I have been discussing how tags and keywords are the foundation for "Relevant Searches" both on Google and on Etsy. Today I would like to talk briefly on how to use the keywords that you found while doing keyword research. The first place that Etsy looks for relevancy is in your title.
I am once again going to use myself as an example. I make chainmail jewelry. One of my hottest item for the last 15 years is the above pictured chainmail anklet. I did some research on the word anklet and found that many people do not use that term when searching. Many people use the term "ankle bracelet" when searching.
Now you would think that I would try and optimize for "chainmail" but the competition on that term is far too great for me to break into the top 3 pages on Google. So, I opted to try and optimize for "ankle bracelet" and "anklet" because they are searched less I have a better chance of being found.
The broader the term, the harder it is to rank high for relevancy. That is why I talked about keyword research and how to use your keyword phrases as tags. Using the keywords that you found doing research in your title helps to optimize for those keywords. Using a secondary keyword in your title helps to optimize for a second keyword or phrase. When you search for "anklet" on Etsy I am currently on page two slot 25 of the search.
I only have three ankle bracelet designs in my shop. Being able to be on page one or two in a search for the top two ways people look for anklets is great for me. Now here are the hard stats: there are 3,373 items for the term "ankle bracelet" and 17,184 items when you search "anklet" on Etsy. I optimized for the lower number of searches first and the higher number second. I did this because lower searches are easier to optimize for than higher searches. I chose my niche. Of course being in the first two pages for both when there are 20,000+ items is very good.
It may be a little harder when it comes to items on Etsy that are in the 100,000 range like 327,198 for "crochet" but if you optimize for "crochet hat" there are only 94,830. It is all about optimizing for something that is doable. Smaller numbers are easier to get on top with. I hope that helps a little. If you have questions please post them in comments and I will do my best to answer them.
Hi there! I came over from April's Army, and your blog is ... relevant! Thank you for sharing this information; I'm finding Etsy to be discouraging lately.
ReplyDeleteRoxanne
Eight Cat Design
Don't get discouraged, get relevant! Try picking 5 of your listings and rework them. See if it helps.
ReplyDeleteok, i have a question,...if you have developed a product that no one knows about---different from the rest...how do you get them to search for it? how would they even know what to type in?
ReplyDeleteNadine,
ReplyDeleteI would say that it would be difficult to develop something that is nothing like anything else in the world. But if you do, then I would try to target the type of person that would buy it. Figure out who is most likely to benefit from the product and go after them directly by optimizing for similar interests.
If it is something for a baby go after moms. If it is something that you would wear, go after the type of person that would wear it. That sort of thing.
Oh, you are awesome. I am beginning to see the light - you just gave me a peek into the inner workings of etsymind. Keeping this post in my "faves"
ReplyDeleteAs always, very enlightening!No body that I know of is so helpful, and speaks so clearly for us computer illiterate people.I am always encouraged after reading your posts. Since I am sick on the couch today anyway,...I will sit here and re work my titles.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much from,
4EweDesigns.etsy.com
I am so excited to keep following this blog! I found you on April's Army and your posts have been so useful and relevant. I was already trying to get my etsy shop back on the wagon after a bit of a hiatus when they made the recent search changes, and the information you've provided has been extremely helpful to giving my shop the jump-start it needed.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!
Mandy
DrapesOfWrath.etsy.com
DrapesOfWrathAprons.blogspot.com
BehindTheDrapes.etsy.com
Thanks. I'm doing great with Etsy Relevancy and am in the #1 spot for my keyword searches now and I think that I've gotten my sweater descriptions right for google. Where I'm still a little confused is about the first 3 tags being more important to google. Does it see my first 3 tags in the page source (the categories and subcategories) as the most important or the first 3 of the 13 that I get to use?
ReplyDeleteKaren, Unfortunately you have no control over the first two or three tags. Those are reserved for the Etsy categories and sub categories. Google places very low relevance on your tags/keywords. They do help some but not very much. As long as you are using YOUR TOP three keywords in your Title, Description and Tags, Google should have no problem indexing your page.
ReplyDeleteOk, so I stayed up literally all night re-optimizing tags/titles for relevancy on 2 listings at first...then when i caught on to the system (i think...) a few more. Her's my question, and pardon if it sounds stupid because i'm trying not to miss something vital here or to assume too much... but today as i search etsy as a "potential buyer" if i find 1 or more of my listings at #1-#5 slots 1st page in a pool of 400-4000 depending on how i search everytime i search, I have done well in my revamp? AND, If then when i do the same basic search on google and i am #1 or on front page (from a pool of literally millions) each time i change the search terms I did good?
ReplyDelete?
ReplyDeleteNadine, If you can pull off a number one slot or page one on Google search you have done very well. You sound like you have done very well. My goal with all my keywords is to be found in the first five pages of an Etsy search and I hope to be found in the first 10 pages on Google.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I think that all I have to do is a bit more tweaking and then I can rearrange my tags to get the right ones into the first 3 spots. I sure wish that they would implement drop and drag for tags.
ReplyDeleteOK, now I've managed to get one of my listings onto the bottom of page one on a google search for "plus size sweater coat" but when I add an s at the end to search on the plural I get buried again behind everything that does have it. I can't use coats in my title without sounding illiterate and it's going to be hard to put it into the beginning of the descriptions for single items. All I can think of is to put it in a tag and that's all. I'm not sure that's going to be good enough.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that I stay high up in google images on that search both ways.
I think optimizing for singular and plural can be quite difficult. Sometimes it is better to go with one of them rather than both. Use Google's Keyword tool through Google AdWords and see which one has less competition and use that.
ReplyDeleteThanks. Right now I'm trying to get the plural form into my shop title, announcement and section names and use the singular in the items unless I can figure out a way to get it into each item too in some way that doesn't sound weird. It's interesting that it's different for each keyword in terms of which gets more views.
ReplyDeleteGreat article, did clarify the whole new tagging/ relevancy at etsy. thanks!
ReplyDeleteoh man... i have a lot to learn. Thank you for taking the time to teach! I'm new to Etsy, so I'm a little nervous, but still very hopeful that I'll be able to figure out SEO. Thanks again! Love your blog, I will be a loyal follower.
ReplyDelete~Mary
<----- Hmm... lost my picture! that kinda makes me laugh, i'm so not tech savvy. lol!
ReplyDeleteI'm still having difficulty with the whole relevancy issue. Type in 'key fobs' in Etsy and the #2 slot right now goes to a Hipbag listed in June with the word key fob buried at the end of a long title, and in the description. How is that more relevant than one that begins with 'key fob'? I just don't get it! Can you tell I'm frustrated?
ReplyDeleteMarcia, Yes, that is confusing and there seem to be some glitches that Etsy has yet to work out. Hopefully these bugs will eventually work themselves out but it would be a good idea to bring the issue to their attention with an email.
ReplyDeleteI sell paintings rather than objects so I am a little confused as to how to optimize my tags/descriptions/titles appropriately for paintings. I want to make sure that they are relevant to how people search. Here is my Etsy store
ReplyDeletehttp://www.etsy.com/shop/NicholeBlake?ref=si_shop
Would you mind taking a look and helping guide me to how to make my tags/descriptions/titles better suited for searching?
Thank you very much for your help!
NicoleBlake,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I do not have the time to give your shop a critique and figure out what tags you need to be using. I would think words used to describe the medium, composition, subject matter, etc would be your best bet. Since I do not paint nor do I buy paintings very often I am afraid I may not be much help.