'Tis the Season, Part 1

It's that time of year again. Christmas time! And our teammates have been hard at work, making you the perfect gift for that someone. You know who I'm talking about.

First, on this Black Friday, we've got a few things to begin (or finish 😉) your shopping with.

From Suzie's Imaginarium:

Share the "love of the bunny" this Christmas!

New!! Butterscotch Yellow plaid Fisher Price replica bunny blanket

From KMalinka Vintage:

Vintage Sequin Maxi dress

From Zizi Rho Designs: 

Need a small gift for that teen in your life? Or something a little fun. How about a lip balm holder in the shape of a mermaid tail? It can go anywhere clipped to a keychain or a backpack. 

Mermaid Tail Lip Balm Holder in Blue and Green

Make sure to continue to check out the team for all your Christmas shopping needs. And check back here often as we'll continue to showcase our wares throughout the season.

Making it Rank

How do you get your listings on the first page of Etsy's search?  

We've talked about tags and titles. We've talked about photos. We've even discussed listing descriptions. What we haven't talked about is ranking. There's a reason for that. 

First, what is ranking? 

When you type a query into a search engine, it lists your results in an order. This order is the ranking. 

What goes into a ranking? It depends on the search engine. Every algorithm is different. And it depends on the day. Search engines tweak their algorithms periodically so that they're returning good results for their users. 

So, if you type one query in to three different search engines, you'll probably get three different results. And if you type a query into Etsy today, you'll definitely get different results than you got last week, last month, or last year. This is why you need to periodically refresh your listings by doing things like checking your tags. 

Ranking is complicated. For every aspect you have control over (such as your tags), there's something else that you don't (such as the pages viewed by someone coming to your listing). That's why it is best to focus on the things you can control. 

What you can't control

The thing is, we don't know every aspect of the algorithm that Etsy uses to determine rank. And, Etsy has adjusted their algorithm for each user, so what you'd see when you make a query would be different than if someone else used the exact same search term. 

Other things that determine ranking in search engines like Google are bounce rate, page speed, social signals, and links. 

The bounce rate is about how long someone remains on your page. If someone clicks to see your item and then immediately clicks away, that hurts your ranking. But you can't help it if someone accidentally clicks a link to your page. This is why you want relevant tags, for you only want people visiting your listings that want to spend some time looking.

Links are just links to your item from elsewhere. The more links to your item you have, the better your listing looks to search engines. But, they have to be organic. 

Have you ever seen spam comments? They say something random and then have a link. The more links out there, the higher that page gets on a search engine. But Google and other search engines look for such spam links, and if anyone is tending those comments, those links get immediately deleted. 

So, if you were to try to help your listings with spam comments somewhere, you'd probably find that you did more harm than good. 

This is why it's best to focus on the things you can control. 

What you can control

Etsy is quite transparent in what they ask sellers for. The way they reward us for compliance is by boosting our listings. So, at the risk of repeating myself yet again, these are the things you should be doing: 

1. Using good tags
2. Using good titles
3. Filling out the attributes and sorting under the right category
4. Having your about page filled out
5. Having clear shop policies
6. Free or reduced cost shipping

So, keep doing what you're doing, and your rank should improve. That's the idea, anyway.

Free Shipping

You may have noticed, Etsy is pushing sellers to do the free shipping thing. Should you?

There are lots of pros and cons to this. In the end, you'll have to determine if it'll work for your shop.

Here are some things to consider:

Shipping is never free. Someone has to pay the post office or the company doing the shipping. However, you can always add in your shipping costs into the price of the item. (Make sure to set international shipping as extra, though. Free shipping doesn't necessarily have to be free international shipping.)

But, a shopper is more likely to choose an item that has "free" shipping, so you might find that you're making more sales this way.

Etsy is prioritizing items that have free shipping, highlighting those items and helping them with ranking. This may make your products more visible to shoppers. More shoppers seeing your items may translate to more sales.

However, more sales where you're losing money on the endeavor will only hurt you in the long run. You still need to be making a profit.

Consider volume. If you're selling more, a smaller profit per item won't make that much of a difference. But this only works if you can reasonably make a lot of that item. You can only sell what product you have on hand (or can make in the time allotted.)

