| The auction title you use is vital, and you | | | | Unique |
| only have 55 characters to play with. | | | | |
| | | | Rare |
| In these 55 characters you have include | | | | |
| strong keywords to make sure you are returned | | | | New |
| in as many relevant searches as possible. | | | | |
| Plus you want to persuade prospective bidders | | | | One-off |
| to click through to read your auction page. | | | | |
| | | | Exclusive |
| In effect the title is the heading of your | | | | |
| advertisement. | | | | Distinctive |
| | | | |
| Fifty five characters isn't much when you | | | | Dramatic |
| consider what the title has to achieve. | | | | |
| | | | Striking |
| 1. Bidders will use eBay search to find | | | | |
| auctions matching their requirements. As you | | | | Vivid |
| may know, by default eBay's search facility | | | | |
| only checks auction titles for the presence | | | | Unusual |
| of the keywords input by the searcher. | | | | |
| | | | Handsome |
| So, the title has to contain keywords which | | | | |
| bidders might use to locate auction items | | | | Beautiful |
| such as yours. | | | | |
| | | | Vibrant |
| (Just in case you weren't aware, eBay's | | | | |
| auction search takes no account of | | | | Brilliant |
| capitalization. So a search for madonna would | | | | |
| return titles which included madonna and | | | | Mint |
| Madonna - and indeed mAdonna, if someone's | | | | |
| finger had slipped when typing the title in.) | | | | Exquisite |
| | | | |
| 2. And, assuming as a result of the search | | | | Perfect |
| your auction has been returned in the list | | | | |
| along with many others, the title now has to | | | | Quality |
| persuade the searcher to click through onto | | | | |
| YOUR auction description page - your sales | | | | Use power words selectively and appropriately |
| pitch. | | | | in your title, bearing in mind your item. |
| | | | |
| So, in your 55 character title what you're | | | | 4. Unusual characters |
| looking for is a mixture of:-a) Keywordsb) | | | | |
| Powerful influencing wordsc) An outline of | | | | Don't be tempted to use characters in words |
| your item. | | | | such as L@@K or save $$$$ or **** see here |
| | | | ****. First of all, it's usually a waste of |
| Well, that sounds easy, doesn't it? | | | | your precious 55 characters limit and conveys |
| | | | nothing. Second, who searches on 4 $ signs or |
| One of the determining factors in assessing | | | | 4 asterisks? Also, in my mind it portrays the |
| the weight to give to each of those three | | | | seller as someone slightly suspicious, |
| elements is the item itself. | | | | perhaps unprofessional, who isn't confident |
| | | | enough to let their words do the talking. |
| Branded item with model ID | | | | Finally, think now as a bidder, do you react |
| | | | positively to this kind of device or not? I |
| In this instance the title is all about the | | | | know I don't. |
| specific item. Bidders who will be interested | | | | |
| in this item will know the make and model | | | | 5. Be creative |
| they're after. | | | | |
| | | | There are opportunities to think creatively |
| For example: | | | | about your item. For example, if you're |
| | | | selling a device which is a nasal hair |
| Aiwa HV-FX5850 6 Head Nicam Hi-Fi Stereo VCR | | | | trimmer, there's not much more you can put in |
| | | | the title is there? Well, whilst the item is |
| There is no need to expand on this title, | | | | primarily advertised as a nasal hair trimmer, |
| unless to add the word NEW as appropriate. | | | | it is also useful for trimming ear and |
| | | | eyebrow hair. |
| Unbranded item with no obvious model ID | | | | |
| | | | So the title could include the words "nasal |
| The vast majority of auctions will be like | | | | hair, ear and eyebrow trimmer". This way your |
| this. There is no standard brand, model or | | | | entry will be in the results of people |
| reference number, so you need to describe the | | | | searching for nasal hair trimmer, ear hair |
| item yourself. | | | | trimmer and eyebrow trimmer. |
| | | | |
| As an example, I was recently selling a tool | | | | If you've room in your 55 characters |
| set for use on mobile phones. This is the | | | | therefore, think "outside the square" and |
| title I went with: | | | | try and appeal to groups of potential buyers |
| | | | who may not necessarily have been the |
| Torx Hex Mobile Cell Phone Tool Set - NEW | | | | immediate target for your item. (The torx hex |
| | | | tool set mentioned earlier is another example |
| Mobile cell phones is a "hot topic". To work | | | | of this) |
| on a Nokia (the most popular make) mobile | | | | |
