Saturday, May 10, 2008

EBays Tools To Promote Your Store For Free

Use EBays Tools To Promote Your Store For Free
By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Richard_Gilbert]Richard Gilbert

It may seem like eBay stores aren't really worth the fees when you consider that the listings don't appear in the main search results on eBay. However, if you spend a little time promoting your store you'll soon find why it can be far more profitable than listing your items as regular eBay auctions. eBay even provide store owners with many free ways to promote and generate traffic to their store, however many sellers don't fully take advantage on these resources. Here are several ways you can quickly and easily promote your eBay store for free.

1. Your "About Me" Page

Each seller on eBay is given the opportunity to create an About Me Page. Most users tend to use this space to generally talk about themselves, such as interests and hobbies which is fine if you are a buyer. However, from a sellers point of view it's a complete waste of advertising space.

If used properly your About Me page can be one of the best ways to promote your store. Your About Me page has different rules and guidelines to the sales page of your auctions. Whereas links away from eBay are generally not allowed on your sales page, they ARE allowed on your About Me page. This means that you can enter links to your own website outside of eBay or perhaps even create a form allowing people to join your newsletter if you run one. Don't worry if you do not have your own site or newsletter as this space can be used to promote your eBay store even further. You could perhaps list items that you will be selling in the near future to keep potential customers interested.

Every eBay user is allocated an "About Me" page so If you do not have one set up yet, I strongly recommend creating one as the rewards can be huge from just a few minutes work. Once set-up, each time a user views your listings they will see an About Me icon next to your username. However, don't just rely on eBay to push traffic to it; also include a few links of your own on your sales page.

2. Other eBay Listings

As previously stated, it's only the regular eBay Auctions and Buy It Now listings that are displayed in the top search results, but that doesn't mean you can't use this traffic to attract attention to your store and other items.

Although eBay kindly inserts as "Visit My eBay Shop" link at the top of each listing, there is no harm is added in a few links yourself. Perhaps at the bottom of your listing you could encourage people to view your other items, for example a little line such as "Click here to view similar items from my eBay Store" would do the trick. You even offer an added incentive such as discounted prices if they bought multiple items from you.

3. Use eBay's Reviews And Guides Section

The reviews and guide section of eBay is growing all the time, however it seems to be only a select number of users that are adding content. And most likely, they will be the ones that are generating all the traffic and auction views.

What's great about this section of eBay is that whenever you add an article, eBay will automatically place a link back to your eBay store at the bottom of the page. Browse over to eBay now for a look at what the reviews and guides section is all about. If you decide to write a short review or guide then make sure it relates to the products you sell in your store.

I hope this article has given you an insight into how with a little work and imagination you can really boost traffic and push customers to your eBay store, without having to spend a penny on any sort of advertising. As with the majority of promotional work, it's all about being creative and trying out new ideas. If one of your ideas doesn't work, then you've not lost anything by trying.

Richard Gilbert is successful online entrepreneur who has been selling on eBay since 2003. He now operates a website specializing in helping eBook sellers to succeed. Visit him at http://www.allaboutebooks.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Gilbert http://EzineArticles.com/?Use-EBays-Tools-To-Promote-Your-Store-For-Free&id=1157793

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