Etsy made a video to encourage sellers to offer free shipping (their article about the same is here):

If you're not sure if you can do this, take a look at other sellers who have comparable items. What are they charging? Do they have free shipping?

Keep in mind, you don't need to have the cheapest price to remain competitive. Some buyers won't buy the cheapest of the choices due to a perception that it is lower quality. And if your shipping is free...

You might be surprised how much wiggle room you have in this. Just something to consider. In the end, do what is right for your shop. Don't be pressured into offering free shipping if you absolutely cannot do it.

Do you offer free shipping? Did you find it easier or harder to implement than you thought?

The Spooky Season

Halloween is just two weeks away. Are you ready?

Check out this creepy doll from Olde Tyme Notions. Wouldn't it be perfect with your spooky decor?

20s Zombie French boudoir doll

Want to spookify your wardrobe? How about this spider necklace from Whimsicals?  

Halloween Spiders Lair Necklace

If you're more of a do-it-yourself-er, you could start with this inspiration kit from haileys bobbins...

Halloween---Inspiration Kit

This treat basket from such and sort altered would go perfectly on your mantle or as a centerpiece on your dining room table.

Rusty Shabby Halloweeny Treat Basket

Maybe you need a little pick-me-up just for yourself. I bet this soap from savor doesn't smell wicked (or maybe it does 😉)...

Whipped Soap Wicked

What's Halloween without some classic monsters? Frankenstein's monster from Indy & Cleo is sure to add a little something to your day.

FRANKENSTEIN Handmade Scrabble Tile Pendant

And what's more Halloween than a pirate skeleton from Salty Seas Studios? Not much, I'd wager.

Pirate Mason Jar Snowglobe

And make sure to check out the other Halloween offerings from the members of the team. There's sure to be something else to spook you. 

Much thanks to Annie from annie k designs for curating most of the items in this post.

Write It Up

Lately, here on the blog I've been discussing the tags, titles, and product photography that go into our listings on Etsy. These things are vital to getting our items in front of buyers. But there are other things that go into listings.

Like, the product description.

Product descriptions don't tend to get a lot of attention, generally. That's because, sadly, many people don't bother to read them. If you've run your shop for any amount of time, you've probably gotten a convo from a buyer with a question that was clearly answered in your product description. Probably more than one.

But that doesn't mean you should skimp on them. There are plenty of people who do read the descriptions, and you'll probably never hear from them. Or you might just get a sale that you would have missed otherwise. So, it's generally a good idea to take some time to write and edit your product descriptions so that they don't cost you a sale.

From a search engine optimization viewpoint, product descriptions may or may not be helpful. Etsy does not use them in their internal search (they focus on tags and titles), but other search engines (*cough* Google *cough*) may look at the first 160-500 characters of your description. So, it's a good idea to spend that first sentence or two saying what the item is and targeting your good long tail keywords.

Product descriptions need not be very long. They should answer the 20 important questions, though. And they should sound natural, like a human wrote it.

Much like newspaper journalism, the important stuff should go in the beginning, and extra details can be added towards the end. Assume that anyone who is still reading to the end of the description is pretty much sold, so that's where you include fun tidbits and really let your personality shine.

Etsy also encourages adding links. If your item happens to also come in other colors, include a link to the shop section where those other colors reside. You can include a link to your about page, your shop policies, or another item that might pair well with that listing. If the item is a pattern and you also sell the finished item (or vice versa), include the link.

Try to keep the links internal to Etsy (it'll help with ranking).

One last thing: If you have many items that are the same, do find a way to change up your product descriptions a bit. Etsy's algorithms won't care, but outside search engines do "read" the words, and copies (a description that is exactly the same) won't "register" as a new page. But different listings have something different about them (size, color, etc.), so changing that up in the description will help.

How much time do you spend on your product descriptions? Do you get many questions that you did answer that just got missed?

Target the Long Tail Keywords

One of the things that popped up in Etsy's new search guide was "do target 'long tail' keywords". Which we've all been doing already, right?

No? What is a "long tail" keyword? Ahem...

Let's pretend we're in a big box store, ambling about. We have no specific destination in mind. We're just killing time. But then we notice the bedding section.

Hey, you think, I could really use a replacement set of sheets.

