Scrutinize Your Etsy Listing

Posted by Handmade Spark on 2/25/10 | Categorized as Etsy Tips,For Sellers

Share |

Vintage MX Gold Metal Aviator Sunglasses

We’ve all been there, created a fantastic product, listed it on Etsy, and have been disappointed by the measly handful of views the item has received. You may even begin to question whether or not anyone’s even interested in your work. Chances are that, yes, they are, but for one reason or another they’re simply not being drawn in. The problem likely doesn’t lie with the product itself, but in how you present it to them. Instead of simply renewing your listing over and over again to the same results and increased frustration, consider tweaking the details of the listing itself to draw more customers before you renew it.

Here is the step-by-step list that I use to scrutinize a listing that is getting little attention and more views.

● Make sure that all of your pictures for the listing are consistently top quality. If they are and you’re still not getting views, try using a different picture for your primary image. This should be the most stylized, visually striking photo you have as it is the first thing that introduces your product to a potential buyer as they’re browsing. Also, if your primary picture isn’t perfectly square, Etsy will auto-crop the image for browsing, so make sure that it crops in a way that keeps the intended focal point of the picture in frame. If it doesn’t, consider cropping the photo yourself so that it will appear the way that displays your product the best.

● Reevaluate your tags. If your product isn’t tagged correctly, then it probably won’t show up in a search, both on Etsy and on search engines, meaning no one will ever see your wonderful creation. If you’re not sure how to tag it, try finding a similar item that has a lot of views and see how its tagged. Test out your tags by doing a search for your item both on and off Etsy. Play around with the tags to see which ones will bump your item up in the search list. Also, be sure to use all 14 available tags. Those tags that determine which sections your listing will appear in are most important. If your product appears in the wrong section, people who are browsing in the correct section will never see it

● Look at your description. Examine it as if you were the customer. Does the description give you all of the information you need before you purchase the product? Does it give size, dimensions, and weight in both metric and American Standard units? Does it explain how the product will be packaged? Does it clearly state you willingness to recreate that design in other colors, quantities or sizes? Exact materials used? Many shoppers will pass a product by instead of inquiring about further details, so be sure to include every bit of information that you yourself would want to know about the product. Also, try to make your descriptions interesting. Don’t just include the cut-and-dry details about the product. Weave a story around it. Use plenty of adjectives and descriptive imagery when your writing up your descriptions. It doesn’t hurt to have an imaginative, attention getting title for your listing either.

● Examine your price. Compare it to similar items to establish an acceptable price range. Be careful about lowering prices though. You do still need to make a profit and having your products priced too low can actually work against you. It can lead customers to believe that the price is set so low because the quality of the materials or even the overall product itself is inferior.

Vintage TURA Green Plastic

After you have gone through all of these steps, renew the item listing to bump it up in search results and see if your view rate improves. Use the above methods to continue fine tuning your photos, tags, descriptions, etc. until you get the desired results. I would suggest scrutinizing at least one of your listings every day. Once you find the magic combination for one listing, you can tweak it to work the same way for all of your products.

Article by : Lisa Rezendez

Connect with Lisa:

http://www.tools4etsy.com Tools4Etsy

“Reevaluate your tags.” http://www.tools4etsy.com/tagwars can help you find the right tags :)
http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/handmadespark.com/blog/scrutinize-your-etsy-listing/ uberVU – social comments

Social comments and analytics for this post…

This post was mentioned on Twitter by HandmadeNews: Handmade Spark: Scrutinize Your Etsy Listing – Vintage MX Gold Metal Aviator Sunglasses We’ve all been there, creat… http://ow.ly/16F9hc...
http://bagalicious.etsy.com Corinne @ Bagalicious

Thanks for the great article, Lisa! One thing I have a question about though is the listing title. I love the idea of imaginative listing titles but from what I’ve been reading about SEO, the title should include keywords that describe the product so it is more likely to be found during a search. If there’s room, I suppose one could do both?

Thanks again!

