A key lesson most large websites, such as eBay, have learned in recent years is that content, rather than quantity, reigns supreme. To be completely honest, until recently, even eBay admitted that the site lacked relevant content to attract visitors. It was essentially a place to buy products or services, with very little in the way of useful information available on the site.
eBay Wiki, eBay Reviews and Guides, and eBay Blogs are just a few of the most recent initiatives to encourage the creation of user-generated content on eBay. As stated by eBay, the goal of these sections is to create valuable content that will encourage users to return to the site more frequently, as well as to positively influence search engine rankings in order to increase the visibility of the site as a whole.
These features have largely gone unnoticed by the majority of eBay users, but they represent a significant opportunity for the proactive seller (that would be you). What do you mean? In exchange for contributing content to these sections of the site, eBay promises a substantial financial reward. It’s a kind of ‘you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours’ kind of situation.
The opportunity that exists in eBay Reviews and Guides is fantastic because it is a format that is both flexible and accessible.
eBay Reviews and Guides
The eBay definition of Reviews and Guides (which are actually separate sections of the site in their own right) is that they were created to allow users to research suitable products and benefit from the wisdom of eBay members who have experience in a particular product category, either as a seller or as a buyer. Comments and ratings about a wide range of commonly sold items on eBay can be found in the Reviews section of the site.
It should be noted that eBay restricts reviews to specific types of products that are listed on their site. Short articles or reports that contain information and opinions on almost any topic you can think of are referred to as “guides.”
Using these sections of eBay to your advantage can be accomplished in two ways:
- You can use free information as a research resource for creating your own information products by combining it with other free information.
- Write informative and useful information about the niche in which you sell, and then promote your own products in this information.
Obviously, the first point should be obvious. Reviews and Guides is a rapidly growing information resource that is available for free, making it an excellent tool for research when developing information-based products, such as e-books and software.
The second area is a little more complicated, but don’t let that deter you from taking advantage of it because it represents an excellent way to generate interest in your eBay listings for nothing. Here are some examples of how you can make use of Reviews and Guides:
- Ask a friend or relative to write an unbiased review of your product on Amazon. Make certain that it is realistic and credible, and include specifics about what makes your product superior to the competition.
- Create a list of the top ten products in your industry (can you guess which is number one?)
- Create a “white paper” report on a product that you sell.
- Create a user manual that explains how to operate your product.
- Create a guide that explains how to use your product in unusual situations.
- Writing a guide that describes the pitfalls to avoid when hiring a service that you provide is a good idea.
- Create a guide that provides tips and advice on a specific aspect of the niche in which you sell your products.
- Create a user guide that explains how to replace or repair a particular product.
Keep it as creative as you want, and remember that you can include images, photos, illustrations, basic formatting, and eBay links to specific products or eBay searches in your submission. The use of photographs or illustrations should be limited to those that are closely related to the content and that enhance rather than detract from the text (this is a common blunder).
Also, when you’re putting together your writing, consider what topics people would be most interested in reading about. After all, you want to attract as many readers as possible to your website. Like any copywriting, the headline (and title) that you choose are the most important factors to consider when it comes to attracting readers’ attention.
It goes without saying that you should not stop after producing your first one; instead, strive to produce a consistent stream of reviews and guides in order to increase your presence and influence on eBay (and the search engines that love this type of solid content). Make it a point to complete at least one review and one guide each and every week. If you are able to do more, that is even better.
Make sure to pay attention to the votes that readers cast on both reviews and guides, as you want to maintain a positive impression.
Please take the time to read and reread the following information to ensure that you fully comprehend it. The links and tags are the two most important aspects of writing an eBay Guide, and they should not be overlooked. Links are text that can be clicked on to take the user to a different page on the eBay website. Linking to specific product pages and linking to eBay searches are the two types of hyperlinks that are available to you. Although product pages will change from time to time, I recommend that you use searches because they will never expire.
In order to assist you in creating a search link, eBay will prompt you to enter relevant words to search for when you are constructing a guide. This is much simpler to accomplish than it appears.
Consider the following: if you are in the business of selling guitar accessories, you would include words such as “guitar pedal,” “guitar stand,” “guitar amplifier,” “guitar strings,” and so on. Consider the following question when determining the most appropriate words and phrases (tags): “If I were to search for this type of article, what search words would I enter?” This is where the cleverness comes in. You may be able to create a search term that is so specific that it only returns your items on the results page if you put some thought into it.
For example, if your store’s name was ‘ABC Guitar Accessories’ and all of your listings contained the word ‘ABC,’ your search terms would be ABC guitar pedal, ABC guitar stand, ABC guitar amp, and so on. Once again, the goal is to create search terms that are so specific that your listings are the only ones that match, and as a result, they are the only ones that appear on the search results page.
The fact that you are now able to influence readers of your guides to visit your listings and your listings only make this a very powerful tool
Because you have just provided them with valuable information in your guide, it stands to reason that you are beginning to establish a rapport with them, and as a result, they are far more likely to purchase from you rather than from another seller. It’s just plain old human nature at play.
Make Use of Tags
The tags are the other elements of an eBay Guide that should be taken into consideration.
The term ‘tags’ is simply a slang term for keywords on eBay. Keywords are words or phrases that eBay prompts you to enter when you create your guide, in order to help others find the guide in the future when they search for it on eBay. It is the search terms that will result in your guide being discovered, so you can appreciate how important they are.
As an illustration, if your guide was titled “Tips for Planning the Perfect Hawaii Vacation,” your keywords would most likely include the following phrases:
- Hawaii vacation
- Maui
- Ohau
- Kaui
Because you are only permitted to submit a maximum of four keywords, you must strike a balance between specificity and generality. For example, if you searched for “Hawaii surfing vacation” and used the keyword phrase “Hawaii surfing vacation,” you would miss out on a lot of other, more general searches.
Finally, as you might expect, it’s easy to lose track of time in these sections of the site, so be careful not to get sucked into this rat race. Make use of these features as tools to increase your presence on eBay, but avoid becoming overly engrossed in them.
