Hey friends, I really am *so* excited about this week’s topic, which is the 5 Etsy SEO mistakes you can stop making.
The reason I am excited about this topic is because I am such a huge nerd and I love talking about search engine optimization because it’s how you get found online by people who don’t already know who you are.
SEO applies to your own website, to your blog, to your social media, but also to your Etsy shop.
Learning search engine optimization, or SEO, is critical to running an online handmade business.
Etsy SEO is different than website SEO in a few small ways, but most of it is the same. The basic idea is that you need to use keyword phrases in your text that are the same keyword phrases you think your dream customer might type in the search bar when they get on Etsy to shop.
So, I just want to briefly review a couple of basic things you should know about Etsy SEO.
First, it’s important because if your keywords are good and aligned with your target customer’s search habits, you will get found by the right customers. It doesn’t do you any good to come up in irrelevant searches for customers who aren’t looking for what you sell.
Second, if you have good SEO, you will get seen more often and have better sales traffic. The more traffic you have, the more sales you have the opportunity to make. If you only use keywords that aren’t popular and no one is searching for, you will have no traffic. So, it’s very simple that you need good SEO to get good traffic to your shop.
>>> Also...Get our FREE guide on how to learn the basics of Etsy SEO, what a long-tail keyword is, and some basic do’s/don’ts of Etsy search tags in just 15 minutes: https://www.shopstudiosisters.com/etsyseoguide <<<<
Now, let’s talk about 5 common Etsy SEO mistakes that I frequently see sellers making and I want to help you fix that because it’s an easy thing you can do to improve your shop.
P.S. It could be helpful for you if you want to open up one of your Etsy listings while you listen to this and take a look at the keywords you’re using to see if you’re making any of these mistakes if you want to.
Also >>> just a side note here. I have spent more than a year learning and perfecting everything about Etsy SEO and how to fully optimize our shop, so if you’re listening to this and you’re like wow, I am making every one of these mistakes or you’re thinking oh my gosh, how did I not know that, do not feel bad about that! These are common mistakes people make and you being here, listening to this is so amazing, because it means you are committed to growing your business, getting better at Etsy, and living your dream life.
Listen to the episode about 5 common Etsy SEO mistakes you can stop making here:
And now, 5 Etsy SEO Mistakes You Can Stop Making:
1. Etsy sellers only put their keywords in the 13 tags Etsy gives you per listing.
Make sure you put your most important keywords in your tags AND your listing descriptions and your titles...
2. Etsy sellers use different keywords in the title and the tags.
You're not adding more keywords to rank for by using different sets of keywords in the title and tags. Instead, we want to strengthen your ranking for specific tags by putting them in both the title and the 13 tags.
3. I see a lot of shops using one word keywords....
It's pretty much impossible to rank for a high competition keyword like "jewelry" because there are *millions* and *millions* of search results for a single word keyword like this.
Your customer will get overwhelmed by the hundreds of search result pages to scroll through and they'll eventually make their search more specific and type in additional words that describe what they're looking for, so go ahead and make sure you're using long-tail, multi-word keywords.
4. Etsy sellers use attributes like color as one word keyword tags.
Say it with me: let's stop making a single word like "pink" or "Christmas" our keyword tags!
Similar to mistake #3, it's too difficult to rank for these words AND you can mark these in your attributes section under color and holiday/theme...
#5 Etsy keywords aren’t what your customer is actually searching for.
Guys...please don't use keywords that are irrelevant to your shop/your product, even if you think they're trendy. It might lead to views but it won't lead to sales!
Bonus Etsy SEO Mistake #6: Having multiple products styles/colors/etc in one listing.
So it might be tempting to add a bunch of earring colors or different canvas paintings to one listing, but you're actually making a BIG mistake in your SEO when you do that, because you're missing out on an opportunity to use 13 keywords for each product.
Let me give you an example: let's say you've got 6 different colors of clay flower earrings in one Etsy listing. You put them all in the photos and have a drop down for variations where your customer can choose the ones they want.
You probably did this thinking, "This way, I can give my customer options, YAY!"
But the problem is, you can't rank for pink earrings AND blue ones AND gold ones AND green ones and so on...all in the same listing. You can only choose 2 colors for attributes as well. So, you might not reach the customer who's looking for your cute flower earrings in green if the attribute you chose was pink or rainbow?
Separating out your product variations into their own listings will help you maximize your SEO rankings for each style/color/theme that you have. You can develop 13 tags that accurately fit each of your products.
These kind of SEO mistakes can be avoided and are 100% fixable in your Etsy shop. Taking the time to optimize your keywords and their placement can only benefit you.
There are a lot of artists and handmade business owners who don’t like working on this side of things, and that’s totally normal but... you can have the most amazing, coolest products in the world and not have many sales on Etsy because you’re not getting found by customers and you’re not getting any traffic.
Increasing your traffic on Etsy is key to making money on the platform.
If you also are asking at this point, I really don’t know how to do keyword research, so how can I do that, Taylor? Or, you’re thinking you just want someone to show you how, step by step, to find good keywords and optimize your shop, I do want to take this opportunity to tell you about our course!
We are launching our signature online course this summer, and we’re going to teach you the exact processes and formulas we use to run our top 1% Etsy shop. I am so proud of everything Katie & I have put into this course. We’re going to teach everything you need to know about optimizing the behind-the-scenes side of your shop including how to optimize your shop story, shop sections, shipping profiles, and shop policies. I will teach you all the exact methods we use to find keywords that will get you more traffic. I teach how to use Google and Pinterest to find keyword ideas, how to validate your keywords on Etsy, and also how to see what your competition’s best performing keywords are.
We have a whole module which specifically focuses on listing descriptions and convincing your dream customers to buy. Once you’re mastered SEO, you need to actually make the sale right? You’ve driven all this traffic to your shop so now you need to get them to check out and buy your beautiful handmade products. So, we spend a lot of time on how to write a killer product description.
You guys, there is so much more too. What I’ve said is just the tip of the iceberg. Katie is teaching our exact methods for authentic instagram growth, we have a wonderful module on improving your product photography because we know many of our listeners struggle with that, and then also how to narrow your style and brand yourself as an artist without feeling too sales-y. There is so, so much in the course. Katie and I have poured our hearts and souls into this course because we KNOW we can get results for all of you. If you’re interested in the course, click here to get on our VIP list and be the first to know when the course will actually open for registration.
>>> P.S., if you missed it...Get our FREE guide on how to learn the basics of Etsy SEO, what a long-tail keyword is, and some basic do’s/don’ts of Etsy search tags in just 15 minutes: https://www.shopstudiosisters.com/etsyseoguide <<<<
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