Corinne @ Bagalicious
http://bagalicious.etsy.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/fancy4u Kathie

Lisa, super article! I’d also like to hear your comments on the listing title (should it be filled with descriptive words, or a catchy title?) I am searching for my perfect combination of promotion efforts, so your article was very interesting and informative for me. Thanks!
http://www.misscheviousdesigns.com/blog.php Lisa Rezendez

On the titles, you should try to fit both a catchy name as well as some descriptive words in there. For example, I have a necklace entitled “Nostalgia- Antique Brass Filigree and Glass Asymmetrical Necklace”. When people think of this necklace, they will likely only think of it as “Nostalgia”. This part of the title is to grab the attention of someone browsing through the necklace section of Etsy. The rest of the title, which is the descriptor, is for search engines. Google “antique brass filigree necklace” and this piece comes up fourth on the list. I have heard some debate as to whether you should put the descriptors first in the listing to title to improve SEO since people won’t be searching for “Nostalgia” but rather “antique brass filigree necklace”, but honestly putting the attention getting name up front has worked well for me. Try it both ways and see which gets better results for your products.

Hope this helps!
Lisa
Laura/PetScribbles

Great tips, especially for those items that seem to languish toward expiration. I’ll definitely try to make it a goal to scrutinize at least one item each day and follow your suggestions!
http://blog.norskwoodshop.com Patrick @ The Norsk Woodshop

Great article Lisa. Do you have any preference about the lenght of titles. I have seen some products with a title that spans 3 – 4 lines. I try to keep mine no more that two lines….
http://www.misscheviousdesigns.com/blog.php Lisa Rezendez

I prefer something in the middle. Too short and you’re not giving enough information and fully utilizing the space you have to work with. Too long and I doze off halfway through reading it. The super long titles are a pet peeve of mine for when I’m doing my weekly Etsy Picks feature on my blog. The overly long titles through off my formatting for the post, so I tend to pass up some great items just because the title makes my work harder. Silly, I know, but I’m really into simplicity.
http://stichesintime.etsy.com Rachel Moffatt

I know the first three tags are the most important for searches, but what about the other ones. Does it matter what order they are in, is tag #4 more important than tag #14? If I’m running out of ideas for tags, should I use all my “good” tags first and then my team tags and less important tags? Or does it not matter at all?
http://www.misscheviousdesigns.com/blog.php Lisa Rezendez

Well Rachel, I must admit I honestly don’t know. My rule of thumb has always been to tag from most to least relevant. I find that its easier to change out tags if the “filler” tags are at the end of the list. For example, I sometimes run free shipping promotions and want to tag the items eligible with “free shipping”. Most of my listing utilize all 14 available tag spaces, meaning one will have to go to allow for the new tag. I don’t have to debate over which one it is if I already know that the most irrelevant one is the last on the list.

Does anyone else know if the order of your tags has any bearing on SEO?

Lisa
http://www.misscheviousdesigns.com/blog.php Lisa Rezendez

I would actually like to clarify this more. I start with definitive descriptors-materials, techniques, color, size, shape, anything that can be measured or quantified. I then move on to subjective descriptors like style and feel. I find that the subjective descriptors don’t bump me up as much in a search. True, someone searching for a silkscreen tee with a bird on it may want it to be “hip” or “cool” or “modern”, but they’re likely to just search for “bird silkscreen tshirt”. Therefore, the subjective descriptors end up and the end of my list as they are expendable.
http://Rokstudy.com Julie Harrison

Besides a sale, what is the best indicator that one’s tags are relevant? Is it the stats and hearts?
http://angelene.etsy.com Angelene

a great article, thanks for the tips. I am going to go scruitinise one of my listings now.
http://www.delicious.com/facecleansers face cleansers

Nice post.
http://www.gayaartprints.co.uk poelayanync

hi everybody
I know it’s not related concern, but I want to open a art prints online shop and I don’t really sure where to start,
theres a lot of store systems on the web, and I don’t have an idea what to select from. I saw a cool online art shop
but I do not know what script this guy is using.
can any one help?
thank you in advance
Allan
http://www.birffjdsddggdd.net Thi Burlile

I am continually browsing online for posts that can facilitate me. Thanks!

Scrutinize Your Etsy Listing

More in 'Etsy Tips'

More in 'For Sellers'

Join Our Mailing List

Blog Categories