We get a lot of users in the Shop Critiques Team asking for how to get more views and there's one tip I end up repeating a lot: diversify your titles!
I've written before about how to use Etsy's suggestion tool to find titles - those suggestions will tell you what people frequently come here to shop for, so you can start your title with those words.
But don't start every title with those words. Not exactly the same, anyway.
Every listing you create is a tiny doorway into your shop. So if you have 10 listings that all start with the term "tote bag", they're all competing for a top spot in the search for "tote bag". You're competing with yourself.
Or you could re-arrange each title so that one starts with "tote bag", another with "canvas bag", another "cotton tote bag", etc. The "canvas bag" won't rank as high on the search term "tote bag" it's true. But it'll be higher for a search for "canvas bag"! You're just made another tiny door into your shop. Once a potential customer clicks, they might notice your other items on the side or your shop links, they'll click around. But you've got to get them in first!
People are different, you never know exactly what they'll type in. So do your best to aim each listing at a different group of people. Cast a wide net out into the ocean of Etsy searchers, and you'll catch a few more!
Showing posts with label titles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label titles. Show all posts
Sunday, December 14, 2014
Monday, November 3, 2014
SEO: It's a waste of time
Of all the advice I hear on Etsy for new shops, I'm ready to declare my all time least favorite. Ready? It's this:
"You should work on your SEO."
I hate it for so many reasons. It's buzzwordy. It's an acronym. It sounds like a huge, complicated topic that you need a masters in. A newbie will ask "well what's my first step?" and get a reply like "there is no first step, no easy way to do it, it's a JOURNEY" and you imagine climbing mountains, and the poor new etsy person is just thinking "all I want is to sell a damn mug cozy!"
I feel your pain, newbie.
They do a little reading and get into even more questions and controversy - two or three word tags? What order should the words be in? Do I repeat words? It's so confusing!
I think the confusing part is that we're trying to think like search engines. Computers.
And the funny thing is, the computers are trying to think like searchers. People. Us!
Maybe the reason I hate "work on SEO" so much is that it implies there has to be this computer in between us and people. Why not just say this:
"Think like your searchers."
Searchers are people! You are a person! It's true that when we make an item, it can be hard to separate yourself from the processes. You'll want to describe it as a "carnival sky: a unique handmade multicolored knitted stocking cap" but that's not a great title for one simple reason: it's not something that people search for.
I've written before about how to type words into the etsy search to get suggestions and hints about what people search for. I still do that all the time. I also do periodic tag makeovers by comparing my shop stats to my existing tags and adding new ones to try to get views. Here's what to do:
1) Check your listing stats to see what key words and phrases have gotten it some views
2) Ditch the tags that are NOT getting it views
3) Time to brainstorm and use up your new free spots! Ask yourself... what are some things I'd search for if I was looking for an item like this?
4) Type some of those in the search box up type. See if they come up as suggestions.
5) Be sure to include any unique niche words - if your item features a fox, a pear, the color teal, you can appeal to fans!
6) Do NOT include words that could apply to almost any listing on Etsy. Everything is "unique" and "handmade". It's Etsy.
7) Use all 13 tags
8) Come back next month and repeat! Every listing is an experiment to see what key phrases will win for you.
I recently started a thread asking lots of sellers to tell us their top 5 keyphrases for catching views. They are as unique as all of Etsy! Some are simple one-word tags like "space" or "florida". Most are 2 or 3 word phrases... "steampunk hair accessories", "coconut candles", "wolf pendant". The point is that there's no magic formula to tell what will work, you've just got to keep trying different combinations of words to see what works.
SEO isn't a magic wand that you wave over a listing to get it views. No one can tell you for sure what will work best. But through brainstorming and trying everything that comes to mind, you'll get there.
Good luck!
"You should work on your SEO."
I hate it for so many reasons. It's buzzwordy. It's an acronym. It sounds like a huge, complicated topic that you need a masters in. A newbie will ask "well what's my first step?" and get a reply like "there is no first step, no easy way to do it, it's a JOURNEY" and you imagine climbing mountains, and the poor new etsy person is just thinking "all I want is to sell a damn mug cozy!"
I feel your pain, newbie.
They do a little reading and get into even more questions and controversy - two or three word tags? What order should the words be in? Do I repeat words? It's so confusing!
I think the confusing part is that we're trying to think like search engines. Computers.
And the funny thing is, the computers are trying to think like searchers. People. Us!
