The competition on eBay’s marketplaces is overwhelming.
The platform currently hosts over two billion active listings. This number will continue to rise as eBay continues to expand globally and its marketplaces get even more saturated.
Consequently, having a profound understanding of the algorithm that powers the platform and determines which listings buyers see when searching for a specific product becomes more valuable with each new listing.
Cassini, eBay’s search algorithm, considers a broad range of factors when ranking items, making it difficult for sellers to know how their listings will perform on eBay’s search engine.
Even though eBay doesn’t reveal the intricacies of Cassini’s inner workings, it’s abundantly clear that the algorithm favors excellent customer experience and encourages transparency.
Let’s examine how eBay’s Cassini search engine works and how you can use it to improve your store’s performance.
Cassini algorithm at a glance
- Cassini replaced eBay’s previous search algorithm, Voyager, in 2013.
- The search algorithm tracks what listings buyers click and bid on and how much time they spend viewing an item.
- An established eBay business stands a better chance of having their listings appear at the top of search rankings than new sellers because Cassini uses Sales History as a ranking factor.
- Cassini penalizes keyword stuffing and other black-hat SEO tactics.
- The algorithm is named after a 17th-century Italian astronomer, Giovanni Cassini.
What is Cassini and how does it affect eBay sellers?
Cassini is the core of eBay’s internal search engine, capable of processing vast amounts of information and using it to generate relevant search results for a particular query.
In other words, the algorithm gathers information about sellers and buyers to create the best experience for shoppers searching for different products on eBay. Hence, its primary goals are to:
- Provide all platform visitors with an excellent user experience
- Reward sellers that follow eBay’s store and listing creation best practices
- Foster the spirit of transparency and fairness across all eBay marketplaces
When suggesting products that best fit a query, the data- and value-driven algorithm considers factors like buyer preferences, relevance, the seller’s overall performance, trust, and countless others.
Cassini is buyer-oriented, meaning that its point of emphasis is recommending listings that are most likely to result in sales. That’s why the algorithm determines how a listing or entire eBay store will perform in terms of visibility and sales.
Hence, it’s easy to see why it’s paramount for sellers to understand how Cassini works and do everything they can to provide a superb user experience in all aspects of their operations on eBay’s marketplaces.
Cassini’s ranking factors
For over a decade since eBay introduced Cassini, its documentation has always been kept secret. This is hardly surprising because eBay, like other large online marketplace providers, is doing all it can to prevent sellers from gaming the algorithm.
Cassini’s general goals dictate its preferences when ranking listings. It’s programmed to favor sellers with a long history of high-level customer service and informative listings with first-rate content.
Consequently, incomplete product listings with improper categorization are unlikely to end up at the top of search results for any query. They can potentially hurt a seller’s chances of establishing a lasting presence on an eBay marketplace.
Click-through and conversion rates
The click-through rate tells Cassini how many people click on listings that appear in search results. On the other hand, the conversion rate shows the algorithm the number of visitors who clicked on a seller’s product catalog and purchased an item from that catalog.
The algorithm then uses this data to power its Best Match feature, which sorts items automatically based on their relevance for specific queries.
So, the higher the listing’s CTR and conversion rate, the more likely it is to appear at the top of search results for future search queries.
The sell-through rate
Although they might seem similar, the conversion and sell-through rates measure different performance metrics. Unlike the conversion rate, the sell-through rate indicates the percentage of a store’s inventory sold to customers based on the store’s number of active listings.
Hence, a high sell-through rate, above 80%, is an excellent sign that a store is performing well, which is why Cassini relies on it when determining the ranking order for different queries.
Removing the so-called stale listings, which have not had any sales over several months, could potentially boost your store’s overall rankings.
Pricing
As noted earlier, Cassini favors experienced eBay sellers with a proven record of excellent customer service and a long sales history. So, the newcomers to eBay’s marketplaces are fighting an uphill battle trying to secure a favorable spot in the search rankings for their listings.
Pricing is one of the major factors Cassini considers when ranking listings, which gives novice sellers an opportunity to push their listings in the search results by offering competitive prices.
Moreover, offering product discounts can also be a helpful strategy for sellers attempting to improve the visibility of their listings.
Store’s overall performance
Cassini monitors everything you do or don’t do on the platform when evaluating and ranking listings for different queries.
How often you log in to your store, how quickly you respond to customers’ questions, and other seemingly insignificant things can affect your store’s overall performance in search results.
Here are some factors Cassini considers while evaluating the seller’s reputation.
Customer service
eBay’s algorithm considers multiple factors to measure a seller’s performance and uses that information to determine a seller’s performance on the platform. These factors include the sales history, customer feedback, returns policies, and prompt responses to customers’ messages.
Furthermore, initiating communication with buyers, keeping the listings up to date, and removing old ones, improves the customer experience and signals to Cassini that you’re an active community member who cares about providing excellent service to all of your store’s visitors.
