Selling More Online Workshop with Patricia van den Akker, The Design Trust

Session 1: Top Tips for your Etsy shop : Alison Bick

  1. Big Banner – use to describe exactly what you are selling and what your brand is. Examples:
  1. Consider Etsy Plus.

    https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360001597587-Etsy-Subscriptions-Packages?segment=selling

    Costs around £10 a month – it doesn’t help with Etsy ranking in search results, but it makes your shop stand out with scrolling banner images, enhanced Featured Products and you get a Promoted Listings credit of £3.90 per month. Example:

    https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SamanthaBoothArt

3. Use all 10 photo options

    • A studio shot – soft, plain background – white/grey
    • Lifestyle shot – product in use, what’s it for.
    • Scale shot – how big is it?
    • Detail shot – zoom in.
    • Group shot – selection of products together
    • Packaging shot – how will it look like when it is posted out, how is it wrapped

    • Process shot – how is it made?

4. Set up a Google Analytics account specifically for your Etsy shop. You can see how people found Etsy before they reached your shop. https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/360000337967-Setting-up-Google-Analytics?segment=selling

5. Stats: Check out your stats. What are people searching for that results in them finding your shop/product. Add these into your title and tags.

6. Try Promoted Listings. https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-gb/articles/115015745808-How-Promoted-Listings-Work-on-Etsy?segment=selling

Try for 30 days at least.

  • Make sure your tags are not too general, this will cost you. Be specific with keywords.
  • Use the detailed stats to find bettter keywords.
  • Don’t promote all your products, just your best sellers.
  • Set it up and watch for 20 days to get detailed stats.
  • Stop any that are costing money but not resulting in sales.
  • Don’t give up too quickly on it.
  • Consider seasonality (mother’s day gifts, valentine, christmas)
  1. Put a link to your Etsy shop in your Product description. If your product gets found in search it is easy way for people to look at your other products or find out more about you. Example:
    https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/AlisonBickDesigns?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=554305556&section_id=22601820
  2. Think about Trends. Does your product fit in with a current trend? Example – plastic free bathroom : I love this soap dish from https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MeganLouiseCeramics Trying to be plastic free in the bathroom ends up in a soapy mess. When are people buying for Christmas, Mothers Day etc.

  3. FAQs and Policies MeganLouiseCeramics also has a really comprehensive list of FAQs. Use your own language to make them interesting and on brand. https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/designosaurYEAH
  4. SEO Mistakes –
  • don’t add free shipping and Sale into your Titles.
  • Check your spelling
  • Make sure your Stats is switched on in Listings View, delete old listings.

Session 2: Etsy SEO Search – How it works – Alison Bick

Etsy uses Context Specific Ranking technology, which helps shoppers with relevant listings that Etsy thinks people are more likely to buy based on shoppers habits.

First:

Query Matching – buyer enters a search term query into the search bar and Etsy will show all the relevant products relating to that search term. I

It is crucial that you use your keywords in the product titles, tags categories, attributes, descriptions to improve your chances on being found in these search queries.

Then:
How high up your product appears in the query matching search results will depend upon the following Ranking factors:

  • Relevancy – do the keywords match
  • Listing Quality score – looking at stats how well does a listing convert into a sale. If your product appears in lots of searches, or gets clicked on but doesn’t convert to a sale, this has an affect on that product’s ranking.
  • Holiday mode – don’t put your shop on holiday – it affects your ranking
  • Recency – a new listing gets a brief boost.
  • Customer and market experience score. It helps that product ranking if there are customer reviews.
  • Shipping Price. If you offer lower price or free shipping this will have an effect on your product ranking.

Use your shop name as a keyword, and your name if different.

Using your collated list of keywords type them into the Etsy search bar to generate a pull-down list of the most popular search terms. Make modifications to your keyword list based on the search bar recommendations to be sure you’re using exactly what shoppers are searching

https://www.etsy.com/uk/search?q=lampshades%20table%20lamps&ref=auto2&as_prefix=lampshades

Title – avoid generic terms. Use Short and Readable titles with compound descriptive titles.

Use Categories/sub categories, Attributes and Variations.

Stats in Listings View: Make sure your Stats is switched on in Listings View, delete old listings or listings that haven’t sold, as this will affect your ranking.

Shop Keeping – keep your shop looking fresh.

If you keep your shop looking up to date and work on it regularly then this will add confidence to your customer that you are still functioning as a business and that placing an order with you won’t disappear into the ether. It will also mean that you will keep abreast of changes to Etsy.

Use Shop Updates to let your customers who have favourited your shop know that you have something new happening on your shop.

Update your Shop Announcement.

Use the Local event to let your customers know where they can meet you in person.

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New and renewed listings get a temporary boost in search results.

Make sure your first image is as clear as possible, this is what will be the first impression that a shopper has, and what will persuade them to select to view your product from a page of search results. Freshen up your images from time to time.

Update your policies and FAQs in your own voice.

Block out part of your working week to focus on your Etsy shop.