So, you head over and walk up and down the aisles. And as you peruse, you think. It's fall. The weather's turning cooler. A warmer set of sheets, like flannel, might be what you need. You head towards the flannel sets, and you look for queen size as that's what's going to fit your bed.

What color? Do you want a print? Thread count? As you look, you narrow down what kind of sheet set you want.

If you were to look online, at this point you wouldn't search "bed sheets". No. Your query would be something along the lines of "flannel bed sheets queen size" with color indicated and maybe thread count.

That's a "long tail" keyword. You pretty much know what you want, so you can be fairly specific in the search. And you're pretty much ready to buy.

This is what we want to target when finding tags. We want to end up in the search by the buyer who is ready to buy and pretty much knows what they want. This means being very specific in your tags.

So, let's take a look at this bag from annie k designs:

Chihuahua Hipster Bag

Who's going to want this bag? A dog lover, preferrably one who loves chihuahuas. Someone who's looking for a purse and wants a crossbody one. 

A good long tail keyword for this might be "pink chihuahua crossbody bag". Obviously, this won't fit in one tag as it's way longer than 20 characters. But "pink" should be one of the attributes (which will show up in Etsy search). And "chihuahua" and "crossbody bag" will both work as tags. 

(While they didn't come out and say it, the new guide hinted that exact phrase matches in the title and tags weren't as vital as in the past, so if "bag" is used once in the tags, it doesn't have to be repeated.)

Have you been targeting long tail keywords?

Search Updates

Etsy just released a new search guide. We need to pay attention.

When Etsy updates their search guide, that means that they've adjusted the algorithm their search uses in evaluating listings. So, we need to look at our listings to make sure that we've optimized them so that they can take advantage of these updates.

Marmalead's blog noted three big takeaways from the new guide: title length, renewing listings, and long tail keywords.

The new guide says that of the 140 characters available for titles, it's fine not to use all of them. Your title should be readable by a human. Much of what I wrote three weeks ago still holds. Combine tags into a naturally sounding specific description of your item. Only now there's no need to "tag stuff" your title. Two or three phrases that describe your listing will suffice.

As for renewing listings, it's no longer going to give your listings the bump it once did. The goal is to make your listings more searchable in the long term. This is good news as we no longer need to worry about the cost of frequent renewing. (Although, that might not be entirely accurate.)

Long tail keywords we'll talk about in a later post.

There were a few other takeaways I noticed in the new guide (that hopefully aren't surprising to you):

1. Categories and attributes are important. They act like tags in search and will help direct buyers to your items if that's what they are searching for.
2. Have you ever considered using a tag with a misspelled word in case buyers are misspelling in the search bar? Don't. Etsy corrects misspellings from searchers and directs them to the correctly spelled tags.
3. Make sure your About section is filled out as well as your shop policies. When determining ranking (how high your item shows in a relevant search), a shop with an About section and shop policies will rank higher than one that doesn't. 
4. Consider free shipping. This is going to be more relevant going forward. (Hint: raise the price of your item by the amount it's going to cost to ship, and then call the shipping "free".)
5. Only choose occasion for things specifically for that occasion (such as Christmas stockings for Christmas). But, feel free to use a tag if your item can be used for that occasion ("Christmas gift" tag).

The good news is, not much has really changed. If you've been keeping to good SEO practices up until now, you probably don't need to make any drastic changes. And this is a good opportunity to refresh your listings (which you should be doing seasonally, anyway). 

What changes have you noticed in the new search guide?

In the Background

There is a bit of a debate over backgrounds in listing photographs. Some say that backgrounds should be plain so that your item is the center of attention. Others say that a photo needs something in the background or it's too plain.

Whichever side you fall on is fine. The best thing is to be consistent. A set background that you use for all your photos helps to brand your shop. Or if all your photographs are shot with a plain white background, that will also define a type of brand.

One good way to ensure that you have a uniform background for all your product photos is to purchase a yard or two of fabric. You can pick whatever neutral color you'd like, and then you can throw that over whatever table you're photographing on.

But the best way to see what you prefer is to look at some examples. First up, some examples of plain backgrounds:

Let's start with supplies. When you're selling something that someone's going to use to make something else, we really want to get a good look at it. Close up and plain background is great for this.

