Low Traffic from Etsy Search. Much lower than last year!

[Former_Member]

I've noticed a very considerable drop in traffic as a result of searches within Etsy since last year- it's about 1/5th what it was this time last year!

I still have roughly the same amount and variety of products in my shop (76 items), so it can't be a result of fewer listed items. My products have not changed significantly, and nor have my tags- is it possible that popular search terms have changed? Or is there that much more competition in the market?

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Any ideas what could be causing this?

[PaperPlanePrints]

There could be different factors. It could partially be the way Etsy's search algorithm is giving back results. A lot of long-successful shops have experienced major drops.

But there is also a lot more competition now than at this point last year. Have you searched for your items lately? See what you can uncover that way. I definitely see a lot more competition in my market.

[Former_Member]

Google updates the Google algorithm often. The recent Penguin algorithm update targeted Link Spam.

Last year Etsy.com was penalized by Google for Link Spam generated by Etsy sellers. Either the recent Penguin Update or a new Link Spam penalty from Google has resulted in a drop of views for some Etsy sellers.

It is easy to find backlink or link building deals that sound too good to be true (such as, 5,000 backlinks for $50.00). These deals ARE too good to be true and are Link Spam that hurt not only the shop owners who buy into these deals but also hurt many other Etsy sellers.

Etsy did eventually recover from the Link Spam penalty last year and will recover from this one but it will probably take several months. Google is very slow in removing penalties.

These Google penalties will stop if Etsy sellers will stop buying into these nasty spammy Backlink deals.

You can read more about the Google Penguin algorithm updates here: http://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-penguin-update

The recent changes to Etsy's Front Page would have no effect on views and sales. This change and Google's algorithm updates or Link Spam penalty happened around the same time.

[Former_Member]

What the above means to Etsy sellers . . .

When Etsy.com loses rankings on Google, the number of shoppers goes down a lot. When the number of shoppers goes down, the number of listing views and sales also goes down. Until the link spam is cleaned up and Google removes the penalty.

[ConcertinaPress]

good to know Mary!

Kerri, i've been working on re-writing my tags to include multiple word search phrases like "funny christmas card" instead of three separate tags like "Funny" "christmas" and "Card" like we used to be taught to do (I've been around on etsy since 2007)

[Former_Member]

Wow, Mary that's really interesting! Thanks for your in depth answer! I'll definitely read more about that. It's comforting to know that it could be a site wide experience, and isn't just that the relevancy of my tags has changed drastically in one year!

That said, I'm sure I could do some tweaking to improve my SEO. I have been using multiple word tags, Mary, and I've been taking another look at them, comparing them to what pops up in the Etsy search bar- this might be useful for you while you're re-writing yours?

And I think you're right breedingfancy- I've definitely noticed more competition in the hand knit arena! So that could be a factor as well.

[Former_Member]

I just read this post of yours Mary: https://www.etsy.com/ca/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/12579731 and I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind?

I've never paid for backlinks, but I did notice this fall that I had a massive increase in direct traffic to a specific listing. It was consistently over 100 direct views of this one item for at least two months, with no likes or sales from it, so I figured that something was fishy. I emailed Etsy and they said they couldn't tell if it was "unnatural" traffic or not. Given my other shop stats, I was pretty sure it was a bot or something, so I deactivated the listing. Do you think this could have harmed my ability to get found in searches?

Also, many of my items are made with the same material and method, so I tend to have a unique description at the beginning of the listing, but the bottom of the description tends to be the same across multiple listings (material description, shipping info, garment care instructions etc). Would you recommend changing this? And how much variation is necessary?

Thanks so much!