How to Create the Best Title for your eBay Auction
The auction title you use is vital, and you only have 55
characters to play with.
In these 55 characters you have include strong keywords to make
sure you are returned in as many relevant searches as possible.
Plus you want to persuade prospective bidders to click through
to read your auction page.
In effect the title is the heading of your advertisement.
Fifty five characters isn't much when you consider what the
title has to achieve.
1. Bidders will use eBay search to find auctions matching their
requirements. As you may know, by default eBay's search facility
only checks auction titles for the presence of the keywords
input by the searcher.
So, the title has to contain keywords which bidders might use to
locate auction items such as yours.
(Just in case you weren't aware, eBay's auction search takes no
account of capitalization. So a search for madonna would return
titles which included madonna and Madonna - and indeed mAdonna,
if someone's finger had slipped when typing the title in.)
2. And, assuming as a result of the search your auction has been
returned in the list along with many others, the title now has
to persuade the searcher to click through onto YOUR auction
description page - your sales pitch.
So, in your 55 character title what you're looking for is a
mixture of:-
a) Keywords b) Powerful influencing words c) An outline of your
item.
Well, that sounds easy, doesn't it?
One of the determining factors in assessing the weight to give
to each of those three elements is the item itself.
Branded item with model ID In this instance the title is all
about the specific item. Bidders who will be interested in this
item will know the make and model they're after.
For example:
Aiwa HV-FX5850 6 Head Nicam Hi-Fi Stereo VCR
There is no need to expand on this title, unless to add the word
NEW as appropriate.
Unbranded item with no obvious model ID The vast majority of
auctions will be like this. There is no standard brand, model or
reference number, so you need to describe the item yourself.
As an example, I was recently selling a tool set for use on
mobile phones. This is the title I went with:
Torx Hex Mobile Cell Phone Tool Set - NEW
Mobile cell phones is a "hot topic". To work on a Nokia (the
most popular make) mobile phone requires a torx screwdriver.
I added NEW, as it is still one of the most persuasive marketing
words you can use.
Named item If you have a name to latch onto, this can bring
plenty of keyword hits. For example, anyone interested in Hank
Marvin and his musical instruments would find this auction
through eBay's search.
Rare Hank Marvin autographed guitar STUNNING
Note the use of a couple of power words to encourage the viewer
to click through to the auction page.
Additional tips on auction titles
1. Capital letters Many people on eBay now create their full
auction title in capital letters. This advice is given in
several of the established "how to sell on eBay" books. Capital
letters do have one significant advantage over lower case -
they're larger and therefore take up more line space. So, with
all capitals, your auction title is more likely to run to two
lines on search returns, giving your entry a bigger physical
presence on the screen.
My own opinion is that a mix of capital letters and lower case
is a slightly better option. Your auction title will take up
more space than all lower case, but it allows you to give
emphasis to selected words.
2. Use of underscore If you use underscore between words, rather
than spaces, this will make your title physically longer - and
therefore look bigger than other peoples'. This is because eBay
uses a PostScript font where the underscore character is longer
than a space.
3. Power words to optionally use sparingly in titles Be aware
that searchers will not normally key in words such as those in
the list below. But where a title is returned in a keyword
search results list, and it contains one of these influencing
words, you could get more click-throughs to your auction
description page. Here are some of the words that can help in
this respect:
Stunning Limited edition Unique Rare New One-off Exclusive
Distinctive Dramatic Striking Vivid Unusual Handsome Beautiful
Vibrant Brilliant Mint Exquisite Perfect Quality
Use power words selectively and appropriately in your title,
bearing in mind your item.
4. Unusual characters Don't be tempted to use characters in
words such as L@@K or save $$$$ or **** see here ****. First of
all, it's usually a waste of your precious 55 characters limit
and conveys nothing. Second, who searches on 4 $ signs or 4
asterisks? Also, in my mind it portrays the seller as someone
slightly suspicious, perhaps unprofessional, who isn't confident
enough to let their words do the talking. Finally, think now as
a bidder, do you react positively to this kind of device or not?
I know I don't.
5. Be creative There are opportunities to think creatively about
your item. For example, if you're selling a device which is a
nasal hair trimmer, there's not much more you can put in the
title is there? Well, whilst the item is primarily advertised as
a nasal hair trimmer, it is also useful for trimming ear and
eyebrow hair.
So the title could include the words "nasal hair, ear and
eyebrow trimmer". This way your entry will be in the results of
people searching for nasal hair trimmer, ear hair trimmer and
eyebrow trimmer.
If you've room in your 55 characters therefore, think "outside
the square" and try and appeal to groups of potential buyers who
may not necessarily have been the immediate target for your
item. (The torx hex tool set mentioned earlier is another
example of this)
6. It's not an English exam Writing titles is difficult enough
without having to worry about grammar. Don't be too concerned
that your title doesn't "scan", or tell a story. Remember the
objective with titles is to be returned on searches, and then to
induce a click-through to the auction description page.
Here's an excellent example of an auction title - it contains
strong keywords, and also uses humor to tempt the reader onto
the auction page.
ANTIQUE BRASS BELL-PULL "You rang m'Lord?"
By the way, it worked well. At the time of writing the auction
was still open. The item had a starting price of 99p (50c), and
is now at