DMC 4245 Variegated 6 Strand Floss Mystical Midnight from Ancora Crafts

This little critter does well against a plain background...

Sweater Scrap Prawn by Zazu Faure

And a plain background doesn't have to be white. The dark background helps make this silver necklace pop.

30 inch .925 sterling silver 1mm snake chain necklace by Designs by Tami

Next, here are sellers that have more scenery behind their products:

Hollow Books' photos all seem to have this background. It makes it really easy to spot their products, especially in a random search.

Book Safe - Ravenclaw Harry Potter by Hollow Books by Refined Pallet 

Here's a different way to showcase a pair of earrings--with a map for the background...

Sealife earrings by jewelry N gemstones

And if you're showing off an item that can be worn, having a model is great. We can really see this product in use and imagine wearing it ourselves.

Knee High Socks by pink candy studio

If these were your products, would you have chosen to shoot them against a different background? What sort of background do you prefer in your photos? 

Shine a Light on It

There's a whole lot that goes into taking a "good" photograph. There are high school and college courses designed to develop students into competent professionals.

If you are deficient in this area, you might want to look into taking a class. However, there are a few things you can do right away to make your pictures better. And the more you practice, the better you're going to get.

A big thing is to take care of your lighting. Your photographs should be well-lit. Or, at least, deliberately lit. There are articles (and probably books) all about how to light photographs well. Today I can only scratch the surface. Here are three articles to get you started:

• The Ultimate Guide to Learning Photography: Lighting
• The Top 10 Photography Lighting Facts You Should Know
• A Beginning Photographer's Guide to Light

The best lighting is natural light. Sunlight. However, direct sunlight can be too much, especially the harsh sunlight of high noon. You want the sunlight filtered a bit, depending.

But not everyone can take pictures outdoors. And not everyone has a good place indoors that gets good sunlight. When looking into lighting options, look for white light. Lightboxes can also be helpful. And multiple sources of light can help to make a photograph pop.

(Yes, there's a lot that goes into getting good lighting. Take lots of pictures. See what works. That's the best way to get better pictures.)

Here are some photos from team members that show what you can do with lighting:

First up, this photo looks like it was photographed in a lightbox. It gives a very plain background so what you see is the product. Nothing else distracts.

Barbary Belle Perfume Oil by Scent by the Sea

Here's a picture where natural light was used. See the window? It gives a bit more drama to the shot, highlighting how the vase will look in use.

One Upcycled 1.5L Glass Wine Bottle Vase by Bottles & Wood

Here's an example with flood lighting. We can really see the necklace, and in a piece like this, we want to see detail. We can.

Large Pave Diamond Evil Eye Medallion by Mooti Designs

The brightness of the light helps these crystals shine. When we're shopping for jewelry, we really want to see it sparkle. This sparkles.

The Perfect Crystal Necklace by Beaded Treasure by Sue

There are many ways to do lighting. There are many ways to get it right. How confident are you in your photos' lighting?

Keeping Your Focus

When it comes to selecting pictures to use in your listings, there are a lot of things that should be obvious. But, if you take a look on Etsy, you will find listings which have pictures that aren't all that great. So, it's time to state some things plainly.

All your listing photos should be in focus.

The best way to ensure that you don't make this error is to take a lot of pictures when photographing your items. I mean, a lot a lot. If we assume that you're planning on having ten photos in your listing (which should be the goal), then, at minimum, you should be taking thirty pictures of your item. Although, it would not be a bad idea to take fifty shots or more when doing your photography.

Yes, this is overkill, but the idea is to select the best ten pictures. You should have a lot to choose from.

If you've been at this a while, you might know exactly what angles and views work best. But you're taking at least two of each "pose", right? That way you still have plenty of pictures to choose from.

There are photographers who deliberately choose to blur things in their photos. When you know what you're doing and you're getting the intended effect, that's fine. But those of us (like me) who aren't all that confident in their photographic skills should stick to making sure their pictures are in focus.

I will not be calling out any sellers for this, so I have some beautifully focused photos to share today.

