7/8/09 eBay Powersellers Secrets Newsletter

"In this week's eBay Powersellers Secrets Newsletter Amanda explains eBay's 'Best Match' September changes."

Hello!

I have had a number of emails this week from people asking me about the changes to the current 'Best Match' search that are being rolled out in September and how these changes will affect them.


So, following my recent blog post on the subject of eBay changes for September, I thought I'd write about the 'Best Match' changes today so that things are clear and so that you can prepare in advance for these changes.


Firstly though, if you are still a little confused about how 'Best Match' works, then you can read my recent eBay Confidential article here:

Insider Tips to Rocket Your Listings To Page One On eBay


It's a good starting point for understanding exactly why 'Best Match' has an effect on your sales, but as I have said, there are a few changes coming soon, which I will explain for you now!


As you would expect, eBay is going to continue improving its search technology to make sure that the most relevant listings from eBay sellers who give the best customer service and general buying experience appear at the top of the search results.


The reasons for this are pretty obvious - these sellers make more sales which ultimately equals more money for both the seller and for eBay!


In the past, changing the title of your listing or amending the price of your product meant that you lost your place in the search results - a disaster when you have secured a prominent Page 1 position.


The good news is, that putting the price of your product up or changing your title keywords will no longer harm your sales, sales history or search placement. So, if you are still at the stage where you are testing product keywords and pricing then you can make changes as often as you wish until you get it exactly right.


This is going to be a great help for new sellers who are unsure of which keywords to use - just test until you see your listing in a high search placement - then you will know that you have got your keywords spot-on.


What this means though is that your title keywords will now be more important than ever! If you want to get the best possible search position for your Buy It Now listings then you must make sure your title is relevant - make every keyword count. Don't mess around with silly connecting words like 'and', 'the' 'with' etc. Only use the words that buyers will search for. The more relevant the words, the higher your search placement.


Now, here's some more excellent news. (Yes, it's all good today!). This is really going to help those of you who are new sellers with products listed in more competitive markets.


I get quite a few emails from people telling me that they are having difficulty getting their listings actually seen in the searches. Well, first and foremost, the title keywords rule applies which I talked about just now, but you'll be pleased to know that eBay are actually going to give you a bit of a helping hand too.


Newly listed Buy It Now's (that is Buy It Now's with no previous sales history) will be given 'some' exposure in the 'Best Match' search. Yes, even if there is absolutely no sales history at all!


How this will work is that these new listings will be given some initial impressions based on the performance of similar listings. So, my advice would be to do a search for your product or similar and note the ones that come top in the search time after time. Then take a look at the keywords used. To make sure that your newly listed item is given the best opportunity to appear in the search simply incorporate the best keywords into your listing titles.


Ok, following on from this, at present, the number of times your page is visited counts towards the position of your listing in the search - i.e. the more visitors you have, the more likely you are to appear high up in the 'Best Match' results for your particular product.


The new changes will mean that the number of visitors or 'hits' your item page receives will count for less than the number of actual sales in the listing performance score for Buy It Now. Ok, it might sound complicated, but actually this is quite simply explained!


Let's say that 15 people view your Buy It Now listing and your product is sold out almost straight away. This is a pretty good indication that your product is extremely relevant to those looking at it, as opposed to a listing that gets for example 500 hits and only 2 sales.


So, starting in September, Buy It Now listings will have a listing performance score based on the number of recent sales in relation to the number of hits. This means that a listing that gets 50 hits and 5 sales will score higher (and get a higher placement) than a similar listing with 100 hits and 5 sales.


This is why it is so important that you write a compelling listing - get the buyer to your page (that's a hit!) and get them to buy right now (that's a sale!). That's 1 hit, 1 sale and that's an excellent performance score ratio!


One final thing to remember is that P&P costs will still be considered in 'Best Match' so you should keep your postage and packing costs fair or try and offer free postage if you can. This is especially important for Buy It Now listings because if you offer free postage you will get extra exposure in the search.


Well I hope that clears a few things up for you. You'll see that actually these changes are not as terrifying as they seem. In fact most, if not all of these changes are a good thing because they will actually help eBay sellers like you and me.

Sellers like us who have competitively priced, quality products and who want to give great service and have happy customers who come back for more will benefit from this most definitely. As will new sellers who want to get their listings seen!


Until next week, as always I wish you the best of success,

Amanda


P.S If you have already purchased The £2,500 Per Week eBay Powersellers Secrets home study course, I have added a UK wholesaler of branded sports goods to your exclusive bonus web-page today! If you have added the page to your favourites, don't forget to refresh the page when you open it.

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I produce this newsletter on the understanding that these are my own personal opinions and experiences, which are as accurate as possible at the time of publication. I cannot be held responsible for any error in details, accuracy or judgment whatsoever.

© Amanda O'Brien 2009

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