NEW: SEO and Relevancy Q & A Discussion

[Former_Member]

ASK SEO AND RELEVANCY QUESTIONS HERE FOR YOUR ETSY SHOP OR YOUR OWN WEBSITE

READ THROUGH OUR LAST Q&A THREAD IF YOU LIKE, OR JUST POST YOUR QUESTION ON THIS THREAD:

https://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-for-all-etsy-shops/discuss/12972720/

### PLEASE DO NOT START A NEW THREAD.WITH YOUR QUESTIONS ###

DO NO POST ANY PROMOTIONS ON THIS THREAD. YOU CAN USE ONE OF OUR PROMOTION THREADS FOR YOUR OWN PROMOTIONS.

WE WILL GET BACK TO YOU WITH ANSWERS WITHIN 24 HOURS, USUALLY SOONER.

[AlltheBestCardBoxes]

Any advice about getting found without paying for promotions? The fees wipe out any profit I make!

[Former_Member]

Hi Rosemary,

It looks like you are not using the best keywords in the listing title. Changing some of the words in the listing titles will make a big difference in views.

Google keeps track of the keywords that shoppers use when searching for products. Using the EXACT keywords that shoppers use in the listing titles and tags works very well in getting found a seen lot more on Etsy and on Google.

Here is short list of keywords that fit your listings. The number on the right is the total number of searches each month that use exactly those words:

birthday card box 140
card box 2400
card box for wedding 1300
card box wedding 480
card boxes 880
gift card box 880
gift card boxes 1000
graduation card box 1000
graduation card boxes 260
ivory wedding card box 70
money card box 50
purple wedding card box 70
wedding cake card box 90
wedding card box 8100
wedding card boxes 1600
wedding card money box 20
wedding money card box 30

Change the listing titles so that all the listings for wedding card boxes including EXACTLY the words "wedding card box" at the beginning of the listing title and in one of the tags, followed by the rest of the words in your listing titles. You can safely use one or two words before "wedding card box."

For example, change the listing title for this listing:
Burlap Wedding Money Card Box rustic favor gift idea decoration
to this EXACTLY
Burlap Wedding Card Box - money card box or gift card box - rustic wedding favor gift idea decoration

Doing this will give you a few new keywords that shoppers use a lot:
wedding card box
money card box
gift card box

Make this change to all of the listings and you should see more views and hopefully more sales within few days.

To look for more keywords, use Google Adwords Keyword Planner, Here is how to use it: https://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-beginner-and-advanced/discuss/13988472

[AlltheBestCardBoxes]

Wow, thank you!!! Wonderful advice!

[BeadsAndKnotsByNina]

Mary,
I would like to have your opinion about the keywords in my titles.
Perhaps you could give me a bad and a good (if any) example of my listings.
Thank you in advance.

[Former_Member]

Mary can you explain how the browse feature works with the new categories or are they just different? I wanted to see what page a braided bracelet of mine showed up in browse. I drilled down from "jewellry", then "bracelet", then ?? there was no ? "braided/beaded" to click on, just "beaded" and then some other ones to choose from that I haven't seen before, like "tennis bracelet". My bracelet never showed up on the first 10 pages. So do categories have nothing to do with browse, then what SEO do I need to get found in browse?

[KristianRowDesign]

What is the best way to get more google traffic while keeping Etsy search just as good? Thanks in advance:)

[Former_Member]

Nina,

You are using good keywords in the listing titles but they could be much better. Some of the keywords could be moved around a little so that they work better for you,

Here is a short list of the keywords in this listing title:
"Mother of pearl necklace, Red jade bead necklace, Colorful summer necklace, Jade stone jewelry, Long red necklace"
The number on the right is the average number of searches per month for each of these keywords:

colorful summer necklace 0
freshwater pearl necklace 1900
jade stone jewelry 170
long necklace 1000
long red necklace 110
mother of pearl necklace 720
red bead necklace 590
red beaded necklace 390
red jade bead necklace 10
red jade necklace 70
stone jewelry 1300
stone necklace 590
summer jewelry 210
summer necklace 30

Using keywords in this list that are used more by shoppers, a title like this would work better:
"Long red bead necklace, Jade Stone Jewelry, Mother of pearl necklace, summer necklace"

The important targeted information about this necklace that most shoppers would look for is that it is a long red necklace. Most shoppers do not know about red jade and would not be looking for it but a lot of shoppers look for long necklaces and red necklaces. The mother of pearl can hardly be seen in the necklace and should not be the first keyword.

You should check the necklace length. 95cm is 37.5 inches, not 7.25 inches. A shopper looking for a long necklace would want to know how long it is.

[Former_Member]

Sandy,

Browse depends on keywords much like Relevancy search. The browse categories on Etsy's home page are so different from product categories that you have to add these keywords to your listings titles or tags to be found in Browse.