First up, notice how this soap pops in the image:

Whipped Soap VEGAN Hot Coffee 8 oz Creme Fraiche by savor

Even in a smaller size, you can clearly see the musical notes on the plate:

Fused glass art plate by Caroline4art

We can easily see how this piece is assembled:

lidded pine needle basket with a driftwood root top by Heart of Almanor

For smaller items, like keychains, it's vital that the item is clearly photographed:

Personalized Keychain Edward Gorey by Tresijas

And see how clear this scarf is:

Silk Scarf Handpainted in Copper and Brown by Ocean Avenue Silks

How well focused are your pictures? How many photos do you take when photographing your items?

Listing Photos

Etsy allows ten photos for each listing. But do you really need ten pictures?

Selling online isn't like selling in person. Your customers can't pick up and touch your wares before purchasing. They rely on your photos to give them an idea of what they're getting.

Depending on the item, finding ten different views can be easy or hard. You want to give a good view of it. Show it in use. If it can be worn, have someone model it. Put it in context, and let customers see how small/big it is. A good closeup showing how well-made the item is will definitely help sell it.

A browser just checking out their options probably won't look at all the views of your merchandise. But a customer who is ready to buy will. That is who you want to consider when taking the photos you'll use.

But what if you can't do ten pictures of your item?

You will not be penalized for not having ten views. The live listing will look like it's meant to have five or seven photos only.

However, there are a few things you can add to the later photo slots. (You can shift the photos around, so make sure you order them in a manner that makes sense.)

Do you have other variations of the item? Do you have a gift wrapping option? Is your packaging worthy of a shot?

People, generally, are notorious for not reading through things. They ignore signs in public places. And there's a good chance they'll not carefully read your product's description. So, those final photos are a good opportunity to highlight any information you want your customers to see.

The pictures are your best way to sell your products. Give them the time and attention they need.

Product Photos

What is more important in a listing on Etsy, the tags or the pictures?

Alas, the answer is both. They work in tandem.

If your tags aren't working, you won't be found in search. Your pictures can be amazing, but no one will ever see them.

If your pictures aren't good, you won't get much interest. Your tags might get you on the search page, but buyers are going to skim right over your items in favor of the better photos.

The good news is, you can get good at taking pictures. It just takes some practice. And there's all sorts of advice to be found online.

What does a good picture look like? It's well-lit. It's in focus. It has a background that doesn't distract from the item. (There is a debate as to whether it's better to have a blank background or not.)

Let's take a look at some good product photos:

3/4 inch Blank Leather Wristbands Bracelet Cuff by Flores Tanis Supplies

Fruity Soap Cherry Whip 2 oz by savor

Knit Flower Instant Download PDF Pattern by ohmay

classic oval hoops in hammered 14k gold by 2 Trick Pony

Drinking Glasses Set of 2 by Bottles & Wood

Hand Spun Yarn by Epicurius

Hammered Disc Earrings by NansGlam

See how the products just jump out at you? This is the goal. And my next series of posts will delve into some tips on how to make your product photos better. 

Do you need help with photos? Do you have any advice for those of us who need it?

Your Product Titles: Large Ruffled Laundry Bag

Have you seen those items on Etsy with titles that are just packed with keywords? Why do people do that?

Search engine optimization.

Depending on what you read, this is either a good idea or a bad idea. It's good because the search engines "see" the tags you're targeting twice. It's bad because some search engines want more natural sounding (read: written by a human) titles.

But we can actually do both. So, why not? (I discussed this a bit before.)

Let's take a look at this laundry bag from Vintage Encore:

Large Ruffled Laundry Bag

Some of the tags are: storage option, dorm room, nursery storage, retro bag, laundry bag, handmade laundry bag, baby laundry bag, dorm laundry bag, dorm storage, nursery laundry bag. 

(There is an opportunity here to adjust a couple of these tags, removing "laundry bag" as that's already in several other tags and adding "large ruffled" as well as the color of the laundry bag.) 

Since there are only 20 characters allowed in each tag, we're not going to hit any of those coveted long tail keywords (the keywords that someone who is pretty close to buying something is more likely to use when searching). But we can hit those in the title. And that's what we're going to try to do. 

(When researching what tags to use for an item, make note of any long tail keywords that might come up. You're going to want to aim to get those somehow in your tags and title.) 

