the results. Click on the button that will sort items by price - with the highest prices at the top. What you’ve just done is created yourself a list of titles, with the ones that work best on the top. Compare the best titles with your keywords, and information about your item specifically (e.g. condition, color), and combine it all into a single line of keywords.

Undoubtedly, there will be more words then space to type them in. This is a challenge that happens with nearly every product or item that is listed on eBay. The key to winning out over the other auctions, and making more money, is to check your keywords over and over again. Keep looking at the completed auctions, you must learn to pick the ‘hot’ or ‘best’ keywords for your item. If you have narrowed your title down to the best search terms and it is all under 55 characters - then you are finished! Post your item for sale and watch as the price magically surpasses all of the other items in the category.

Mason Hipp is an eBay PowerSeller and a regular contributer to www.selladeal.com To read more articles by Mason, please visit www.selladeal.com/guides