Help with tags

[Former_Member]

HI,
I know I post a lot about being a new shop, and im trying to take advice from all the different posts people put up,
I know i need better photos, but im wonderinf if my low views are due to my tags? I dont seem to get a lot of views at all throughout the week, so im wondering if this is the problem.....
would anyone care to help me with some ideas of how to improve my tags, or shop in general?
I sell a fair amount locally, and i believe in my products, it just doesnt seem to be translating online, like i said i know this may partly be due to my pictures......

Help please and thank you!!

[shoptwoblooms]

I'm new myself and also wonder about tags. I think part of the problem is Etsy has so many bath and body sellers on here and it's a very competitive market so I think it's hard for those of us that are new and don't have the online customer loyalty yet. Ive been selling locally for 9 years but I'm new to Etsy.

From what I hear it takes a lot of patience and work to get known.

[JoArtyJo]

I took a look at this listing as it looks great for valentine's day!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88057544/mini-melts-sugar-scrub-soap-black

I would retitle this something like: Mini Soaps, Heart Shaped, Valentine's Day Gift Idea - then add any extra details. Basically the most important words, which say what the product is, need to come first.

Think like a buyer, a guy looking for something for his girlfriend for valentine's day, a girl looking for a luxury handmade soap to treat herself, and so on. Would any of them type in "natural" on it's own? You need more specific tags that describe your product and what it could be for. For example, I would suggest tags like:

- heart soap
- valentine's gift
- gift for her
- mini soaps
- black raspberry vanilla soap
- raspberry scented soap
- mini melts
- soap gift set
- goat's milk soap
- sugar scrub soap

I could go on- hope you get the idea? Tagging takes a lot of time and patience. There was a thread on here the other day which really got me thinking. It was along the lines of- some buyers know what they are looking for- heart shaped soap. They should be able to find this listing easily. Others (the guy looking for a gift_ may have NO IDEA that they are looking for your soap, but it could be perfect for them! So try and describe your product without saying what it is- eg, "valentine's gift idea for her", and so on, as this may be what the buyers are searching.

I don't think any of us will ever finish tweaking our tags!!

Oh and by the way, your photos (in my opinion) are fantastic! They look very professional. In fact your whole shop looks professional and great quality. Good luck!

[michellemach]

It's a good idea to think both generally and specifically when creating tags. For example, I might know that I want a tea-scented soap, but maybe I haven't thought specifically about Earl Grey tea. So I'd probably use both "tea" and "Earl Grey" in my tags/title.

I always test my tags (and the first few title words) in Etsy to make sure that those are words that are being used.

Remember that you can also get more views by promoting your items outside of Etsy on Twitter, Facebook, your blog, etc.

[shoptwoblooms]

Michelle,

Thanks you have given me more ideas about how to title and tag my items too.

[Former_Member]

I just had a look at the tags of this item:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/88540407/soap-four-cinnamon-buns-dessert-soap

and I'd definitely look at re-tagging it. You've got "bath and beauty" tagged on it twice ;)

[Former_Member]

Your items look great! I can see some room for improvement, tough. I don't think I'd every search Food Soap, unless I wanted something to clean my food. Do you think the word "novelty" applies to your items? I also think I'd be more likely to search "body scrub" or "exfoliating scrub" rather than just "scrub." I'm not an expert on tagging, so maybe it doesn't matter since scrub is used any way. I suggest tightening up your spelling (I saw "raspeberry" once) and including more precise measurements. Most people don't know what "two cups" means. Try "16 oz" and include whatever the metric equivalent is. I love the way you include all of your ingredients - perhaps they would be easier to read in list form?

[Former_Member]

Thank you everyone for your advise !

[Former_Member]

One thing to think very carefully about is how you use the hyphen (-) in your listings.

Searches look for specific words and phrases so this title
Mineral Eyeshadow-FireCracker-Mineral Eye Pigment Makeup

is coming off as one word 'eyeshadow-firecracker-mineral' and is NOT a word that anyone would search for.

You would be much better to call it 'mineral eye shadow'.
If I am searching for 'firecracker' , you can bet that it wasn't makeup that I was looking for.

The hyphen in front of a word such as -oatmeal implies 'exclude oatmeal'.

So a search for 'bath bombs -oatmeal' basically says 'show me all bath bombs except the ones with oatmeal in the title'.

Don't shoot yourself in the foot before you start!

[Former_Member]

Hey all, I have tried to adjust my tagging according to your suggestions, and ive noticed a drop in my views and searches.... so now im wondering if im still going about it wrong..... Ack!

[bonniefillenwarth]

I get the majority of my views from posting recently listed items to Facebook and Twitter. If you link your shop to your Facebook and Twitter accounts, as soon as you publish a listing it will ask if you want to post to Facebook and Twitter, this makes it super easy.