Two other things to keep in mind. First, search engines tend to prioritize the first part of the title. Second, most search results are going to cut off the title after so many characters. So, we're going to want to focus on keeping the first 40-50 characters sounding like a human wrote it and using the keywords most likely to be what people are searching for. 

There are 140 maximum characters for this title. How can we title this? 

Let's start with Large Ruffled White Laundry Bag (31 characters). Including the color is kind of a gamble. Some people are specifically searching for color. If we want an exact match, we could put the "white" first or last ("in white"). Exact matches are going to rank higher, but the more words you match, the better.

Then we can combine two of those tags that sound natural together: Dorm Room Storage Option (24 characters). Or: Retro Bag Dorm Storage (22 characters). Notice how those sound like a description of the item. That's what we're going for. 

All three of those sequences contain 79 characters. We still have 61 characters to use. But towards the end of the title, we can kind of jam in the rest of the tags as no person is really going to read that far. Only the machines... 

So, this title looks like (at the moment): Large Ruffled White Laundry Bag * Dorm Room Storage Option * Retro Bag Dorm Storage *... 

Wait, do we need to put those *s in there? Actually, it's better if you don't. The search engines will look for exact matches (to rank higher), so if someone searches "white laundry bag dorm room storage", that * will take away the exact match. (Although, it'll still match. It'll just match with a lower rank.) And we've lost 2 characters per * (the * and the space after it). 

It's kind of a puzzle that you're constructing from the tags you already have. (Yes, write your title after you're already selected your 13 tags.) 

How are your item titles?

Fall Is in the Air

You wouldn't know it by the weather in southern California, but fall is coming. September is tomorrow. No, really.

So, here are a few things from the team to get you in a fall mood...

From Lulu's Creations1: Sale, Save 25%!

Mocha Brown Hand Bag with Silk Lining in Fall Colors

From annie k designs: 

Great way to start out fall with a set of kitchen towels:

Scarecrow Kitchen Towels

From Ocean Avenue Silks:

Such a pretty scarf. Certain to add a touch of fall to any outfit!

Hand Dyed Small Square Silk Scarf Bandana in Golden Yellow and Brown

From Epicurius: 

Beautiful handspun yarn. What can you make with this?

Hand Spun Yarn - Alpaca and BFL Wool

From Leah's Heart:

We all need to celebrate Fall!

Fall bib

And finally from OhMay:

A stunning hat pattern for any season but perfect for Fall and those chilly days.

PDF Knitting Pattern - Hola Fiesta Cloche Hat

I'd like to extend a special thanks to Annie from annie k designs for finding most of the wonderful items in today's post.

Picking the Best Keywords for Tags: Peridot and Garnet Long Necklace

Once you've generated a list of keywords to use, the next step is evaluating which ones will work the best. The idea is to get as many people to see your items as possible.

Let's look at this Bella Beads Originals necklace:

26 Inch Gold Chain Necklace With Lampwork Pendant

Some of the tags being used: statement necklace, long necklace, pendant necklace, large pendant, gold chain necklace, lampwork pendant, plum and apple green, peridot and garnet. 

There are various ways to get an idea as to how well a tag might do. If we type "statement necklace" into Etsy's search we get: 

Click to enlarge

When Etsy's search comes up with over 228,000 hits, that's a popular tag. If you look underneath the search bar, you'll see the add on called Keywords Everywhere:

Click to enlarge

That tells us two things. The volume/month is how many people are searching for this tag. The competition is "1" which is the highest it can be. (Competition ranks from 0 to 1. The higher the number, the more competition.) 

Here is where things get tricky. Competition can be good, because if a lot of people are searching for a tag, a lot of people are probably buying. However, it is easy to get lost in all the available listings.

Maramlead and Etsy Rank have tools to help evaluate things like competition, demand, and engagement. Competition is how many other listings are using that tag. Demand is how many people are actually searching that tag. Engagement is how many people are interacting with that tag--as in, liking listings from it and buying listings with it.

Is "statement necklace" a good tag, then? It's getting lots of hits, but it's also easy to get overlooked with it. But, there are 13 tags possible, so it can be a great tag in combination with other, more specific tags. 

Let's try "lampwork pendant":

Click to enlarge

That's a much smaller search volume with 70/month. But the competition is still high at 0.98. It sounds like this tag has way more competition than is merited by the number of searches for it. 