Maybe the reason I hate "work on SEO" so much is that it implies there has to be this computer in between us and people. Why not just say this:
"Think like your searchers."
Searchers are people! You are a person! It's true that when we make an item, it can be hard to separate yourself from the processes. You'll want to describe it as a "carnival sky: a unique handmade multicolored knitted stocking cap" but that's not a great title for one simple reason: it's not something that people search for.
I've written before about how to type words into the etsy search to get suggestions and hints about what people search for. I still do that all the time. I also do periodic tag makeovers by comparing my shop stats to my existing tags and adding new ones to try to get views. Here's what to do:
1) Check your listing stats to see what key words and phrases have gotten it some views
2) Ditch the tags that are NOT getting it views
3) Time to brainstorm and use up your new free spots! Ask yourself... what are some things I'd search for if I was looking for an item like this?
4) Type some of those in the search box up type. See if they come up as suggestions.
5) Be sure to include any unique niche words - if your item features a fox, a pear, the color teal, you can appeal to fans!
6) Do NOT include words that could apply to almost any listing on Etsy. Everything is "unique" and "handmade". It's Etsy.
7) Use all 13 tags
8) Come back next month and repeat! Every listing is an experiment to see what key phrases will win for you.
I recently started a thread asking lots of sellers to tell us their top 5 keyphrases for catching views. They are as unique as all of Etsy! Some are simple one-word tags like "space" or "florida". Most are 2 or 3 word phrases... "steampunk hair accessories", "coconut candles", "wolf pendant". The point is that there's no magic formula to tell what will work, you've just got to keep trying different combinations of words to see what works.
SEO isn't a magic wand that you wave over a listing to get it views. No one can tell you for sure what will work best. But through brainstorming and trying everything that comes to mind, you'll get there.
Good luck!
Friday, September 27, 2013
Etsy title tips: get your creation found
Something I point out a lot in the shop critiques team are title improvements. I've seen some etsians make titles sound like a really complicated effort, throwing around terms like "relevancy" and "optimization"... relax. Those are computer words. We are humans.
So all you need for a good listing title is this: use words that people will search for.
You hold your creation in your hand and you think "this is something I made with those extra zippers in my craft room"... that's what it is to you. But what is it to someone else? A blue purse. If someone wants a blue purse, you have JUST the item for them, don't you? So that's what you should use as the first words in your listing title!
A good thing to do is to use Etsy's search bar to see if people are actually searching for the stuff you're listing in your shop. For example if you type in "tote bag", all sorts of stuff comes up. Lots of people are searching for tote bags, there are even other suggestions, if you make a "chevron tote bag" you're really in luck. That would be a great phrase to start your title off with.
The most common mistake I see is shop owners who want to be descriptive and unique, so they scrape up some descriptive unique words. But shoppers don't think to use those words in search, so they're not helping you. If you type in a phrase and get no suggestions, it's probably not too common.
Etsy provides us with a very nice "shop statistics" page, where you can see what keywords are bringing in the most people to your shop. If you list five similar items, be sure to give them all a wide selection of titles and tags, and see what works best. Experiment and diversify! Maybe some people are searching for a "blue hat" and others are searching for a "wool hat" - if you've got two similar blue wool hats in your shop, give them different titles and you'll catch the eye of both sets of people.
Just remember that your target audience is always the people who come to Etsy with money in their pocket to buy something - that's who you want to find your item. Good titles are the most important tool you've got for that!
So all you need for a good listing title is this: use words that people will search for.
You hold your creation in your hand and you think "this is something I made with those extra zippers in my craft room"... that's what it is to you. But what is it to someone else? A blue purse. If someone wants a blue purse, you have JUST the item for them, don't you? So that's what you should use as the first words in your listing title!
A good thing to do is to use Etsy's search bar to see if people are actually searching for the stuff you're listing in your shop. For example if you type in "tote bag", all sorts of stuff comes up. Lots of people are searching for tote bags, there are even other suggestions, if you make a "chevron tote bag" you're really in luck. That would be a great phrase to start your title off with.
The most common mistake I see is shop owners who want to be descriptive and unique, so they scrape up some descriptive unique words. But shoppers don't think to use those words in search, so they're not helping you. If you type in a phrase and get no suggestions, it's probably not too common.
