Forum Moderators: open
As a suggestion, how about adding a new forum
focused on Ebay (and other auction) listings?
I'm thinking especially of the SEO and promotional
and business aspects of folk's Ebay listings.
Lots of folks sell stuff now and then on Ebay.
Plus, imagine the fun comments about the "consumer
behavior" that Ebay listing/auction results reveal...
and SEO for the Ebay crowd....and how it differs
from "normal" site SEO....interesting fodder....
I think it would be a very fun and interesting forum.
Plus, imagine the traffic it might bring here....
How about it?
Thanks,
Louis
Generally what we do on new forums, is look for atleast 50 threads laying around on the subject to seed the forum with.
Anyone else think it's a good idea and willing to post in the forum on a regular basis?
there is no seo required for ebaylistings, as long as the listing contains the search term in the title (search title only option) or in the description (search title and description option) then your listing will show,
the listings are shown either in date or value order depending on the user preference,
you can pay for a listing to show at the top
short of this there is no seo required
or have i missed the point???
WmW has developed a dedicated following because it stays focused on issues relevant to webmasters.
Besides, there is no shortage of ebay sites, software and books to help the individual list their wares on ebay.
Selling on ebay is not a webmaster function.
-Marty
One point you may not have considered is the value of
"short cycle" testing. For instance, lets say
someone has X identical items they auction off,
each item as a seperate auction.
Lets say one test various title and description
elements, word order, whatever...note the results
and report back and discuss it in the Ebay forum.
Might this sort of thing be of value to more
traditional SEO efforts on people's regular sites
that have a longer "submit, get listed, track results"
cycle than Ebay auctions do? This is just one benefit
that occurs to me.
Upon furter reflection, I think it might be wise to
have a seperate site (much like searchengineworld)
that's linked to from webmasterworld -- rather than
a separate webmasterworld forum. The reason is,
the regulars here might not like the "watering down"
effect on the level of postings (by experienced peers)
in current forums if thousands of Ebayers start
showing up and posting their opinions, which the
regulars here might regard as more "noise" than "signal".
Moreover, I suspect many of the folks shopping Ebay are the
same folks many here are targeting for traffic and
business at their regular sites. Viewing Ebay as a "fast
test market cycle lab" could lead to valuable
insights and discussions that translate into
effective results at people's regualar sites.
Indeed, with the Ebay "community" aspects -- like
the ability to mine winning bidders thoughts,
impressions, opinions and motives via e-mail
after the sale with subtle questions, for instance,
I think there are many nuggets of value to be
mined and shared in such a forum.
Thanks again,
Louis
Your listing will show, but your item may not sell. That's the interesting part about ebay.
I'd bet ebay shoppers look at more listings per search than the average search engine user does, so the lack of ability to "win the #1 spot" with SEO is fairly irrelevant... but, since shoppers are looking at many items, what you say in your listing can make all the difference in the final sale (or lack thereof):
Does your auction title get people to look at the listing in the first place? Does your listing text get them to bid? How does your item presentation affect the ending prices on your auctions? How important is photo quality in the final price?
If nothing else, ebay listings can be a great place to study sales copy and its effects on shoppers... figuring out how, or if, auction selling copy works on regular website sale pages is another issue as well.
Whether or not ebay is a good topic for a forum on WebmasterWorld may be another matter though. I'd say, if you're interested in discussing ebay here, FOO is a perfect place to start a few threads... if the threads get enough interest, and other people start discussing it also, it may well end up as its' own forum somewhere down the road. (I'm looking at starting to sell things regularly on ebay myself, so I'd certainly appreciate a discussion here rather than trying to find a new forum for auction topics...)
While I was waiting for a new site to get into Google, a few widgets sold on the site were put up on ebay. They sold and we were happy. We read all through the ebay rules to find a legal way to advertise the new website on ebay. On the "about me" page, we put a link to to the website (which is allowed per ebay rules), thinking people would go to the website to see what else is available.
What's funny is that people who bid on ebay would rather pay more (sometimes quite a bit more) for these widgets, than to go on the website and buy directly there. Yesterday was the first time I saw in the referral logs that someone (ONE person!) actually went to the site from the 'about me' page on ebay.
I've been trying to figure out the ebay-er frame of mind, but still can't figure it out. I even put up an 'ebay bonus' page on the site, where a buyer can chose free widget off that page, if the widget bidding goes over a certain price. Some of the people don't even bother to chose their free widget. Go figure. Maybe ebay people aren't so much looking for a bargain, rather they are looking for the thrill of competing and winning?
I do believe the study of keywords and searches could help the SEO folks of webmasterworld. For instance, with the abovementioned widgets, describing them as 'widgets' garnered a modest amount of traffic on ebay. However, after searching through the most popular categories, it became apparent that certain words, such as 'vintage' or 'shabby chic' generated far more traffic. Now, I guarantee you, if I showed you one of these widgets, you'd never say, "Oh, that's a lovely vintage widget". Nor would you say, "Ah! The shabby Chic widget I've been dying to get my hands on". However, put those bad boys in the right category and watch the bidding war begin.
Another thought has to do w/ theme keywords. Sure, I can optimize for 'kerplunked widgets', in a variety of shapes and sizes. I can get a #1 spot on Google pretty easily, and all the fine people in the world looking for kerplunked widgets are happy. However, it's the people who want something 'blue', or 'sparkle-ly' or 'an engagement gift' or 'related to ballet shoes' that don't know they want a blue, sparkle-ly, ballet shoe shaped, kerplunked widget as an engagement gift, that I have to attract.
I need to know if people want a kerplunked widget that looks like Mickey Mouse, or matches their wallpaper in the living room, or has sea shells on it, etc. By searching the most popular items on ebay, it becomes apparent that anything to do w/ "The Wizard of Oz" is hot, hot, hot.
Yes? No?
One lady I work with has over 15 years pro marketing experience, including online for some large corporation (just not search engines). Every graphic, every word is measured, right down to where to capitalize and what colors to use. Her site converts like crazy, and she also utilizes ebay to the max and does very well there. She's overseeing development of a site for another person, and his products(highly competitive) have been moving steadily with auction, before his site is even launched.
We haven't heard mention here, it's kind of a different crowd. It's a whole different venue with a whole nuther skill-set, and takes a different kind of attention, going by what people have said.
Probably the closest we've got is the Ecommerce forum, and thinking back I can't remember any questions about it so far.
Just food for thought!
-Marty
What do you mean by "Her site converts like crazy"?
There are supposed to be ways to write the ads that work better, do the pricing, even differences in effectiveness on how many days to run the auctions. Some people have doing Ebay down to a science.
