How To Get Your Etsy Listings On The First Page.
If you're looking for ways to get your etsy listing in front of buyers fast then you'll find this blog post really helpful. You’ll learn how the site’s algorithm works, the factors that come into play when it ranks listings, and the steps you should take to inorder to get your listings on page one.
With a reported 4.36 million active sellers on Etsy, competition is quite high. This dosen't mean as a seller on etsy, you can't rank your listings on the first page. It just simply means that there are a set of rules to follow inorder to drive more traffic to your product listings and get more sales.
What Is Etsy, and How Does It Work?
Etsy is a marketplace, jusy like Amazon and eBay, the only difference being that items on etsy are mostly handmade goods, vintage items, or craft supplies. It is a consumer-to-consumer platform that provides value to both buyers and sellers.
Buyers get to purchase unique and customized products while sellers make a decent income.
On Etsy, sellers are responsible for packaging and shipping the product. However, you can buy shipping labels directly from your Etsy shop to fulfill your orders.
How Does Etsy Algorithm Work?
Inorder to get a spot on etsy's first page you'll need to first understand how the algorithm works. Since etsy is the #1 source of organic traffic for sellers on the platform, They'll need to ensure that their listings are seen by buyers.
Query matching is simply how well a user’s search term matches Etsy’s inventory listings. When a shopper types in a search term into the etsy search bar, Etsy sorts through listings’ inorder to find the best match.
Then, to determine the listings’ rankings in search results, Etsy uses information about each listing and shop to curate and display items to shoppers. The factors Etsy uses for search ranking include the following:
Relevancy: When tags, titles, categories, and attributes match a user’s search term, listings have the potential to appear in search results. Keywords that are an exact match usually appears higher.
Listing quality: This essentially means how well a listing converts. Are people interacting with your listings? Etsy uses shoppers action to determine the quality of a listing. So, the more people who view a listing and make a purchase, the more etsy will increase that listing’s quality score and place it higher in search results.
Recency: How recently the item listing was created. When a new listing is created, Etsy temporarily boosts it in the search results to gauge shoppers interaction.
Customer experience: Each shop has a score — based on customer reviews, how complete your shop’s About section is, and any negative feedback — which affects its ranking.
Translations and language: All shop information, including individual listings’ titles and tags, must be in the language you selected when you created your Etsy account.
Shoppers’ habits: Etsy uses shoppers interactions to help determine their interests. This is known as context-specific ranking (CSR) technology, it learns what buyers are interested in and shows them items they’re more likely to purchase. That's why search suggestion for everyone is unique.
In addition to these factors, Etsy also ranks listings using SEO
8 Etsy SEO Tips To Help Tou Get Your Etsy Listings On The First Page.
Getting your listings on the front page of Etsy, isn't as complicated as most people make it seem. In Fact inorder to rank high on etsy you don't need advanced SEO knowledge or tools. You can optimize your etsy listings by just with just basics of SEO, and I'll show you how. Here are some practical tips for those who want their Etsy listing to rank higher:
Find and Use Keywords in Your Etsy Listings.
When deciding which keywords to use for your listings, You'll need to think like a buyer. If you were a buyer what terms would you use to find products?
Keywords are essential for improving Etsy SEO. Etsy prefers to highlight shops that include direct matches with shoppers’ keywords.
For Example; If a shopper types in the phrase "Handmade woven laundry baskets" into the search bar, Etsy will most likely display results that are specifically targeting those keywords. If your listings are titled "laundry baskets" you might not rank high or rank at all because your keywords aren't really a direct match with what the shopper was looking for.
You can find keywords by using free etsy keyword tools like keywordtooldominator or erank. An alternative, is using the search suggestion on etsy search bar. There, you’ll find keywords people are using to find products. You can start by typing the main keyword that best describes your product. You'll then see all the variations of that word that are most popular on Etsy.
*Use keywords in tags, titles, categories, and attributes for a robust Etsy SEO strategy to more effectively match your listings with consumer queries, which could potentially boost visibility.
*Use long-tail keywords. Exact matches are more likely to rank higher than individual words. Etsy recommends using long-tail keywords.
*Use the beginning of the title for the strongest keywords. Etsy gives the highest value to the first 40 characters of your title, so use them well.
*Don’t stuff keywords into your title.
Don’t stuff your keywords in your title, description, category etc. Your keywords should be used in a natural manner.
*Use all 13 tags.
As far as Etsy tags are concerned, they have two roles. The first one is to help Etsy buyers find similar products to the one they are looking for. The second role is to help Etsy’s algorithm with the matching process.
Etsy allows up to 13 tags of 20 characters for each listing, so make them count.
Tags should only match the most important keyword or phrase from your title. All the other tags should cover terms that are relevant for your listing but aren’t a part of your title. So don’t waste precious tag space.
