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Ned
(newbie)
04/21/07 09:08 AM
HTML Comments in Description field  

I've long been irritated that the "name" of an inventory or auction record in the grid view is the first line of the Description field. Trying to make that first line do double duty--meaningful enough for the grid view, zippy enough for the first line of your advertising copy--has been trying at times and resulted in compromises. And I hate compromising my ad copy.

HTML comments give you a way to separate the "name" of a record from the Description. If the first line of the description is an HTML comment, like this,

<!-- This is an HTML comment -->

that line will not appear on the customer's screen. A blank line will appear instead.

Since the comment is the first line of the Description, it will appear in the Description field of the grid view.

CAUTION: While the HTML comment doesn't appear on the customer's screen, it is transmitted along with the rest of the page to the customer's browser. A snoopy geeky customer who looks at the page source will see the comment, so don't put anything in there you wouldn't want them to see.

Ned




bluepennylady
(old hand)
04/21/07 09:53 AM
Re: HTML Comments in Description field new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

We all know writing in pros doesn't yield as high a result so writing in bulleted list form is better. The first line of the description should be the Auction title line and that first line should be in bold. If the first line in the description is not only in bold but repeated from the Auction title, the crawler sees that as relevant information.

The description should be written from the most relevant to the least relevant information. As we know the crawlers search at least the first three lines if the crawler finds relevant information. How much further down they go isn't exactly known.

Even using common misspellings in the first few lines of the description is good. For example, I sell solder. Most buyers search using "soder" instead of the proper spelling "Solder" I just learned that recently. So we have been editing our listings to include the misspelled term "soder" The auctions I have edited, are selling better than the ones that are all spelled correctly.

Removing normal punctuation from words often helps the search results. For example, the proper punctuation for "Boyd's Bears" but buyers search using "Boyds Bear" without the apostrophe as well as the "s" on bears and it yields a higher search result.

Just some food for thought.

Judy/blue



AquilaStamps
(enthusiast)
04/21/07 10:13 AM
Re: HTML Comments in Description field new [re: bluepennylady]  

Ned & Judy:
You've been talking about bullet lists and punctuation. I did a couple of tests and you may be interested in the results. I've always used bullet text (well almost always) and was careful about proper punctuation. I thought that maybe periods and commas and semicolons were getting in the way especially if you consider a space after a comma or no space or one or two spaces after a period.

I tried a description using a bullet list and didn't use any punctuation. If it "demanded" punctuation I just hit the enter key and came up with a new bullet line.

So instead of:

(Bullet) beginning of listing description
(Bullet) Seldom seen, missing in most collections, and Post Office Fresh. Mint no hinge.

I used:

(Bullet) beginning of listing description
(Bullet) Seldom Seen
(Bullet) Missing in Most Collections
(Bullet) Post Office Fresh
(Bullet) Mint no Hinge

The second format out sold the first. And I mean it really outsold. I think it was because of the short easy to read lines and the "crawlers" also got more information. I'm not sure but I think it made for easier reading for the prospective auction buyer and gave them "quicker" information even though the exact same wording was used. It was just spread out almost as if it were in outline form.

Since then I've refined it a bit more and make sure the three most important lines of information are at the top using the same type of formatting.

However, just because it works for me has no reference to someone else. I thought I'd share though, as maybe someone can refine it and use the idea for themselves.

Garry



bluepennylady
(old hand)
04/21/07 10:23 AM
Re: HTML Comments in Description field new [re: AquilaStamps]  

Garry,

I am quite sure the method you used works for just about any product. I started using the bulleted list form after the last eBay Live in Las Vegas. I took several classes on Search engine optimization. They were really good classes and provided excellent information concerning writing descriptions. In the last few months the Sellers Outreach consultations I have participated in, have been equally good. I took an independent, meaning not eBay related, seminar on Search engine optimization. The information provided was almost identical to the information provided by eBay.

So my guess is, the dudes that deal with this stuff all of the time, know what they are talking about.

Judy/blue



Ned
(newbie)
04/21/07 10:29 AM
Re: HTML Comments in Description field new [re: AquilaStamps]  

OK, Judy & Garry, all true and good information. What you're discussing here is the most effective way to structure your description. Effective to be noticed, effective for sales.

All I'm pointing out is that there is a way of having the "name" of the item quite independent of your content decisions. And speaking of crawlers, I don't think they'll read the comments. Meta tags, yes, comments no.

Ned



bluepennylady
(old hand)
04/21/07 10:50 AM
Re: HTML Comments in Description field new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

According to the instructors in the classes I have taken, although Meta tags are still necessary, content and anchor text are more important than Meta tags. I presume when you are speaking of comments, you are referring to the Meta keywords and description tags?

Now that I think about it, I might try coding in the name again in the Meta tag and see what that does.

I know Sue tried another method. She re-typed the Auction title line twice into the description. The second time she used text the same color as the background so although invisible to the eye, not invisible to the search engines. Now I wonder how that worked out. Hummm, may need to bump Sue for information

Judy/blue



Ned
(newbie)
04/21/07 12:17 PM
Re: HTML Comments in Description field new [re: bluepennylady]  

In reply to:

I presume when you are speaking of comments, you are referring to the Meta keywords and description tags?


Nope. I'm speaking of an HTML comment, like the one shown in my first post. The Meta tag is different.

Ned




bluepennylady
(old hand)
04/23/07 03:35 AM
Re: HTML Comments in Description field new [re: Ned]  

Ned,

Do some tests on using the comment. Let us all know if the auctions you used comments on sold better than the ones you did not. and in the meantime, I am going to do some checking on the searchability of "comments". Now you got me to wondering about it.

It's geeky to look at the source code!!! Is that why my kids tell me I have turned into a geek

Judy/blue




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