Write a Title That SELLS

Write a Title That SELLS!

When it comes to improving the effectiveness of your item listings, the best place to start is at the topwith the listing title. eBay lets you use up to 55 letters, numbers, characters, and spaces in your title, and you need to accomplish two things:

• Include the appropriate information so that anyone searching for a similar item will find your item in his search results.

• Make your title stand out from all the other titles on those long listing pages.

Do those two things, and you significantly increase your chances of getting your item noticed and sold.

Include Key Information

Let's tackle the first point first. You have to think like the people who will be looking for your item. Most users will be using eBay's search feature to look for specific items, so you want to put the right keywords into your item title, to make your item pop up on as many search results pages as possible.

As an example, let's say you have an original 1964 Superman model kit, manufactured by Aurora, still in its shrink-wrapped box. How do you list this item?

You have to make sure you get all the right keywords in your title. For this example, it's obvious that Superman should be a keyword, as should Aurora and maybe 1964. Then, it gets iffy-er. Should you call it a model kit or a plastic model kit or a plastic model? Should you call it unassembled or still in box or original condition?

When dealing with collectibles, you often can use accepted abbreviations and acronyms. (I'll list some of these acronyms later in this chapter.) In this case, you could use the abbreviation MISB, which stands for mint in sealed box. True collectors will know what this means, and it saves precious "real estate" in your title. (By the way, if this model wasn't in the box but was instead already assembled, you could use the abbreviation BU, for built-up.) Continuing this example, a title that included all the keywords users might search on would be 1964 Superman Aurora Plastic Model Kit MISB. (And this comes in at well under 55 characters!)

Tip

If you're unsure how best to word the title for your item listing, check out auctions for similar items and "borrow" their wording.

Note the inclusion of the year in the title. That's a good thing, because it helps to narrow down or better identify the item. Someone looking for a 1964 Superman model is not going to be interested in the 1978 or 2001 reissues, so including the date helps to narrow down your prospective customers.

If your item has a model number or series name, that's definitely something to include. As an example, you might be selling a 14" Pearl Export Select Snare Drum with Case. In this case, Pearl is the manufacturer and Export Select is the series or line. Another example might be a listing for a 1956 Gibson ES-175 Red Jazz Guitar. This title gets in the year (1956), the manufacturer (Gibson), the model number (ES-175), the color (Red), and a brief description of what it is (a jazz guitar)which pretty much covers all the bases.

Make Your Title Stand Out

Beyond including as many relevant facts as possible in your title, how do you make your title stand out from all the other boring listings? Obviously, one technique is to employ the judicious use of CAPITAL LETTERS. The operative word here is judicious; titles with ALL capital letters step over the line into overkill.

Caution

Avoid the use of non-alphanumeric characters, such as !!! or ### or ***. eBay says that their use is prohibited, although that rule is seldom enforced. More important, eBay's search engine sometimes ignores titles that include too many of these nonsense charactersand could exclude your listing from buyers' search results.

Instead, I advise you to think like an advertising copywriter. What words almost always stop consumers in their tracks? Use attention-getting words such as FREE and NEW and BONUS and EXTRA and DELUXE and RAREas long as these words truly describe the item you're selling and don't mislead the potential bidder. (And don't bump more important search words for these fluffier marketing termsthat won't help your item show up in bidder searches.)

Try this one on for size: Which would you rather bid on, a 1964 Superman Model Kit or a RARE 1964 Superman Model Kit? I'm betting you go for the second oneand mentally prepare yourself to pay more for it, too!

In short, use your title to both inform and attract attentionand include as many potential search keywords as possible.