Maximize Your Presence on eBay Bring in the crowds with these simple tips to draw users in and get them interested.
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Unfortunately, many eBay Store owners are missing easy salesopportunities. But don't despair--it's a breeze to edityour Store, your "About Me" page and your listings toturn unresponsive surfers into your best customers.
Drive Customers to Your eBay Store
Help shoppers find your Store by optimizing it for searchengines. According to Todd Lutwak, director of seller developmentfor eBay, you can get additional free traffic by using keywords inyour Store title (35 characters), Store description (300characters) and custom category names (up to 20).
To discover which keywords (and merchandise) will attract eBayshoppers to your Store, check out the "What's Hot" section of eBay's SellerCentral. Also check your Store Traffic Report to improve yoursearch engine marketing efforts.
Get Sales From Your "About Me" Page
Don't overlook the sales potential of this page. Abeautifully designed page helps establish a brand for your companyand helps you sell more products. Curtis Thornhill, sellerdevelopment manager for eBay, offers these suggestions:
- Wow 'em. Use a logo and high-quality photos to showthat your business is credible and trustworthy. The copy you writedoes this, too. For example, share a few lines about how yourbusiness got started or how your team finds superior products.
- Hook 'em. Now that you've got shoppers'attention, invite people into your Store. The "About Me"page is the perfect place to showcase your best items. Use productphotos and call them your "Top Sellers," "HotDeals" or "New Arrivals." Organize your productcategories into a clickable index so visitors will be enticed tostart shopping.
- Sell 'em. Tell people to take action. Pepper yourpage with "Buy It Now" or "Bid Now" copy. Andbe sure to prominently display your contact information forpotential customers who have questions before buying from you.
Attract More and Higher Listing Offers
Just as with your eBay Store, use relevant keywords in yourlisting titles and subtitles to help eBay searchers find yourlistings. To get more bids on your items, try these testedtips:
- Take well-lit and close-range product photos.
- Display the photo at the top of each listing.
- Set a sizzling starting price and a reasonable shippingfee.
- Include the details: type, brand, condition and otherattributes.
- If your deal is hot, highlight the retail value.
- Cross-promote your other listings.
- Clearly state your shipping, payment andcustomer-service policies.
- Accept payments through Paypal.
Shira Levine, senior manager of eBay's PowerSeller program,reminds eBay sellers to learn eBay'slisting policies. These rules protect buyers and sellers, soviolating them can keep buyers from bidding on your products andalso cause your listings to be removed from the site.
Catherine Seda is the "Net Sales" columnistfor Entrepreneur magazine. She also teaches search enginemarketing at eBay University and in her book, Search EngineAdvertising.
