Search ads, just not working for me...

[Former_Member]

So this is the second time, Ive tried search ads because I can't ever get a jewelry showcase spot. But I get like one or 2 views from those a day. First I spent $25, this time I spent $10. No positive results, any suggestions on my keywords or why it isn't working?
Thanks a lot,
Becca

[Former_Member]

HI Becca,
I had the same result. I tried it for 3 weeks during the "busy weeks" in November and I had impressions but only like 7 extra views in the whole 3 weeks. I think Etsy needs to tweak search ads quite a bit before it's actually going to help anybody but them make money.

[Former_Member]

Same for me. It was recommended to me so I thought I would try it for the holiday season. I have gotten some sales but the search ads don't seem to be doing much...the two showcases I purchased seemed to be more effective in bringing shoppers to my spot. I think for future, I will not pay for search ads but just do a showcase or two during busy seasons.

[Netamente]

I'd tried them twice, the second time during cyber monday weekend and it brougt me very few views, nothing relevant at all.

[Former_Member]

Are you doiong ads for your whole shop, or just items that aren't getting views through search? If you're doing your whole shop, I would suggest focusing your efforts on just items that aren't already getting views. Otherwise, you're watering down that $10 or $20 worth of impressions on items and keywords that don't really need help.

Second, I would take another look at your tags. Your purple wavy bracelet for instance (very cool btw!). You have these key words:
Tags
Jewelry
Bracelet
Chainmaille
chainmaillers team
chainmaille bracelet
coiled chainmaille
jewelry for women
purple waves wavy
wavy jewelry
purple silver
purple coils jewelry
funky chic
everyday wear
colorful jewelry
silver chainmail
unique strange


Some of your tags are right on target, like 'silver chainmail'. But, a lot of these will probably never get searched for.

For example I would never search for 'unique strange'. I also wouldn't search for 'wavy jewelry' or 'purple waves wavy'.

And, you're missing some really important ones. For example, according to google's keyword tool, Chain Maille (two separate words) gets 75,000 searches a month. 'Silver Jewelry' is another high traffic search term that you could easily use.


I hope that helps some! I think there are some people having really good success with search ads (and I hear pretty lousy things about showcases...) so if you can make it work for you, I think it would be a really great too to get more traffic.

[Former_Member]

I did search ads for about a month and I only got one sale out of it. It just wasn't worth doing it anymore. I was never able to get a showcase either.

[ThePlaidPineconeCo]

Ditto, Daniella. One month of search ads @ $5 a week, 1 sale. I was thrilled because I received the sale during the first week of search ads, so I thought they worked. But it's been a slow, sad, downward spiral from there. ;)

[Former_Member]

I have been doing it for almost a week and only got 1 view off it... :( I too almost feel like its a waste of $!!

[Former_Member]

Hi!
First off Kat thanks so much for checking out my shop and helping my out with this.!

I selected my most viewed and admired items (unfortunately the more costly) with maybe one less expensive "stocking stuffer."

Thanks for the tips about my keywords, I'll definitely go over them (and use Chain Maille :)

[Former_Member]

Unfortunately most of the other posts I'm reading from you guys sound pretty bleak. :(

[Former_Member]

Doesn't work for me either:(

[LittleAcornToronto]

Well it's a newer feature on etsy and hopefully they are working out some of the kinks! They didn't work for me either...cost a pretty penny over about 3 or 4 weeks. I got lots of views and zero sales.

The problem is that the system would work if people were using the best tags on their products...and people aren't. It's frustration when I search for "Vanilla Candles" and jewelry items, bed sheets, and clothing items come up in my search. Well, the same thing happens with Search Ads...and it makes it completely irrelevant!

[ForgedMettleJewelry]

TRUST ME, it's not you, they don't work for anyone...

[Former_Member]

I tried them also with no luck. I've had the most success so far from BNRs and renewing listings :-S

[TwiggyandOpal]

It is so tempting to try search ads. But I don't think I have ever heard anything positive coming from them. Really such a shame. I've done a couple showcases, got lots of views but no sales.

[Former_Member]

HI guys :) I noticed that the ads were not working for me at all...all I was doing is pouring money into a black hole. Instead a lot of my sales were and still are coming from Facebook. Can you believe it? And the facebook sales are totally outside Etsy so I make quite abit on those.
I tried the ads for 3 weeks and with no sales, I stopped them. I have ahd over a hundred sales on Etsy since then so I have come to believe that the Ads are absolutely not necessary. Promotiong outside Etsy is though.

[Former_Member]

I tried it for a month, just to see if it would have any impact. I got more views but no sales from it. I do think that the search ads could be more 'targeted' though. I see search adds coming up for jewelry when I am searching for supplies.

[TheSalvagedEdge]

Yep. Did search adds for a month or so. Made one sale the first week then nothing and views kept getting worse so I bailed.

[Former_Member]

I used search ads for several weeks during the busy season and I was pleasantly surprised. Someone else had given a few pointers that I followed, which may have helped. I picked just a handful of items in my store, maybe 5 or 6, to feature. I also edited down the keywords to ones I thought were most relevant and ones that actually seemed to be getting me views. After about 4 weeks here are my results:

$35 - spent
400 - views
26 - favorites
8 - orders
$169 - sales

Not amazing results or anything, but it's still 8 more sales than I would have had otherwise.

[Former_Member]

@ Reagan I think that's Exactly how search ads should be used! Don't waste money on items that already have good search results for important key words. And really trim down the tags you use to just the most relevant terms so they really count.

With search ads, you're essentially buying a first page search spot, so it doesn't make sense to pay for items that are already on the first or second page of searches. And, it doesn't make sense to water down your results with key words that aren't extremely relevant.

I would go for key words that are in really high demand, like Silver Jewelry. I know I'm not likely to get a first page search result for silver jewelry, that term is just too competitive. But I can buy a search ad with that tag and actually have a chance of getting seen.

I hope that makes sense.

[Former_Member]

P.S. I plan on using search ads aggressively after my holiday break, and that's how I'll be using them.

[Former_Member]

@Kat I would have liked more sales from the ads, but I do feel like I had much better success than many others had, so I'm pleased with that.

[PrairiePrimitives]

I tried search ads the first week and a half they were available. Didn't get enough views to feel like it was worth continuing.

What has gotten me a heckuva lot more views was getting active with Circles, which is something I had all but ignored until the last month or so. Since then, my views have zoomed from about 1,000 per month to nearly 2,000. I don't know that any of these views are directly responsible for the items I've sold in that time, but maybe! :-)

[IstriaDesign]

I know it doesn't help much, but ads didn't do anything for me either. I tried showcase, and got 2 sales from it, which I'm pretty happy with, since I just opened my shop. It's harder to get showcase for jewelry cause a lot of people are selling it, but keep on trying. You have amazing stuff, btw.

[Untwistedsister]

I tried the search ads when they first came out and then again later with different targets and gave them up. Not enough bang for the buck. I think the few that are getting benefits are few and far between.