How can an eBay Store Be OPTIMIZED?

An eBayer since 1999, I've constantly scoured the eBay website searching for ways to optimize an eBay Store.  I've found that the most effective eBay Stores are customized with a professional look and are carefully linked into a large number of high-traffic eBay auctions.  Here are my  Top 10 Key Techniques for Optimization:

1. Use the XML export feature for indexing with search engines and comparison engines.
2. Use the eBay Store traffic reports to watch site path data, unique visitors, and search engine referrals. By carefully monitoring eBay Store activity you can make educated adjustments to your store that will improve sales.
3. Customize your store to match the look and feel of your website. This will create a consistent online persona for those who shop both your stand-alone website and your eBay Store.
4. Run low-reserve and "featured" auctions on eBay to drive traffic to your store. These will be automatically cross-linked from your auctions. Think of these auctions as loss leaders that will drive shoppers into your store.
5. List your entire inventory in your eBay Store. At US$0.05 per listing, 2,000 items will only cost $100 per month. These products will not only get indexed by Google and Yahoo but may also show up in the main eBay Search.
6. Register and assign a domain name to your eBay Store. You can assign any domain to your eBay Store through your store manager.
7. Be sure to accept PayPal as a payment method so that eBay buyers can easily pay for items they purchase from you.
8. Improve the ranking of your store on the major search engines by inserting keywords into your store. You can do this from within your store manager.
9. Drive advertising to your store via eBay Keywords, links from your own website, or even paid search campaigns. The eBay brand and automatic buyer protection systems help to convert shoppers into buyers. Furthermore, eBay will credit 50% of the FINAL VALUE FEE if you drive traffic to the store from outside of eBay.
10. Create a sensible navigation system. eBay allows you to create up to 20 product categories for easy buyer navigation. This category structure not only insures that buyers will be able to find what they are looking for, but it also increases the likelihood that your store will be indexed with Google and Yahoo.

From its humble beginnings, the eBay Store platform has evolved into a flexible sales and marketing platform that should be added to the short list of channel options for virtually ANY serious small business owner or online retailer.