I do assessments on a lot of shops. A LOT of shops. And SEO is always the first thing I look at. Why? Because it’s one of the single most important things you can learn if you want to start getting more sales. And guess what? I spend hours telling people the same things over and over again. Here are the top 8 mistakes sellers makes when it comes to Etsy SEO.
1. Not using all 13 tags
Etsy gives you 13 tags to use and you need to use every single one of them. Do not skip this. You need to branch out into as many keywords as you can and using all of your tags is what gives you this opportunity.
2. Using single word tags
Etsy has recommended using long tail keywords for a long time now. Long tail keywords are 2-3 word phrases that niche down your keywords. Jewelry is hard to rank for and gives you low conversion rates. Green Boho Earrings on the other hand, is easier to rank for and gives you buyers that are further along in the purchasing process which increases your conversion rates and gets you more sales.
3. Not doing your keyword research
Keyword research is really, really important because it doesn’t do you any good to rank for a search term that buyers aren’t actually searching for. Doing your research helps you figure out what you should be targeting and what you can realistically rank for.
4. Not matching your tags to your titles
Etsy recommends matching your most important keyword phrases from your title to your tags. My theory? If it’s important enough to put in your title…then it should be important enough to want to rank for and you should put it in your tags as well.
5. Misusing Punctuation
You really should be using punctuation in your titles. It makes the phrases much easier for buyers to read and understand. The type of punctation doesn’t matter…but the way you use it does. If you use anything other than commas, you need spaces in between every word. Let me give you an example.
Let’s say you’re listing a necklace. You want to target “Necklace for Mom” and “Blue Necklace Beaded.” If you use commas you can type “Necklace for Mom, Blue Necklace Beaded”.
If you use hypens you need a space in between each word like this “Necklace for Mom – Blue Necklace Beaded”.
I see a lot of sellers type like this “Necklace for Mom-Blue Necklace Beaded” but unfortunately Etsy sees “Mom-Blue” as one word and you won’t rank for either of the phrases you’re targeting.
6. Keyword Stuffing in your Description
The words in your description aren’t a part of the Etsy algorithm for search results. So don’t copy your title into the first few lines of your description. It doesn’t help you in search. What it does do is decrease the chance that your buyers will read your listing description. And we all know that you don’t want to do that!
7. Changing everything all at once
Etsy takes a little while to realize you’ve made changes after you’ve worked on your SEO. So if you change every listing you have at the same time, you’ll completely tank your traffic. Once you’ve come up with your SEO strategy, change a few listings a week. Keep track of what you’ve changed and if it’s working. Then add new listings applying the new strategy while you’re waiting to change a few more of the existing listings the following week.
8. Changing things too often
It takes 1-2 months for your SEO changes to start taking effect. One to two MONTHS! So if you’re changing your keywords on your listings every other week, they will never start getting more traffic. Etsy recommends doing an SEO refresh once every season. That’s all! So pick a listing to change and keep track of when you changed it. Do not touch the SEO in that listing again for at least 30 days or longer.
So now what?
If you’re making a lot of these mistakes and aren’t sure of how to optimize your listings, I would love to help you! The single quickest way to learn SEO is to learn it from an expert! I have an SEO course that is designed to be quick and easy for you to get through. It’s a no-fluff course that shows you the exact process I used to rank on page one for my listings. I’ve even been on the first page of search results for “Mother’s Day Gifts” two years in a row! Click here to check out the course. Questions about if it’s right for you?
-Sarah