So, if we check it in Etsy Rank: 

Click to enlarge

...we find that it has very high competition, but a low demand. But... high engagement. Meaning, those who do search for it are more likely to buy. 

Is it a good keyword? Maybe. And this is where "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" comes in. Is this listing being seen? Is it getting likes? Or has no one looked at it in a while? Is this tag bringing in views? Or are other tags doing the work? 

(How do you know if the tags are working? Go into Shop Manager-->Dashboard-->View Detailed Stats, and scroll down to Search Terms.) 

Ultimately, the idea is to get found in search. These are some tools to help narrow down keywords that will help with that.

Finding Good Tags: An Amigurumi Witch

Lately, I've been talking about "Maximizing Tags" and "Finding Good Tags". But, really, how does this work? 

So, let's start with this listing from The Crafty Nana: 

Doll, Witch named Winnie, Handmade

Of the tags already used, the two that jumped out at me were "amigurumi" and "witch". Non-crocheters probably are unfamiliar with the term "amigurumi", but that's still a good place to start. 

(For those who might want this look but not know the terminology, "crochet" and "stuffed doll" can be used. There are 13 tags, so there'll be plenty of space to get all that covered.) 

So, I started with amigurumi witch. I plugged that into Etsy's own search... 

Click to enlarge

...and "amigurumi witch doll" was suggested. That's exactly 20 characters. So, that can be one tag. 

On that page, I clicked on various other dolls to see what tags they utilized. (And one of the reasons for this series of posts was because when I do this, I find so many bad tags.) I pulled out "amigurumi toys" and "home decor halloween". We definitely want "Halloween" in there, so those two get added to the list. 

At this point it's a good idea to note several tags to follow up on. Plugging them into Etsy's search can lead to some other tag ideas. 

Still looking at "amigurumi witch doll", I utilized another website, Marmalead: 

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A couple interesting keywords jumped out here: "crochet witch doll" and "Halloween witch". (Capitalization doesn't matter at this point.)

Etsy Rank has a similar tool: 

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In both word clouds, the larger words are tags most often used. Smaller tags are other ideas to pursue. 

Things like "amigurumi pattern" won't work as this is a finished object and not a pattern. But "crochet witch" will. (However, "crochet witch" is part of "crochet witch doll". Go with the more detailed tag to get the most possible hits.) 

This is the sort of list to start with. Ideally, you'll generate a much longer list than 13 keywords. 

The next step is to evaluate which of those keywords are the best to try. That will be the topic for a future post. ("Picking the Best Keywords for Tags")

Your Product Titles

Finding the best tags for your items takes time and effort. I've delved briefly into the process in the last three blog posts: "Maximizing Tags", "Finding Good Tags", and "Picking the Best Keywords for Tags". And there are numerous other resources to help you learn about and find the best tags to use (such as Marmalead and Etsy Rank).

The other main source that the search engines (including Etsy's internal one) use to categorize and define your items is your product title.

The good news is, once you've done your research for your keywords for tags, you've done your research for your title. It's just a matter of tweaking those tags a bit.

You want your titles to mirror your tags. But, Etsy warns that your titles need to be readable. That is, the title should sound like a human wrote it (and not some computer algorithm).

The title has 140 possible characters. You want to use as many of them as you can. How can you fill up 140 characters mirroring your tags and make it sound like a human wrote it?

Of the 13 tags in your listing, one or two should basically describe the item. Right? Arrange those in a naturally sounding phrase (making sure to keep the words in the same order as your tags). If you keep this in mind while figuring out your tags, this step won't be too hard. This will be the first part of your title.

Most of us won't read the rest of the item title that carefully. Google cuts off the title after a set number of characters (but it takes the rest of those words into account when categorizing your item). So, if you focus on making the first 20 to 40 characters of the title make sense, the rest of the title can be packed with other tags you'd like your item to show up for in search.

And that's what you do. You need to fill that title with as many tags as you can.

This is how you maximize your chances of having your item show up in search. It's how most of our customers find us.

Are your tags and title helping your items get found?

Picking the Best Keywords for Tags

For the past couple weeks, I've been talking about tags--those thirteen spots Etsy gives each listing. In perusing other listings, I've found so many sellers not making the best use of them. And I wondered, why not?