| phone requires a torx screwdriver. | | | | 6. It's not an English exam |
| | | | |
| I added NEW, as it is still one of the most | | | | Writing titles is difficult enough without |
| persuasive marketing words you can use. | | | | having to worry about grammar. Don't be too |
| | | | concerned that your title doesn't "scan", or |
| Named item | | | | tell a story. Remember the objective with |
| | | | titles is to be returned on searches, and |
| If you have a name to latch onto, this can | | | | then to induce a click-through to the auction |
| bring plenty of keyword hits. For example, | | | | description page. |
| anyone interested in Hank Marvin and his | | | | |
| musical instruments would find this auction | | | | Here's an excellent example of an auction |
| through eBay's search. | | | | title - it contains strong keywords, and also |
| | | | uses humor to tempt the reader onto the |
| Rare Hank Marvin autographed guitar STUNNING | | | | auction page. |
| | | | |
| Note the use of a couple of power words to | | | | ANTIQUE BRASS BELL-PULL "You rang m'Lord?" |
| encourage the viewer to click through to the | | | | |
| auction page. | | | | By the way, it worked well. At the time of |
| | | | writing the auction was still open. The item |
| Additional tips on auction titles | | | | had a starting price of 99p (50c), and is now |
| | | | at £117 ($240), having had 18 bids and 240 |
| 1. Capital letters | | | | auction page views. |
| | | | |
| Many people on eBay now create their full | | | | Spend as much time as you can on your auction |
| auction title in capital letters. This advice | | | | titles. It is your best chance of being found |
| is given in several of the established "how | | | | by bidders amongst those 1 million other |
| to sell on eBay" books. Capital letters do | | | | items on eBay.co.uk or 10 million items on |
| have one significant advantage over lower | | | | |
| case - they're larger and therefore take up | | | | Having decided on your title, the next |
| more line space. So, with all capitals, your | | | | element is a sub-title. |
| auction title is more likely to run to two | | | | |
| lines on search returns, giving your entry a | | | | This is an optional facility which allows you |
| bigger physical presence on the screen. | | | | to show more information about your item. If |
| | | | you use it, whenever your auction is returned |
| My own opinion is that a mix of capital | | | | in searches or is listed via a category |
| letters and lower case is a slightly better | | | | listing, your sub-title appears directly |
| option. Your auction title will take up more | | | | under the auction title. |
| space than all lower case, but it allows you | | | | |
| to give emphasis to selected words. | | | | As the name implies, sub-title provides you |
| | | | with a special area to add information about |
| 2. Use of underscore | | | | your auction item. You can use this in any |
| | | | way e.g. to mention some specific term or |
| If you use underscore between words, rather | | | | condition such as a moneyback guarantee, or |
| than spaces, this will make your title | | | | to add further details about the item itself. |
| physically longer - and therefore look bigger | | | | |
| than other peoples'. This is because eBay | | | | Within sub-title, you have the same size |
| uses a PostScript font where the underscore | | | | limit as the item title i.e. 55 characters. |
| character is longer than a space. | | | | |
| | | | The downside of sub-title is that it is not |
| 3. Power words to optionally use sparingly in | | | | searched when a bidder enters keywords into |
| titles | | | | eBay's standard Search Box. For searching |
| | | | purposes, eBay treats sub-title as being part |
| Be aware that searchers will not normally key | | | | of the auction description. |
| in words such as those in the list below. But | | | | |
| where a title is returned in a keyword search | | | | Also, it is a fixed fee facility. This makes |
| results list, and it contains one of these | | | | it a more attractive option the higher the |
| influencing words, you could get more | | | | value of your auction item. For low value |
| click-throughs to your auction description | | | | items you will need to weigh up carefully the |
| page. Here are some of the words that can | | | | additional cost of this facility against the |
| help in this respect: | | | | likely increased exposure i.e. click-throughs |
| | | | to your auction page. |
| Stunning | | | | |
| | | | I hope this article outlining the |
| Limited edition | | | | considerations for auction title creation |
| | | | proves useful to you in your eBay activities. |