READ TIME: 220 seconds
Optimization in four steps.
By now you've probably worked very hard to build your eBay store. You've researched products, checked endlessly, found what works and what doesn't work.
If you're ready to move on to the next level and invest more into your store, you may need to consider SEO or Search Engine Optimization. After all, it's your business and your income.
Ebay Search Engine - Meet Cassini!
Before we start, the first thing we need to learn about is eBay's search engine called Cassini.
Like Google, Yahoo, Bing and other search engines, Cassini was created to help customers find what they want based on an array of parameters like title, price and delivery times, photos and item specifics. Cassini also scans the buyer's account to help provide relevant products based on their purchase history. Cassini can suggest products to your buyer before they finish typing in the search bar.
Cassini is just software and like any other, so you can benefit by knowing how it operates and what it likes. Cassini will help your buyers find you more easily if you satisfy the parameters.
How to successfully pass Cassini's test
Cassini focuses on several parameters.
Title - The key here is writing titles that are relevant to your products and provide an accurate description.
A good title would be "Men's Blue Casio Sport Watch"
A bad title would be "Coolest and Best Selling Casio Watch"Item specifics - Cassini checks that all information fields on the item are filled.
Brand / Colors / Model / Dimensions / Size / Serial Number
Fill in as much of this as possible.Category - eBay has spent a lot of time making sure buyers are matched with proper sellers. Don't overuse categories though, make sure they are relevant.
Images - Cassini runs checks on your images as well.
Size, quality, quantity and clarity are all considered.Feedback - Every feedback is considered. Try to keep your feedback as high as possible. If you've received a negative feedback, contact the buyer try to work it out to get it removed. It's very helpful if you can convert it into a positive. Sellers with a large number of negative feedback are displayed lower on search results. I received a negative once and asked the buyer about it, he changed it simply because I was concerned enough to ask. Here's another article about getting negative feedback removed.
Shipping - Cassini checks the shipping terms of the item; whether it's free, has a low cost, or has a very fast shipping time.
Content - Is the content of the product accurate and valuable to the customer. Check for errors, grammar, and spelling. The text needs to be concise and not too long so your buyer doesn't get bored reading. The font should be uniform. Make sure the text on the sales page is left aligned as well, this is a very important because most customers are searching via their cell phone, tablet or other mobile device.
Views and Sales - Your sales conversion rate is also considered.
High quantity of views are great, but if sales are extremely low this will hurt your placement in search results. Avoid lots of ads on Facebook and other social networks. This will increase views but not necessarily sales. This will lower your conversion.Response Time - Cassini checks this too. Have you received a message from a customer? Answer them as soon as possible. Customers love quick response times and it will rank you higher.
Return Policy - It's not fun when a customer returns a product, but here the quality of your service is measured. Try to offer a flexible and good return policies. Providing a return window of 30 days or more will help. (30 days is necessary to meet Top Rated + PLUS).
Purchase Options - Cassini checks the number of items in your listing that are sold as BUY IT NOW! And the number of items sold at AUCTION. This means that for around every 100 products sold as BUY IT NOW! You need to have around 5 products sold at AUCTION. We've done lots of research and testing and found these numbers to be helpful.
This creates traffic in the account, which is another parameter that Cassini examines.
Tip - If you have unsold products for 30 days. Delete them from your List and re-upload them, this will cause Cassini's algorithm to ignore the fact that the item has not been sold for 30 days and will treat it as a new item uploaded! (Cassini likes having traffic in the store).
There are a number of other topics that we need to go through to improve our list of products to help place first in the search results and increase our conversion of customers.
Here's 4 steps to help you optimize your store.
1. Improving the product title.
The title of the product is the most important thing on the sales page, it's the first thing your buyer will read. The title allows up to 80 characters so you have to be efficient. If the item is associated with a particular company or brand, we will note that in the title. If you have space, add additional features that can describe your item clearly and accurately. Capitalize the first letter of each word in your title.
