The importance of your title and ad cannot be stressed enough. To explore each part of title and ad writing, let's use the analogy of bricks and mortar store.

Your add title can be best described as the sales advertising that goes into the Sunday or mid-week paper.  Once opened, it should be designed to capture the interest of prospective buyers who have been looking for your product(s) and/or services. It goes without saying, that your customers are probably looking for a good price too.
Since the customer tends to search by keywords, you must have the right keywords for what you are selling available in the title.  How would you look for your product?  By manufacturer, size, fabric, date of manufacture, or color?  If any one of those would be a search term, they should all be in your title.  Here is a sample title for a top quality ladies blazer...Austin Reed Wool Gaberdine D/B Blazer Navy Sz 12 NWT!  You will see that it has the manufacturer, fabric, size, color and condition - all possible search words for this blazer (the D/B stands for double breasted, which could also be an attribute a customer could be looking for).

OK - so your store advertising title got them in the door -- with money in hand (or PayPal) and ready to buy.  Now all you have to do is beat the competition all around you (those other sellers with the same or similar items that also came up in the same search).  Now it is time for your first sales assistant (your ad) to take over.  The ad (item description) is your top notch, silver tongued, very successful salesperson who knows all about the product and tells the customer everything they want to know about the product. 

As you can see from the analogy, a lackluster performance by any part of the sales team turns the customer off and looses the sale.  While the title gets the customers to your door, it doesn't make the sale alone.  This is where your top of the line salesperson (the ad) steps in.  To stand out from the competition, give a buyer plenty of information in descending order of importance.  They will stop reading when they have enough information.

At this point, it is up to your potential customer's perception of you and your product that will make or break the sale.  Be sure your title and ad positively capture what you are selling.  If it is specialist, beautiful or one of a kind, make sure the title reflects that -- use power words (Designer, Rare, Unique, Powerful, New, Unusual, Stunning, Top Notch, First Class, etc).  Tell what you know (never worn, worn once, inherited, vintage, collector's item, estate sale, etc.)  Take care to be positive without exaggeration (exaggeration can easily backfire in buyer disappointment).

Ad writing (also known as copy writing), is the art of showing both you and your products effectively and positively.  Since the title and ad are the most important first contact with your customer, they are also critical to your business.  A carefully written item descriptions (or templates) decreases time spent answering questions, even as it increases your auction or store sales results.  The best part -- all of this happens without spending a dime more!

Since 65% of eBay bidders find what they are looking for by using the search function, accurate and carefully chosen key words are essential for both your title and description.  eBay gives you 55 characters for your headline - be sure to use all of them and use them wisely.

Key things that should always appear in headlines spelled correctly are: Brand Name (Ralph Lauren, St. John, Talbot's, Kohler, etc); item type (i.e. slacks, dress, skirt suit, laser printer, TV, etc); color or finish (Brown, Mauve, Navy, Chrome, Leather, etc.); size (i.e. Sz 6, 8P, 16W, 3X, etc.); Condition (i.e., New, Used, New with Tags [NWT], New Without Tags [NWOT], etc); if you have space left and know the retail price of the item ad it - it is nice to see the contrast between retail and the bargain they can buy. Try to use the space up with keyword material -- be inventive.

Key things that should always appear in ads are: A more fulsome description of the item including color (the more you can draw a word picture of the color, the better); fabric type (Wool +, Cotton, Polyester, etc.); Fabric content, and cleaning instructions (75% wool, 25% cashmere, dry clean only); Exact measurements [no matter what the item]; weight of heavy items (so shipping costs are not a shock).

Don't forget the power of a good picture.  I am a terrible photographer but I have found that maximum use of bright daylight helps immensely with the detail in photographs and a truer color.  Good detail in pictures sells your items well.

I hope this will be instructive and helpful in improving your ads (and therefore sales).  I have written more than 40 guides to help you succeed on eBay -- check them out -- a FREE education is a great thing!  If you can, drop by and visit my auctions (Pepper120851) and my store (The Write Place), where YOU name the price you pay everyday.  Thanks for your time!
Pepper