SEO. Yikes. The never-ending "thing" that has taken over your life. Finding out how to work your way to the top of search results can be a struggle. But yeah, here it is: Some tips for flawless SEO.
So, first - lets draw out your SEO strategy. Basically, SEO is using the right words/phrases to get your products in front of peoples eyeballs. Duh, don't we all want that?
Identifying what is the MOST IMPORANT in Etsy SEO can be a struggle. I know quite a bit about SEO because I run two Etsy shops and rank highly in searches in two different categories, so I'm just going to put it all out there.
1) Keywords & Phrases, Titles & Tags
This. Is. Important. When you get this step right, Etsy will bring you in a lot of traffic, which is the goal here. So let's make sure we get this right. Lets start with KEYWORDS: These are the best describing words or phrases that you want to identify with your products. Think about your products as if you were a consumer. What would you search for to find your products? These are the main keywords you'll want to use.
So, lets move on to the TITLE section of an Etsy listing. The first 40 characters are the most important. This is what Etsy will ultimately pull from to rank your listings. You want these to be highly targeting keywords. I like to start strong with my keyword I want to rank highest list. Think, the easiest, most searched for term for your item. Put that keyword first. I like to use two specific keywords or phrases first and then follow up with two generic keywords or phrases.
TIP: Add in punctuation or separators between keywords. I really don't think this matters to SEO. But when you have a lot of keywords in your title it makes it easier for your buyers to read. whatyoucantreadthis? No, me neither. When I write my titles, I like them to look something like: Sugar Scrub / Handmade Soap / Bar Soap ... etc. They're easily separated and extremely easy to read from a buyers point of view.
Lastly, TAGS. Etsy allows for 13 tags, each having a maximum of 20 characters. You'll use the same describing words a buyer would use to find your items. These don't have to be in any certain order.
2) Descriptions
The first 130-140 characters are the most important for your description. Please, please write a nice description that flows while utilizing some great keywords to make it easy to read for buyers, as well as showing some keyword love for Etsy to pull from for your SEO. I like to visualize my keywords in a salt shaker and I just sprinkle them in with intent. This is where you are really SELLING to your potential customer.
Alright, SO - HOW TO FIND THE RIGHT KEYWORDS:
A few tools that I like to use are: Etsy Rank and Google & Pinterest
Etsy Rank is good for typing in a keyword and finding out what page your item is on, and what other item listings you are competing with. You can see what tags they're using as well. This is great, as it also gives you a color coded system on what keywords are better than others.
Google & Pinterest: I often utilize these two tools to just search as if I am a buyer, pretending I am searching for my own items and see what comes up. I then see what other people who rank highly are using as their keywords and phrases. You can usually spot them in listings and descriptions. I then dedicate a few listings to trial out keywords and tweak listings every now and then to stay on top of the trends/search words.
Great, Traffic on Etsy - CHECK. Now, how to drive sales from outside of Etsy.
1) Social Media. SEO works everywhere. For example: try searching your shop name in google. What comes up? Do you have social media profiles, they should be coming up as well as your Etsy shop in the first few search results. If not, you are making a mistake! You need to jump on those social media platforms and really grind it out, get your name out there. Post some quality content, don't sound sales-y and engage with your followers. I personally love to use Instagram. It's the bees knees. I try to post in a 3:1 ratio of in the making/behind the scene photos to every one sales-y post. This way I am not bombarding my followers with trying to sell, sell, sell. This will definitely get you unfollowed. Lastly, talk to your audience. Reply to their comments. Show them you appreciate them, after all - they are your buyers!
2) Interviews with bloggers & Influencers. This is great to network and find fabulous people who love your products as well as want to promote them. I have sent a few products to some of my favorite bloggers in return for a great blog post on me and my products. It's great to find people in your target market and really go all out. You can also offer influencers a discount code in return for promotions, blog posts, and product photography for you to be able to use on your own social media.
Well, there you have it. A few tips to getting found and having flawless SEO. Drop a comment below and let me know if this helped you and if you have any tips you'd like to offer!
Signing off,
xoxo
Jamie