Etsy provides us with a very nice "shop statistics" page, where you can see what keywords are bringing in the most people to your shop. If you list five similar items, be sure to give them all a wide selection of titles and tags, and see what works best. Experiment and diversify! Maybe some people are searching for a "blue hat" and others are searching for a "wool hat" - if you've got two similar blue wool hats in your shop, give them different titles and you'll catch the eye of both sets of people.
Just remember that your target audience is always the people who come to Etsy with money in their pocket to buy something - that's who you want to find your item. Good titles are the most important tool you've got for that!
Friday, July 5, 2013
My Top 5 Shop Critique Items
So as I wrote last week I started a shop critique team for etsy shop owners to get feedback and personal tips for improvement. It's been going great! But I do see myself giving the same feedback to lots of shops, so here are the top five things that a lot of new shops can do for improvement:
1) Use all five photos If you were selling your item in a store, customers would be able to pick it up, turn it over, feel it in their hands... but you're selling online. So try to replicate that in-store experience as much as possible. Show every angle, the inside, even the bottom! Convey a sense of size. Show different settings the item would work in - especially if you're selling fashion or accessories. What would you wear with it?
2) Have great product thumbnails When you view your shop, can you see the most important parts of each item without clicking the listing? Or are you cutting parts off that run off the edges of those thumbnail view photos? That's like fingernails on a chalkboard! I wrote a whole post on this last spring: How to think inside the Etsy thumbnail.
3) Start every title with a search term The first three words of your title are the most important, and you want them to look like something that a shopper would be looking for. "Blue wool hat" is very specific. "Set of three" is not, neither is "special occasion gift" or worse, the abstract titles ("the cloudless sky")... if it's a shoe say it's a shoe. If it's a scarf say it's a scarf. Then add the other fluffy words.
4) Have a real shop title Under your shop's "info & appearance" you can enter a shop name (mine is Spacefem) and a shop title (mine is "Specialty fabric and hand-sewn items from Kansas"). Make sure they're different - the title can help people find your shop through searches, so it should describe your product line, not just be a copy of your name.
5) Even out your sections Shop sections are wonderful, but make sure you're using them to keep things nicely oraganized. Never make a section if you won't have at least 8-10 items in it, and after that keep them even, don't have one huge section and then leave hardly anything for the other sections. And for heaven's sake use a search-friendly word for your section title, I keep seeing people add extra spaces in between letters to make them pretty, but no one ever searches for F A B R I C. They search for fabric!
That's my list for today, I'd love to hear what anyone else thinks though, we've all got our shop pet peeves. And that's why I love our team - you never know who will give you the tip to make your shop a winner on etsy. Every bit of feedback is a gift!
1) Use all five photos If you were selling your item in a store, customers would be able to pick it up, turn it over, feel it in their hands... but you're selling online. So try to replicate that in-store experience as much as possible. Show every angle, the inside, even the bottom! Convey a sense of size. Show different settings the item would work in - especially if you're selling fashion or accessories. What would you wear with it?
2) Have great product thumbnails When you view your shop, can you see the most important parts of each item without clicking the listing? Or are you cutting parts off that run off the edges of those thumbnail view photos? That's like fingernails on a chalkboard! I wrote a whole post on this last spring: How to think inside the Etsy thumbnail.
3) Start every title with a search term The first three words of your title are the most important, and you want them to look like something that a shopper would be looking for. "Blue wool hat" is very specific. "Set of three" is not, neither is "special occasion gift" or worse, the abstract titles ("the cloudless sky")... if it's a shoe say it's a shoe. If it's a scarf say it's a scarf. Then add the other fluffy words.
4) Have a real shop title Under your shop's "info & appearance" you can enter a shop name (mine is Spacefem) and a shop title (mine is "Specialty fabric and hand-sewn items from Kansas"). Make sure they're different - the title can help people find your shop through searches, so it should describe your product line, not just be a copy of your name.
5) Even out your sections Shop sections are wonderful, but make sure you're using them to keep things nicely oraganized. Never make a section if you won't have at least 8-10 items in it, and after that keep them even, don't have one huge section and then leave hardly anything for the other sections. And for heaven's sake use a search-friendly word for your section title, I keep seeing people add extra spaces in between letters to make them pretty, but no one ever searches for F A B R I C. They search for fabric!
That's my list for today, I'd love to hear what anyone else thinks though, we've all got our shop pet peeves. And that's why I love our team - you never know who will give you the tip to make your shop a winner on etsy. Every bit of feedback is a gift!
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