The algorithm that powers eBay’s marketplaces uses different factors when ranking listings in search results. Knowing these factors can help sellers make Cassini work in their favor by placing items from their store at the top of the results for relevant queries.
eBay doesn’t reveal all the details about how its search engine works or which factors it prioritizes when determining the ranking order of product listings.
Nonetheless, it is abundantly clear that keywords play a large role in a listing’s performance on eBay’s search engine.
To remain competitive and ensure that their listings are visible to the right audience, sellers must constantly search for keywords relevant to the items they’re adding to their store.
However, finding the high-converting primary and secondary keywords for every new product you add to your eBay store requires thorough research and an advanced understanding of the competition and your business’s niche.
Let’s explore how keyword research can help with eBay search engine optimization, expand the reach of your product listings, and drive traffic to your store.
Understanding how keywords affect your sales
A keyword, in the context of online marketplaces, is a term that reveals what a product is or its main characteristic. It is also the term or a phrase an eBay user is most likely to enter into a search bar when looking for a specific product.
Keywords that contain a single word are often referred to as the ‘head term’, while keywords containing phrases composed of two or more words are called long-tail keywords.
Sellers on online platforms often combine the two, so a long-tail keyword usually contains the head term.
For instance, if you’re creating a listing for a pair of Adidas sneakers, a long-tail keyword would be ‘Men’s Adidas Red Gazelle Sneakers’, while ‘Adidas’ or ‘sneakers’ can be head terms.
When a user searches for a pair of Adidas shoes, Cassini, eBay’s search engine, collects all listings containing these keywords and displays them in a particular order.
The algorithm also utilizes so-called secondary keywords, which provide additional context, describe a product in more detail, or refer to its intended use.
So, for the example above, suitable secondary keywords would be ‘indoor shoes’, ‘suede’, or ‘retro style’.
Secondary keywords can be utilized in the listing’s title, product description, or item specifics section, but it’s important to remember to use them in good measure.
Overusing keywords is an outdated SEO practice that can hurt your listing’s chances of appearing among the top eBay search results for a specific query.
What’s more, listings containing primary and secondary keywords that aren’t directly related to the item are unlikely to appear in the search results eBay displays to users searching for a product from that category, impacting the store’s sales.
The ins and outs of keyword research
Your primary goal when researching keywords is to identify the best primary and secondary keywords for a listing you’re creating.
The biggest challenge is to discover keywords your competitors aren’t already using or find low-difficulty keywords that are easier to rank for than high-competition keywords.
Here are a few tips that can make keyword research easier.
Mastering the buyer’s intent
Put yourself in the shoes of your ideal customer and try to imagine what they would type into the search bar when looking for a product you offer in your store.
Then, try to convert these queries into seed keywords, one to two-word terms you use to start a search for the keywords you’ll use in the listing you’re creating.
Remember that some shoppers are only exploring the available options in a particular category, while others are looking for the best deal they can find for the item they want to purchase.
The easiest way to understand the search intent is to enter several queries into eBay’s search bar and look at the keywords that appear at the top of the search results.
Analyze top-ranking listings in relevant product categories
Study your competition. Keeping track of what other sellers in your niche are doing will provide you with a wealth of information you can use to do much more than just optimize your listings.
Looking at the top-ranking listings in a specific category will give you an overview of the keywords your competitors are using.
It will also enable you to identify the most popular keywords that are difficult to rank for, allowing you to decide whether to add these popular keywords to your listing.
Hence, typing a simple query into eBay’s search bar can help you understand what buyers are looking for and what other sellers are doing to reach those buyers.
More importantly, researching top-ranking listings and knowing which keywords are difficult to rank for can help you find equally effective alternatives.
Utilize eBay keyword tools
Relying solely on the information you can gather with eBay’s Product Research tools may leave you shortsighted.
External eBay keyword tools like ZIK Analytics, Keyword Tool Dominator, or Keyword Tool will give you a comprehensive overview of the best primary and secondary keyword suggestions for a specific query.
If you search for suggestions for a seed keyword like “Adidas sneakers,” you’ll get a long list of keyword recommendations ranging from ‘Adidas sneakers new’ to ‘men’s classic Adidas sneakers’.
