I get frequent emails from my newsletter readers wondering why their eBay auctions arent working.

You might have the most brilliant auction description page with a fantastic set of pictures offering a superb item at an incredible price. But the page counter shows after seven days of your auction that its only been seen by 3 many people . Has that happened to any of your auctions?

If it has, I always start at the same point. The auction title.

In 99% of cases, the reason for low viewing figures is that your auction title isnt smart enough.

Here are a few facts. At the end of this small list youll understand the secret power of eBay auction titles:

a) 79 million times each day buyers utilize eBays search box to locate items in which they are interested.

b) eBays standard search system takes the search words keyed in, and compares them with the titles in its database of 10 million auctions. (Note it doesnt compare them with sub-titles, nor auction descriptions)

c) If an auction title doesnt contain the words keyed into the search box, the auction wont get returned in the search list. And thats another of the 79 million searches youve missed out on!

d) If an auction isnt returned in a search list, it cant be clicked on to have the auction description viewed.

So, the whole of eBays default search system relies on matching keywords with auction titles. And thats the secret power of auction titles. If your name contains words which the buyer searches upon, your auction will be returned measure and again in search return lists.

Actually, thats not quite everything. Lets say you want to create a new auction. Your auction name has three functions:

1) To contain keywords. (Number one on this list for the reason you now know!)
2) To persuade buyers to click through to your auction description page
3) To convey what the item is

To decide on the keywords to make use of , you have to think like a buyer. What words would be used by a person interested in searching for an merchandise like yours? At this stage, just list them. Dont put the words into a sentence yet. Spend as long as you like on this exercise. The more good you are with this, the less likely you are to have one of those sleepy auctions that rarely gets a visitor.

Having listed as many keywords as you can think of, you have to decide which are the strongest. Remember, you only have 55 precious characters for your auction title.

Taking your best keywords, you now create your auction title. Its not an English exam, so it doesnt matter if it doesnt scan like a sentence.

You can add a power word or two if youve space. By this I mean words like stunning, limited edition, unique, rare, new, one-off, exclusive, distinct, dramatic etc. These are words which can influence buyers to click through to your auction description. They wont be searched on by buyers, so use them sparingly. For the same reason, I dont advocate the use of "clever" words like l@@k or w0w!

Finally, do the words in your title convey what the product is? If so, thats it. Youve created a powerful and compelling auction title . And your title will appear more generally in search return lists. And, as you know, thats the key!

If you might get your auction to appear more frequently in search return lists, more buyers will view your auction description page. The more many people that visit your auction description page, the more likely you are to contruct a sale at an acceptable price.

Now you know the secret power, why not create a new title today for one of your auctions? If you do, believe me you will get your fair share of the 79 million eBay daily searchers.

Good luck in all your eBay selling.