This is one of those instances of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". If you're getting plenty of views and your sales are just where you want them, feel free to ignore these posts. But if, like me, you could use more traffic to your listings, this is one thing you can do.

I already discussed if you're making good use of your tags and some ways to come up with other ideas for tags. The idea is to generate a list of possible keywords to use in your tags.

Ideally, you'll have a list that won't be contained in thirteen tags. And this is where you start evaluating which tags are best.

(Keep in mind that each tag has twenty characters allowed. That means, each tag can be more than one word. It is best to use as many phrases as you possibly can.)

But back to evaluating tags. Which ones should you use?

First, you want tags that are actually being searched for. You can have the most descriptive keyword, but if no one is looking for it, no one is going to find you.

Then you need to balance this with competition. If you are using a tag that everyone else has, there are going to be so many others that pop up in search results that your item will get lost.

There are various tools out there to help you evaluate which keywords are best. They'll pinpoint which tags have higher competition (that is, everyone is using them) and which tags are actually being searched for.

A really great tool is Marmalead. It looks at your listings. It ranks keywords and tells you how well those keywords are competing. It also requires a monthly subscription fee to get all of the best insights. It's worth it if you want to take your shop to the next level.

Etsy Rank is a similar tool. It'll help you find keywords and also give you insights into things you can do to help your shop. There is also a paid tier for more help.

A third tool is called Keywords Everywhere. It's a Chrome and Firefox extension that shows keywords in several search places, including Etsy. It gives you stats on every keyword you use in search, and it just adds those in. It's really useful in seeing how well various search terms are doing.

How well do you check out your keywords? Are your tags working for you?

For more information:

• Keyword Decision Tree
• Evaluating Etsy Keywords
• Etsy's Latest SEO Updates

Finding Good Tags

Tags are important. These are what the search engines "look at" when scanning your listings. But what if you don't know what tags to use?

You want to target terms that people are actually using in search. What you are calling something isn't necessarily what those who are looking to buy it might call it.

If you can, ask people not necessarily associated with your products to tell you what they'd call it. That's a good jumping off point.

Then, try those terms out. Search them in Etsy. Search them in Google. What are your results? If you're seeing products comparable to your own, you're on the right track.

What tags do those listings use? You might be surprised by some terms you hadn't considered.

Also, into the Etsy search bar (or Google search bar), start a search. What autocomplete suggestions does it offer? Some terms to consider?

Finally, you can try out keywords in either Marmalead or Etsy Rank. Type in a keyword and check out their keyword cloud. There might be some ideas to help push you in a different direction.

For more information:

• Brainstorming Keywords for Tags and Titles from the Seller's Handbook
• Finding Creative Tags and Title Keywords for your Etsy Listings
• 4 Tips for Strong Etsy SEO Keywords

Maximizing Tags

Are you making the best use of your tags?

Before any of us can make a sale, the first thing we need to do is get online shoppers to find our listings. The most powerful tool we have at our disposal is Etsy's own search.

I'm sure you've done it. You're looking to buy something. You know sort of what you want. So, you type in a few words into a search bar and you see what comes up.

So, how do those shoppers who want exactly what we're offering find us?

Your tags.

When you type a request into Etsy's search bar, Etsy matches this search to the tags in the listing.

(Of course, there are other factors. But this is one thing you have control over.)

Etsy gives us thirteen tags per listing. Each listing has a twenty character limit.

You want to pack these tags full of anything someone might use to describe your items. Use all thirteen tags. Use phrases rather than just individual words. The more you pack in there, the more likely you are to get found.

So, are you making the best use of your tags?

For more information:

• How to Get Found in Search from the Seller's Handbook
• How to Use Etsy Tags: 13 chances to woo a buyer
• Etsy SEO: Get Found in Etsy Search

Christmas in July, Part 2

July's almost over. Which means that Christmas is only five months away. Are you ready?

No? Well, you've still got five months. Plenty of time. And there's no time to start like the present.

Make sure to stop by This and That Crafter for some cute ideas...

Round Happy Holidays Button

Plaid Snowflake Wire Ribbon

Noel Bookmark

Christmas Notes

Holly and Berries Christmas Tree Ornament 

Have you started planning for Christmas yet?