Moreover, the best eBay keyword tools allow users to check vital metrics like search volume data, trends, and average cost per click.
Implementing these tools into your workflow can save you considerable time by allowing you to quickly discover new keywords and estimate how effective they can be.
Keywords as cornerstones of your eBay listing optimization strategy
Even though they’re not the only factor Cassini considers when ranking listings for a specific query, keywords are among the most important ranking factors.
As a result, sellers must ensure that each listing they create contains the right keywords and that each one is strategically placed in different sections of a listing.
Here’s an overview of how you can use keywords as cornerstones of your eBay listing optimization strategy.
Placing keywords in eBay listing titles
A listing’s title should inform the buyer about the product in a clear and concise way. The maximum length of eBay titles is limited to 80 characters, but you should always aim to place the head and long-tail keywords in the first 40 characters of the title.
Ideally, the first word in a listing title should also be the head keyword, followed by a long-tail keyword with a medium to high search volume.
Adding other product attributes such as gender, color, or size to the title can also help boost the listing in the search rankings.
However, writing the words in a title in capital letters, using emojis, making a typo, or repeating a keyword can hurt your listing’s chances of ranking at the top of search results.
It’s also worth adding that eBay businesses offering products on several marketplaces should research keywords in the local languages to find those that best fit their listing title.
Maximizing the potential of primary and secondary keywords in product descriptions
The product description section gives sellers space to provide potential buyers with all the information about a product they might need. This section is also a great spot to naturally add primary and secondary keywords to listings while avoiding unnecessary repetitions.
On the other hand, repeating the same keyword too often or using it out of context might prompt the search algorithm to push the listing down in the search results and affect the overall user experience.
Aside from being informative, an item description should highlight the product’s main features, indicate whether the product is new or used, and list its defects.
Structured data and product categories
When creating a listing, you can choose from thousands of primary and secondary product categories. These categories, such as clothing or video games, serve as additional keywords that help the search algorithm understand the item a listing offers.
However, you cannot add more than two categories to a listing, and the secondary category isn’t available for items from certain categories, like motor vehicles or Portable Audio & Headphones. Moreover, sellers must pay a small fee to add a secondary category to a listing.
Product categories are an essential element of listing optimization. They offer a tree-like structure that arranges items into groups or sub-groups, allowing the search algorithm to understand which category the item belongs to.
Additionally, the title of each product category is a keyword that Cassini can use when suggesting listings from that category.
Item specifics as a source of keywords
Completing this section of a product listing will improve its search rankings both on eBay’s internal search engine and external search engines like Google.
The section contains Required and Recommended segments. Depending on the product category you choose, the Required segment can include information about an item’s manufacturer, size, color, or similar characteristics.
In the Recommended segment of the Item Specifics section, you can specify other important information, such as the model, material, or type.
Each term you add in this section of a product listing will act as an additional keyword, giving it a better chance of appearing among the top search results.
Moreover, GTIN, UPC, or similar product identifiers act as keywords on eBay’s internal and external search engines, so adding them to a product listing can significantly improve its visibility.
Keywords as a foundation of a successful eBay business
eBay’s marketplaces are becoming more competitive as the number of sellers and product listings on the platform grows.
As a result, sellers cannot afford to have poorly optimized, underperforming product listings in their stores.
Keyword research and implementation are among the most important aspects of the product listing optimization process as they enable sellers to discover the terms buyers use to find products similar or identical to those they feature in their stores.
Still, when finding keywords that can help you reach your target audience, you should also devote a lot of attention to identifying the best places to use them, like the eBay item title or product description section.
Creating product listings that stand out among the competitors can be challenging. Check out Webinterpret’s eBay solution if you struggle to create high-converting product listings on different eBay marketplaces.
About Webinterpret
Webinterpret supports merchants selling on eBay.
Our AI-based solutions enable more effective selling through automated listing localization, advertising, and returns and ensure all products placed on EU markets are GPSR-compliant.
By giving your international customers a full, end-to-end local shopping experience, Webinterpret improves your conversion and helps establish your business globally.
