Top Tips for Ebay Listing Description Optimisation

The Anatomy of a good ebay description can be measured in several parts, from the title you use to the images right down to the overall design.

Now that ebay is no longer the place for garage sellers alone, I am sure we can all agree that a few lines of bold text no longer makes the grade.

A qualitative, professionally designed store description on ebay encourages more purchases, unifies your listings across the ebay platform and helps attract sales to related items within your store, boosting its overall rank as a result.

In this article we will breakdown the key parts of a sale-winning ebay listing description and the reasons why these key adjustments can make a difference for your ebay stores.

All examples and images below are from two of our clients H.G Matthews, a well-known and renowned Bricks Manufacturer and the Rug Seller UK, trading in high quality rugs and carpets.

• • Create an html template for your ebay description to build a consistent look and feel across listings
  • Sub category menu can be integrated to include your own “non ebay” categories for users to check out at their own pace
  • Gives a professional end to each listing
  • Allows you to add html styling, videos and enriched content to catch a potential buyers eye and improve sales
  • Categories and sub categories mean you can place items in your own “store” internally on each of your listings

Creating a template for your ebay listing descriptions is achievable via HTML styling and brings consistency across all of your ebay listings, helping to tie your listings and brand image on ebay together.

A more professional presence will put ebay buyers minds at ease. It helps create familiarity with your store and encourages repeat purchases.

The listing description opens up an area to further sell your item to buyers by using styled content, images and enriched video content showing off the item to help catch their eye and make the sale.

A sub category menu should be included as this will allow you to create your own internal store categories as well as placing them into ebay’s pre-defined product categories.

This allows you to use the search terms your buyers would know that may not be best-selling categories on ebay.

These designed product descriptions also help with related items, by creating a menu and a way to navigate through to another listing, you begin to funnel customers to their intended item through a great design.

We recommend working with a designer that knows the ebay platform well and using them to create you a flawless design that will help push customers towards taking your product listings seriously and using that positive sentiment to close sales.

We’ve found that these can work better than the recommended related items as the customer chooses to search the store themselves rather than being directed by the ebay algorithm which could always lead them elsewhere.

As an overly visual medium, online shopping requires the highest quality of images to not only sell a story to a customer, but the reality of using the item as well.

Customers cannot hold the product in their hands so these images need to show off the product from multiple angles, include use cases and if possible add some idea of the size of your products.

Many people opt for clean images with no backgrounds where required, but this is not a hard and fast rule.

As long as the product is seen clearly, it gives an idea of the size and reality of the product.

Images in your product descriptions must be taken with a few key ideas in mind:

• • They must be compatible with ebay’s Zoom function, as this allows users to see the grain and finish on your products and shows you have provided high quality imagery.
  • No logos or images placed on top, this shows you are manipulating images and adding branding which often puts users off who just want to visualise your product.
  • They must be your photos! Using repeated imagery or imagery from established listings is a sure way to blend into the background and not have your listings stand out to potential buyers.

Another example and a great use of images is from one of our ebay customers, The Rug Seller.

They use their fantastic rug imagery in a “Related Categories” section underneath their main store description and details.

This section is mostly visual and sets out their own store categories in a bold and creative way. Clicking on one of these images will send you to an ebay selection of rugs in that type.

A great way to filter customers to different listings and alternate products by catching their eye.

The advantage of using a store description is the addition of video, as this can be a powerful conversion tactic that keeps users on your listings for longer.

Video acts as another piece of ammunition when convincing customers to purchase. Consider either a video showing off your company, the way products are handled, made or produced. Alternatively, you could have product videos, showcasing uses, key features and the variants in action.

You can either host these videos on your website or use a video streaming platform to upload there and place the link inside your HTML design.

By utilising video you can summarise product questions, show off your company values and push the multiple uses of your products all within a minute or so of video content.

Making a good title doesn’t have to be stress inducing if you stick to a few solid principles when creating each one.

A title doesn’t need to include all points and features of your product, but rather the main standout material, variation type and brand name (if applicable) to create a quick reference check in a purchasers mind that your product is the right one.