Right now the Browse categories are:
Trending Items
Father's Day Gifts
Summer Celebrations
Gift Ideas
Mobile Accessories

Add one or more of these keywords to your listings to be found somewhere in Browse,

Under the More Ways to Shop area of Etsy's home page, in the Categories, you will find a subcategory for braided bracelets under Jewelry >> Bracelets:

https://www.etsy.com/search/jewelry/bracelets/woven-and-braided-bracelets

[Former_Member]

Sandy,

Other than good keywords, which you seem to have, the way Browse works is a mystery. Popularity (sales) play a very big part in Relevancy searches and might also factor into Browse.

I have other Etsy shops and even though I use very good keywords and my listings are found on the first few pages for Relevancy searches as well as somewhere in Browse, I get very few views from Browse.

Etsy once said that very few sales come from shoppers browsing, that most sales come from Relevancy searches. To me, Browse is not worth spending too much time on.

[Former_Member]

ALT,

SEO for Google is more involved than Etsy SEO but making changes for Google SEO always improves Etsy SEO.

Google SEO basics:
1. Always research keywords to find the keywords shoppers really are using to look for items like yours, using Google Adwords Keyword Planner. Use keywords exactly as you find then in your research. Do not add other words in between or rearrange the words.
2. Add these keywords to the shop title, such as "Baby Shower Invitations", (etc.), instead of the current arrangement of keywords. For the shop title, find keywords for at least the most popular items you are selling.
3. In the listing titles, use the real keywords, such as "baby shower invitation" or "bridal shower invitation" etc. at the very beginning of the listing title, followed by the other descriptive words. Doing this ensures that Google searchers will see these first few words in Google searches. (there is a long explanation on how and why that works, too long to get into here)
4. Use the keywords from the shop title and section names in the shop announcement text.
5. Use the keywords from the listing title in the listing description.
6. To move your shop up higher in Google search results, work on backlinks for your shop.

[BeadsAndKnotsByNina]

Mary,
thank you very much for your valuable comments and advice as well as for correcting my mistake in figures.
Of course, I will check my titles again.
Have a nice and relaxing Sunday.

[Former_Member]

Thank you Mary. I also thank you for teaching me about good keywords through your tutorial and this team. I have spent a lot of time working on them and still do research every time I renew a listing. I am a little discouraged right now as views are down for my shop despite the good SEO. I understand a lot of shops are experiencing the same thing. May, June and July are usually slower for me but not like this. But, I keep plugging away.

[Former_Member]

Sandy,

Keep track of the rankings of your listings for the most important keywords that you use so that you can see if a drop in views and sales is the result of a drop in rankings or just from seasonal fluctuations. Checking rankings at least once per week is a good practice to get into.

I added this information to the current version of my SEO Guidebook along with steps to quickly recover from the most common reason from a drop in rankings and views. Coupon code TEAMS20 for 20% off is available to all SEO team member who would like to get this SEO guidebook.

[ThresholdPaperArt]

Any advise you could offer would be greatly appreciated to receive more views. Thanks so much!

[Former_Member]

June,

There are many SEO parts that work together for higher visibility and more views from both Etsy and from Google. The most important piece and best place to start is with keywords.

It looks like all the keywords in the listing titles and tags came from suggestions from other sellers. You should do one more thing before choosing which keywords to use.

Keyword research is the basis of all SEO, including Etsy SEO. Etsy sellers do the first part of keyword research very well by asking for keyword suggestions, aka brainstorming for keywords. The next step in keyword research is the actual researching of all the keyword suggestions using a keyword research tool that tells you IF and HOW popular each keyword is.

Database for keyword research: http://adwords.google.com
How to use Google Adwords Keyword Planner: https://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-beginner-and-advanced/discuss/13988472

Here is a short list of keywords for your listing:
"Paper Wall Hanging, Handmade Paper Art Work, Boho Fiber Art, Green Textile Art, Eco Chic Textured Art, Modern Decor, Cream Tapestry Artwork"
The number on the right is the average number of views per month for each of these keywords:

abstract art 60500
abstract wall art 1600
boho fiber art 0
collage art 2900
contemporary wall art 1600
cream tapestry artwork 0
eco chic textured art 0
fabric wall hangings 880
fiber art 1300
green textile art 0
handmade paper art 140
handmade paper art work 0
mixed media art 4400
modern decor 2400
modern wall art 2900
paper art 4400
paper wall art 320
paper wall hanging 20
tapestry artwork 20
tapestry wall hangings 2900
textured art 140
wall art 60500
wall hanging 1900

Most of the keywords in the current listing title have either no views or very few views. There are other more popular keywords that would work better for more views:

A title like this would work better for this listing as well as other similar listings:

Paper Art Wall Hanging / Mixed Media Art / Abstract Wall Art / Modern Decor

The new keywords for the listing title and tags would be:
Paper Art
Wall Hanging
Mixed Media Art
Abstract Wall Art
Wall Art
Modern Decor

You CAN use exactly the same keywords in many listings in both the title and in the tags. Doing this actually works better for SEO,

Try these changes on all of the paper art listings and let us know how it works out over the next few weeks.

