eBay and SEO: A Guide for Resellers

Reselling 101

By RC Staff

26 August 2023

If you’re a part-time reseller or just getting started, you might be very familiar with SEO yet. To get eyes on anything you post on the internet in 2023, you’ll need to have at least a basic grasp of the concept. Effective SEO means more people looking at your listing, adding it their watchlists, and hopefully more sales. Stick around as we go into SEO 101.

Why bother with SEO on eBay?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO for short) is a pretty simple concept. It just means tuning your content in a way that search engines will favor you. If you want your eBay listings to be the first thing a potential buyer sees, then you’ll want to work on your SEO.

For the most part, good SEO really boils down to a well-constructed listing. You don’t need to do extensive research, watch long YouTube courses, or use any expensive tools. And as a bonus, a page with good SEO will also look clean and professional. Buyers are more inclined to buy from a seller that looks authentic.

eBay SEO Rule 1: Keywords!

SEO revolves around keywords. This is the most basic idea behind it, and the only one you really need to understand. Keywords are how search engines match users to relevant pages, and are what users enter when making an internet search.

Think about how you would use Google. Let’s say you want to want to buy one of the recent Logan Paul WWE figurines. Now, the full name of this product is “WWE Logan Paul Ultimate Edition Action Figure”, but is that what you’d look up? You’d probably just enter in “Logan Paul action figure”. Boom, there’s your keyword.

At its core, SEO just means anticipating people’s Google searches. Ask yourself, what would I type into Google if I was looking for this product? Here are some easy and free-to-use tools that can help you find and compare keywords.

Free eBay SEO Tools

• Ahrefs Free Keyword Generator: Ahrefs is a huge name in paid SEO tools, but they also offer a free keyword generator. Just enter in your potential keywords and receive a list of suggested terms, with estimates of search traffic.
• Google Keyword Planner: If you like getting your data straight from the horse’s mouth, Google offers a free keyword planning tool. The data is quite accurate, but it offers few options for comparing keywords or ideas for keyword difficulty.
• eBay Terapeak Tool: eBay also offers a keyword tool geared towards their in-house search engine Cassini. High volume sellers should use Terapeak to optimize their eBay listings.

Remember, this doesn’t need to be overly complicated. All you need to do is figure out which keyword or keywords you should be targeting, which will be the ones with the majority of search engine traffic.

How to use SEO on eBay

Once you’ve identified the keywords you’ll be going after, it’s time to set up your listing. First, and most importantly, make sure your primary keyword is included in your title. This is critical for getting your listing in front of buyers.

eBay helpfully provides a sample of existing listings to base your page off of, and you be able to select one to start your page off with.

In addition to the primary keyword, your title should also include any other relevant terms people might use to search for it, as well as the item’s condition.

IMPORTANT: You don’t want to engage in “keyword stuffing”, where you try to cram as many related or semi-related keywords into your title and text and possible. Both eBay and Google can detect this, and your listing may be penalized. Instead, just single out 1-3 important keywords and focus on those.

Fill in as many specific details as possible. Depending on the product, you might be asked to provide brand names, model numbers, identifying characteristics, or other values. Don’t skip these details, as they are needed for your item to be included in eBay buyers’ advanced searches and filtering options. If you don’t know a value, check the manufacturer’s page to find it.

Your description should include a concise summary of the item you’re selling. Any notable features, defects or damages should be noted here. You’ll also want the condition to be stated explicitly. If your product is new and in unopened packaging, you should mention that.

Remember to use your keyword, but not excessively. For example, your description should read something like “I am selling a (primary keyword here), new in box. Here are the specs”. You don’t need to stuff the text with the keyword, and any secondary keywords or keyphrases should be worked in naturally.

If an item has multiple potential keyword variations, try to use different ones when possible. The primary keyword should always be in the title. Search engines are pretty smart these days, as long as you include the relevant terms, your page will come up on a search.

Use Photos in Your eBay Listings

The importance of high-quality and clear pictures cannot be overstated. eBay provides a guide for taking pictures here, but it’s pretty simple. Take a picture of every relevant feature of the product. Make sure your backgrounds are clear and clean too. Remember, your listing is the only way a potential buyer can gauge you as a seller. Make a good impression!

People want to buy from someone they have confidence in, and professionalism goes a long way.

When possible, use your own pictures. Google indexes the pictures included on a page, and can detect reused images. Your page will have greater authenticity to both buyers and search engines if the photos are original. If that isn’t possible, use high-quality images directly from the manufacturer. Don’t screenshot other listings or use other sellers’ images.

Common eBay SEO Mistakes

Hopefully by now you can see that using SEO for eBay is actually pretty simple. As long as you have a clear idea of what keywords to target and where to use them, making an eBay listing with solid SEO is actually quite easy. Just in case, here are some common mistakes we see made when it comes to SEO on eBay:

• Keyword Stuffing: We already mentioned this, but it’s worth repeating: don’t overuse keywords, especially unrelated terms. Your primary keyword should be included in your title, once or twice in your description, and that’s it. Spamming keywords makes the listing look suspicious to search engines, and can result in penalties.
• Clickbaity/Deceptive Titles: Don’t try to trick someone into looking at your listing. Best case, you’ll annoy them, worst case eBay can take the listing down and take action against your account. Effective SEO utilization means ranking well for your intended keywords, not unrelated terms.
• Duplicate Listings: Some sellers think that if they make multiple listings for the same product, it increases the chances of making a sale. Not only is this against eBay’s TOS, but buyers can see through it. It won’t help in the long run, and increases the chances of eBay taking action against you.

eBay’s internal search engine factors your seller rating into account. Highly rated sellers with many sales are given an advantage when it comes to rankings, and users with spotty track records are penalized. Attempting to game the system for short term game just ends up hurting you in the long run.

Remember, an experienced seller with tons of positive ratings is attractive to both buyers and sellers. Focus on making the kind of eBay listings you’d want to see, rather than chasing keywords and related terms.

That’s all for now. While SEO might seem like a confusing and technical subject at first, the essence of it is very simple. Just try to put the answers on your page to the questions people are asking. For most products, those answers are straightforward and essentially just the product’s name.

You already have the advantage as a reseller. After all, people already want to buy your product. All you need to do is make sure they see it.