Ebay will let you add a subtitle but it won't help in SEO, it's only to help catch the eye and attention of buyers, and there's a 1 time fee. Since Cassini doesn't check this info that means you want to put data that will attract your buyer when they read it. Additional attributes such as shipping or other perks your buyer might like.
2. Improving product images
We will automatically grab the professionally taken images from the source market, but if you feel like you need to go above and beyond for more images or if you find some products that have poor images from the source market you could choose to take your own images. You could order your product and photograph it professionally. This way you won't be limited to images on the internet. If you are inexperienced in the world of photography you could take a class, watch some online YouTube tutorials, or maybe talk to someone that can help you do it.
*It is very important that the pictures be clear and high quality! The resolution of the image must be over 500x500! Ebay doesn't allow images with a lower resolution.
When it comes to images, your job is to illustrate the product through the pictures. For example: a picture of the necklace on the neck of a human model will look much better than a picture of the necklace in an empty white space. Now your buyer will have a sense of how the final product will look and they don't have to guess what it will look like. This little tip can have a big impact on your sales. Ebay allows up to 12 images per listing, on variation listings they allow more. Take advantage of the 12 slots and upload photos from different angles or different ways the product can be used. Try not to upload images that look the same.
We have a feature called Collages that puts all the images together into 1 big image. You can do this manually if you need. It can help your buyers see multiple applications at the first sight of your listing in the search results. If you don't know how to edit photos, again you can watch some online video tutorials or you can ask someone for some help.
Do not confine yourself to images you see in your competitors listings or what you find on Google. Think outside the box; for example, if the item is toothpaste, upload a picture of the teeth before and after brushing. This will illustrate the result, customers love it and it sells!
Tip - Add a picture of yourself on the product sales page for a more personalized approach. A picture of you will create the feeling that your buyer is buying from an actual person instead of a big corporation that only sees them as a number.
3. Item specifics
Sometimes sellers overlook item specifics when creating their listings; because how important can the length and width of the item be? But it's very important!. Easync will automatically grab this data but if you find additional info about that product go ahead and add it. Every time you upload a product, Cassini checks if all the fields are completed. Cassini will rank you lower if they are empty.
If your product is a brand or a familiar company, it probably already exists in the eBay catalog. All you have to do is enter the UPC or EAN of the product and all other fields are sometimes filled automatically.
Improving the content of the product
It has been recommended in the past to insert the title again in an attractive and orderly manner. Design the title so that it is larger than the body, the content will look formatted and professional.
While writing your content, you want to make sure that it's clear and concise. You want it to be rich relevant content. Don't go over the same thing several time or your buyers can become bored. Write as much as you can about it just make sure it's not repetitive.
Check your grammar, spelling and punctuation. Keep paragraphs short with three or four sentences, and don't use run-on sentences.
You can use colors to your advantage for different categories of products.
Red can symbolize speed and power.
Yellow for spontaneity or happiness
Blue can represent peace and tranquility.
Green can signify health. Green is also the softest color for the human eye.
Pink can be great for women or romance and can connect a buyer with her feelings.
You can mix colors to get a different approach; for example you could combine green and brown for a connection to Earth or nature.
Tips -
Never mention Amazon in your content or in the title or anywhere related to your item.
Never list the word drug or drug addict on the sales page of your item.
Never use the word "imitation." When it comes to your item.
Always use the word "for" when your product isn't actually manufactured by that brand and when it's only intended to be used for that brand. A good example of this is when you sell a phone case that is meant for the iPhone. You'll need to say For Apple iPhone X...
This concluded our five steps for optimization for your eBay store!
Check frequently online about innovations or new changes in the way eBay searches products. Don't be a robot, try to think differently than everyone else.
Now is your time to be creative and sophisticated.
I hope this article helps you with Cassini and improves your titles, images, content and cataloging.