[ThresholdPaperArt]

Good morning Mary! All I can say is wow ~ thank you so much for this well thought out and researched advice. I will carry out your advice and report back.

[KristianRowDesign]

Thank you so very much Mary for your input. That Totally makes sense. I will definitely try those changes.

One other question. Up until a couple months ago I had a baby shower invitation on every page from page 1 on and then all of a sudden they disappeared. Do you know why that would have happened or if there have been some changes to cause that. I know its the broadest search term but I had a ton of traffic and sales from just that search term and now I only get a fraction of that.

[Former_Member]

Having a listing on page 1 for a very popular keyword phrase does make a huge difference in views. Losing rankings, views and sales can be very difficult if you do not know what happened.

It is possible to keep track of the rankings of your listings for at least the important keywords and be able to make changes when rankings start dropping before it goes too far. In my SEO guide book, I include all the ways we can lose rankings and search traffic and how to recover from the most common causes. When you do this, you will be able to see when Etsy makes a change in the search results that cause your listings to begin moving further and further back. Without seeing this actually happening it is very hard to know exactly what happened.

When rankings and views drop, Etsy sellers typically begin changing keywords and other information to try and recover. Doing this can actually make things worse. Use really good keywords and keep track of your listings in Etsy searches using these keywords, then let us know if you experience a drop in rankings and views again.

[KristianRowDesign]

Thanks so much Mary! If I were to purchase your SEO guide book, which one do you recommend as the best. I went to your site and saw four different ones, are they all the same? thanks again! You've been a tremendous help!!

[Former_Member]

All the SEO guidebook listings are for the same book. I was just testing a few different listing titles.

[PaperStudioByC]

Hello Mary.

I really appreciate your advises and I appreciate them so much that I could'n resist and bought you the Guide.

I'm perfectionist and love what I do. However, I've been working on SEO (in all store and in the wedding invitation, not on cards already)and my wedding invitations are almost on top in the search. But I think that 25/35 visits/day is not so good enough. I know too that I need to have more than 19 samples, but I think that is something failing.

If you could see my store I really appreciate :)

Thank you so much.

[TangleCrafts]

Hi Mary, thanks for all the time you put into helping everyone with their SEO enquiries! My question is about Etsy tags & titles. From the SEO Summary thread:

"The order must not be altered in titles and tags, so the order has to be exactly the same (see the example above). If you haven’t fulfilled all your tags but you’ve already completed the title, use it (or them) to provide some more information."

I have recently been through all my notebook/journal listings and made sure tags & titles match as closely as possible. When I had extra tags available, I used the title words in different combinations (to make similar-but-different keyword phrases).
EG if part of my title was "Upcycled notebook, lined travel journal" my first choice tags would be "upcycled notebook" and "lined travel journal". If after working the rest of the title through into tags I had some tag spaces left over, I would then go back and match up parts of the title in different combinations, eg "upcycled journal", "travel notebook", "lined notebook" etc

My question is, is this a waste of 'spare' tags? Would my secondary keyword phrases be picked up anyway, because the words are already in the title, or is the extra emphasis helpful to being found for the alternative phrases?

Do you think that instead of re-combining the existing title words, I should instead add entirely different, new keyword phrases as tags (using new words which are NOT already in the title)? This way I guess I would be at least slightly relevant for some additional searches that I do not already have covered in title...

My sales are actually up on last year, and June has been my best month of the year so far; I just want to be sure that even so, I am maximising my potential to be found, so do really appreciate your feedback.

[ShillyShallyjewelry]

Hi Mary,
Thanks for such an informative team. I have learned from you in the past, worked on tags and title, listened to others, done google adwords and now my views are fewer than ever! Any thoughts? Would really appreciate an expert's advice.

[Former_Member]

TangleCrafts,

It is no longer necessary to keep the keywords used in the listing title in the same order in the listing tags. The Basic SEO Summary thread has been updated to show this and other changes: https://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-beginner-and-advanced/discuss/16494194

Use the listing tags for real keywords that shoppers use. You can find this by using Google Adwords Keyword Planner: https://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-beginner-and-advanced/discuss/13988472. There might be keywords here that shoppers use that you know nothing about - yet. Check out all the keyword ideas you have to see if they are ever used by shoppers

In the listing tags, include the keywords from the listing title and then add more keywords from your keyword research. After that, add your own words if there are unused tags remaining.