Late shipments and defect rates
Cassini keeps track of customer reviews, and whenever a buyer leaves a comment about their package being delayed or arriving damaged, it pushes the seller’s listing down in search rankings.
That’s why it is paramount for your store’s performance to ensure that all products you sell on eBay are in perfect condition and include realistic handling and delivery times in the listings.
Moreover, long delivery or handling times can discourage shoppers from buying your products and consequently reduce the conversion and sell-through rates.
The best practices for improving eBay SEO strategy
Your store’s performance on eBay is the sum of all your activities on the platform rather than a reflection of how many listings in your store are optimized for the Cassini search engine.
Hence, ensuring high rankings for all your listings across multiple eBay marketplaces involves much more than adding appropriate keywords to listings.
Let’s go through some of the best search engine optimization practices that can boost your products in eBay’s search results and attract potential buyers to your store.
Implementing keywords into listing titles and item specifics
It’s hard to overstate the importance of keyword research for a listing’s performance in eBay’s search results.
Cassini uses them to determine a listing’s relevance to the user’s query. If a listing contains keywords that the algorithm deems irrelevant for a query, the listing won’t appear in the search results, even if the product is a perfect fit for what the user is looking for.
That’s why it’s paramount to contextually add relevant keywords in the listing’s title, product description, and item specifics. What’s more, writing informative descriptions for each product you add to your store and including links to other items in your store can also improve your rankings.
Sellers have a variety of eBay SEO tools at their disposal, so simply entering a product’s GTIN or similar identifier can make your listing friendlier for the Cassini algorithm.
Images and product categories as a ranking factor
Forgetting to assign a product category to an eBay listing or adding too many categories to a listing are costly mistakes that can significantly impact a product’s visibility on eBay.
That’s why choosing only categories and subcategories relevant to the product in a specific listing is paramount.
Category names are, in fact, keywords that help Cassini understand a listing’s target audience better, but don’t forget that adding categories that aren’t relevant to a particular item is actually harmful to SEO.
High-quality images are also essential to listing optimization, so sticking to eBay’s picture policy will keep you in Cassini’s good graces. Moreover, you should avoid using stock photos for used items or uploading pictures that don’t accurately depict the product in the listing.
Actively revising the pricing strategy
Offering the best-selling products on eBay is a great way of attracting visitors to your store. The only downside is that you must compete with thousands of sellers offering the same or similar items in their stores.
That’s why most sellers utilize competitive pricing to gain an advantage and get Cassini to work in their favor.
The algorithm considers an item’s price when ranking listings, so discounting or lowering the prices of items in your eBay store can improve their position in the search rankings and increase their sales.
Utilizing this strategy can be particularly useful for newcomers to an eBay marketplace. Still, it’s also worth noting that offering a low price for an item for an extended period can limit your potential earnings.
Increasing activities on eBay
Cassini favors sellers that spend a lot of time on the platform. So, the amount of time you spend working on your store, improving listings, or communicating with buyers is directly related to how well your listings are positioned in the search rankings.
The algorithm will reward you for performing minor daily tasks like checking the messages, updating the inventory, regularly adding new items to your store, or tweaking an item’s description by sending more traffic your way and pushing your listings up in the search rankings.
Improve the quality of customer service
All online sellers have to deal with negative reviews at one point, as they’re more or less unavoidable. How you respond to negative reviews will define your store’s standards for the quality of customer service and determine Cassini’s perception of your store.
In addition to the positive and negative reviews, factors like shipping time, the number of canceled or returned orders, and the positive sales history determine the seller’s performance.
Each of these factors can affect the visibility of individual listings, which is why a great performance on eBay’s Cassini search engine can’t be achieved just by creating eye-catching listings but rather by taking a systematic approach to all platform activities.
Gaming eBay’s search engine: Is it worth the risk?
The lack of human involvement in the search ranking process leaves Cassini vulnerable to manipulation.
Sellers can game the algorithm by overusing keywords, including categories that don’t directly correspond to the item in the listing, or using a listing to promote another listing.
Taking any of these actions is a direct violation of eBay’s Search Manipulation Policy, and utilizing any black-hat SEO techniques can result in listing removal or account suspension.
Hence, attempting to manipulate Cassini can only produce a short-term boost in traffic or sales and have disastrous long-term effects on the seller’s reputation.
That’s why attempting to game the algorithm is not worth the risk of having your account suspended or listings permanently removed from the platform.
Using the Cassini algorithm to your advantage
Achieving success on eBay requires striking a delicate balance between acting in good faith in all aspects of your operations, providing outstanding support for each customer, and ensuring the platform’s algorithm works in your favor.
Accomplishing this task without understanding how the Cassini algorithm works is nearly impossible.
Knowing the factors the algorithm uses to rank listings in the search rankings will enable you to improve those aspects of your operations on different eBay marketplaces and ultimately provide your customers with a more enjoyable shopping experience.
Webinterpret’s eBay solution can help optimize your listings for the Cassini search algorithm and improve your product sales on domestic and international markets.
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.