Make sure to include:

• • Keyword
  • Material
  • Brand name

Don’t include mentions of sales or offers as this is a limited time offer and won’t result in a consistent rank for your product. This type of messaging in your title comes across as desperate.

By sticking to this for each of your products you create clean titles for buyers to absorb the key parts of your listing.

Product Details are the area for you to dig into details regarding the product.

Use information here that is factual and lets the reader know the exact measurements of the item. This needs to be front and center of your product details.

Other good pieces of information to include would be details of any notable materials used to make sure they meet the buyers standards.

Give insights into the different variants, be it varying colours, size offerings or other key variant info that could clinch a sale.

Think of the product details as the factual starting area for the customer to begin creating an ideal use case of your product in their head.

Use this trail of thought to bullet point the top 5 or 6 pieces of key information you want to relay to your customers first.

• • Real world measurements for them to ascertain whether your product fits their needs
  • Information on the materials used to ensure they meet the buyers standard
  • Gives insight into the different variants and related listings
  • Starter area for showing the use case of the products

“When to use” is a great way to push the factual information given in the product details to everyday use cases the buyer can place themselves in the shoes of.

In the case of our brick seller, HG Matthews this area becomes a secondary area to push the buyer towards a purchase.

We do this by listing the different ways our product may be used in the real world.

This simple signposting at the bottom of each of your listings can spark the final connecting line between customer needs and your product so make sure to pay attention to the alternative use cases for the items you list.

Finally, it’s a secondary area for keywords to be picked up and added to the relevancy of your listings in ebay search, providing a way for you to piggy-back onto listings you might not show for from just the title alone.

• • Expansion of your search criteria by adding common use cases
  • Allows the reader understand the value of the product
  • Inspires repeat purchases and greater quantities
  • Competes with other listings using similar wording

Why to use is another area to include in your descriptions which can fill in the “why” your products stand out from their competitors.

Do you have a secondary quality check to ensure your products make the grade? Are there unique features to each of your products? Perhaps your techniques in creating your products differ from those of your competitors?

Add the reasons that ebay sellers should consider your version of this product over any others that exist, it may be your sustainable way of sourcing materials, or a tried and true method of construction that has lasted for almost 100 years.

Whatever your “why” reasons for customers purchasing from you over the other sellers, they need to be at the front and center of every listing. We recommend it as a key ingredient of a perfect ebay product description.

The general and footer tab is the Q&A area for your products. It will allow you to answer common questions regarding the payment, delivery and return of your products.

Use this area to expand on your company using an “about us” to really sell what makes up your company, the time you have been trading and what goes into your products.

Payment options should declare which accepted methods of payment you work with.

Delivery options for your products such as collection available or shipping to a store for pickup.

Returns information in the event that a customer needs to exchange, refund or return an item as well as a contact area for sending messages to you directly using the ebay messaging center.

A contact link can be useful for that customer that still has some reservations about buying and can send you their query straight to your ebay account.

• • Answers common questions regarding payment delivery and returns information
  • Add a contact us section for users to pose direct questions that feature a link to the ebay messaging system
  • Links to contact form
  • About Us
  • Shows Payment type icons
  • Opportunity to show off your awards

End your store description like you would a website, with a quality footer.

This can be a collection of links to the various bits of information you have provided in your “General” tab as well as a direct contact link.

Apart from linking you can also use this to promote a newsletter signup, show off various industry awards and trust signals and show visually the icons of the payment types you accept to get this information across in a flash.

Not only this, but it ends your listings in a consistent way signifying the end of each of your listings and creating familiarity as customers browse through your store description categories.

And that’s it. You have a fully fitted store description. That wasn’t too hard now was it? And the best part?

A multichannel software such as Linnworks has the tools you need to make this an easily repeatable listing that you customise in seconds.

By utilising an eCommerce platform with listing to ebay enabled, you paste in the html template, adjust the listing to find the title of the item for the template, select the images and key data points before hitting the list button.

No more customisation to each and every listing as the system does the heavy lifting of editing the template for you.