Tags should not be repeated and if a tag is already present in attributes, don’t use it. You don’t need to add a tag for “red and gold vintage earrings” if you previously specified that you’re selling red and gold vintage earrings. Thus, you don’t need to fill out your item’s attributes – the extra data you can add to your listings after picking a category.
*Carefully choose attributes that can be used to describe your listing. Be as specific as possible when choosing the categories for your product.
You also want to think in terms of specifics or long tail keywords. These keywords contain three or more words and are usually descriptive and low in competition.
When considering potential keywords, it’s easy to rely on physical item descriptions, such as an item’s size or color, for example. But don’t overlook other opportunities to reach shoppers who may be searching for items for certain occasions or that fit certain aesthetics,
Pick a Good Name For Your Etsy Store.
Your shop title should be short, easy to remember and descriptive inorder for customers know what you make and sell. Including a keyword thats related to yiur niche also works well at times.
Remember, this title will become the page title for your shop page and will be the first text that a user sees when visiting your shop.
Use High-Quality Photos.
When it comes to Etsy, your product photo means alot. Your product images needs to grab peoples attention, So ensure that they're high quality.
According to Etsy, product photos are a deciding factor for buyers when making a purchase.
Etsy allows sellers to add up to ten photos per item, so choose your images wisely. As more users are drawn to pictures, your overall ranking may increase.
Promote Your Shop to Inorder To Get Inbound Links.
If your etsy store is new, one thing you'll need is traffic. As stated earlier this helps you get more sales and reviews which helps in ranking your product listing on etsy.
Share items from your store on social media sites where they can be easily re-shared, such as on Pinterest. Pinterest users are very likely to make a purchase.
Request reviews from customers, connect with other Etsy shop owners to discuss ways you can do cross-promotion of your products.
Start a referral or affiliate program for your shop.
Update Your Listings Often
Although this practice isn’t a long-term, It can increase search visibility for more competitive keywords. When you renew existing Etsy listings, they receive a small boost in the site’s search rankings.
This will your listing an extra boost in periods of high consumer activity.
Ensure You Provide Good Customer Experience.
Etsy always wants to give customers the best shopping experience possible, therefore sellers who are able to satisfy customers are more likely to see positive results.
Responding to customer inquiries quickly, completing returns and exchanges, and responding to negative feedback can result in favorable reviews and improve search results.
You should complete every area of your business to confirm your business complies with Etsy’s standards. It should be the About, Shipping, Payment options, Returns & Exchanges, and Privacy Stores sections. If your store has these areas filled out, they’ll have more selling potential and higher search ranks.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
How many etsy listings should I have?
Etsy sellers recommend that you don't go beyond 100 items if you are selking as an individual.When do etsy listings expire?
An Etsy listing will only stay active for 4 months. If it does not sell within that time frame and you did not set it to automatically renew inside of Etsy, then it will be moved to an inactive status.What Items Are Prohibited?
Though there are thousands of things you can sell on Etsy, it does prohibit you from selling some things like drugs, metaphysical items (spells and hexes), weapons, alcohol, things that promote violence or hate, explosives, adult content, and animal or human products.
Can You Re-Sell Items on Etsy?
No, you can’t re-sell items on Etsy. The only exception to this are vintage items and craft supplies. In other words, anything that falls under the handmade category cannot be resold.
What Are Etsy's Commissions?
With several fees involved, Etsy's commissions can be confusing.
Etsy Listing Fees
For listing a single product, you’ll have to pay $0.20. After every four months, the listing expires (if the product doesn’t sell), and you’ll have to repay the same fee to renew. This is how etsy gets rid of stale or inactive product listings.
Etsy Transaction Fee
Etsy deducts 6.5% of the total order amount as transaction fees only after the product sells. This 6.5% fee also applies to shipping, wrapping, and personalization costs.
Etsy Payment Processing Fees
For payments processed through Etsy Payments, the platform charges extra fees. This fee varies depending on the country. For the USA, it’s 3%+0.25 USD. For other countries, it’s in the range of 3-6.5% along with a fixed amount.
Etsy Offsite Ads
Etsy places ads on various social networks and search engines. If someone purchases your product through Offsite Ads, Etsy will charge a 12-15% fee. For sellers with sales below $10,000 (in the last 365 days), the fee is 15%, and they can opt out of the program. Those over $10,000 will pay 12% with no option to opt-out.
Currency Conversion:
This is only charged if your listings are in a different currency than your payment account.
Etsy automatically provides a monthly statement at which time all fees are automatically deducted from your payment account, If there are sufficient funds in your account to cover the fees. If there are insufficient funds, you are responsible for paying all remaining fees within 15 days.7
Besides these, there are several optional fees you might have to pay. These include shipping labels, Etsy ads, subscription, pattern, currency conversion fees, etc.
Conclusion.
I hope you enjoyed reading this blog post?
What’s the most effective Etsy SEO strategy you’ve used? Are there any new tips you'd like to share with the world? Leave them in the comments.
Remember, Your effort will surely payoff as long as you're determined and patient.