Viewing Views Differently

[#1]

Hi Team!

I wanted to share a few thoughts. I'm sure you're aware we've changed the way Etsy's search works. In this change, you may notice buyers looking at fewer items before they pounce. We're seeing more overall sales by the Etsy community. This is exciting, the quicker a buyer can find what they are looking for, the better. But this does mean they are viewing less items on their hunt for the perfect handmade or vintage item or supply.

A while back I wrote about the single sale highs and lows: http://www.etsy.com/teams/5002/etsy-success/discuss/6796368/ It's easy to get wrapped up in watching a sale or view counter get higher and higher - but this can be an arbitrary way of measuring success.

Now I want to talk about conversion rate. Your conversion rate would be the number of favorites you get in comparison to the number of visits, or the number of sales compared to the number of visits. (Or go ahead and track both!)

I'm sure many of you have thought about this already, but I want to bring it back up to you now, because I see many sellers focusing intently on the number of views they are getting in their shops. Remember all views are not created equal. Instead of trying to grab as many views as possible, you should be thinking about pulling in the right buyer (one who is ready to support you and become a collector)!

With all this said, it is important to update your shop so that your views don't drop too drastically. In the last Relevancy Shop Critique on Etsy's Online Labs page: http://www.etsy.com/community/online-labs. In this pre-recorded workshop HeyMichelle and I give you a way to come up with your own formula (SEO is never cut-and-dry) to help you optimize your titles and tags for Etsy search.

Before you go off updating, tweaking, coming up with your own formula - think about what your most important measurements of success are.

One more thing while I have your ear, I'd hate to see anyone spend more time than necessary trying to tweak titles and tags for any kind of search engine optimization. I can't tell you exactly how much time you should invest experimenting in this area. You may want to see where Etsy Search ranks in your top referrers list (you can see this in your Shop Stats). If it's at the very top - you're probably doing ok. If it's way down near the bottom of the list, perhaps you should do some more researching and testing. Again, there is no one path to success, but the first step is the same for all: set specific, important and reasonable goals. Then you'll know which path you should be on to get there.

I hope this helps! Please feel free to challenge me in your responses! I'd love to have a good discussion about this.

Danielle

[TheBabyHandprintCo]

I am trying to find out how to get noticed on google search. I find others around me pop up, but I am not among them. I have a blog. I type in teapots on etsy or ceramic handprints on etsy and mine is low on the list. Any help?

[Former_Member]

Thank you very much for advice .-)

[Former_Member]

alright then... I'll try not to panic... even though my views are way too low...

[SunshineCottage]

I've been working slowly but surely to update my tags and titles. I was very discouraged at first and felt overwhelmed at the thought of having to learn another way of doing things. Overall though, it has been a good thing. I've taken another look at items that have been sitting there a few pages back, un-noticed. I've been picking 2 or 3 items a day to update and relist. I've been using better descriptive title names, then adding my cutesy title, and so far it seems to be working. I've also been re-checking tags, and filling in the info on the new questions that Etsy is asking. I've been doing searches under what I think my customers might look - and I'm usually in the first page, in some catagories the second and third pages too! I'm still getting hearts, and still getting into treasuries (I use that as a sign that my photo's are pretty good). Sales still haven't improved much, but my items have a definite market. Listening to everyone else talk about low sales, I'm beginning to wonder if it's more time of year (back to school, last of the vacations etc...) than the Etsy switch over. All in all, Etsy is like having any store, if you had a brick and mortar you'd be constantly updating displays and adding new merchandise (I know, been there, done that) - you've got to put in the time and effort to reap the rewards.

[Frecklesoriginals]

Know what Danelle? You always talk sense. I have done some tweeking after the change and put the most relevant words first now, then the heart felt description. I supose it's wait and see what hapens now. Pam ,

[Former_Member]

How are you all measuring success with your bounce rate? I do notice that it has gone down but not sure what would be considered "good." When i first opened my shop my bounce rate was around 60s to 70s pretty consistently. NOw it's in the 40s to 50s. So definately improvement there but does that mean something still needs tweaking?

[metalicious]

Great idea about tracking sales per views, thanks Danielle!

[lisalehmanndesigns]

thanks danielle, great tips...and @bluegate yes bounce rate is improving! yay!

[Former_Member]

Okay, now I'm lost. I found my stats, which look good according to what I'm reading, but what is bounce rate & where do I find that?

[Former_Member]

I agree! I will have to check hearts compared to views! Thanks for the report!

[peacesofindigo]

Awesome info, Danielle!
Thank you so much for keeping us updated~

[2sistershandcrafted]

To creatonbyjanetjewel, bounce rate can be found in google analytics report.

I just wanted to say that nobody like change. I'm one of these people! But, these search changes have forced me to look deeper into choosing titles and tags. I have to say I still have a lot to do but so far I'm being found on google and other search engines other than just etsy which has resulted in more sales. That's the final goal for all of us. So, thanks etsy for kickin me in the but to get me more focused and educated. It is working for me.

[BeadsToWeave]

You are discussing conversion rate of views to favorites. I'm interested in how to turn favorites into sales. I'm a new seller. Is there a way to communicate with those who favorite to encourage sales?

[Former_Member]

Danielle,
I must be seeing and reading something than what you wrote about. Everything I read is that people's sales, favorites, etc have all dropped. I have watched your videos, done what you said to do, and it seems like our shop is now dead ! This is very scary.
We are not getting more of anything, everything has dropped. Not to mention the amount of time it is taking to re-do everything.
I'd love to hear what it is we are doing wrong...love to hear back from you.

[Former_Member]

Your most recent addition for us as shopkeepers to target our interested
parties....gives a choice of certain targeted persons....is there anyway in
which one of those listings could provide an option: name your interested
buyer?....or something like that....
I want to target "brides to be" to those who wish to buy my hand-carved
wedding candles......just a thought which would be helpful to alot of us
sellers, I'm sure....thanx

[Former_Member]

sorry, I wanted to get back to etsy.com to refine the input on my most recent
item...I did, however, take to heart your suggestion about revisiting the "tags"
to see if you have chosen attractive meaningful ones.....and I have gone to
a few other papercutters' shoppes to see how they have identified their art-work....I have also actually changed some of the tags. thanx for the heads-
up on this way to success.....I don't have any hearts.....I presume that the
symbol represents "sales"? correct? I'm new since May 6th....

[Former_Member]

My stats show that people are looking and finding me under VERY BASIC SEARCHES LIKE "PILLOWS" ans "BUNTING". NOT under key word specifics. ETSY MUST BE MAKING ENOUGH MONEY ON THEIR FIRST PAGES BIG SHOP SELLERS. THEY STILL GET OUR 20 cents on top of it. YES! WE WANT TO BE ON THE FIRST PAGES OF A GENERAL SEARCH OF OUR ITEM...not on a rant about all the details of our item. I agree with BearStitches. There is no way on earth I will get up to the first pages of just a search of "bunting" or "pillow covers" because I don't make Etsy enough money. How can thousands of items all be on the first pages if they all have the same tags---they won't. So, how do the ones on the first pages, with all sorts of different headings, tags, labels, wording, pictures, get on the first pages?? Their titles are all different and so are their tags. Think about it.
So, for the sellers who are struggling and new, getting on the first pages of a search is not going to happen.
PEOPLE DON'T NECESSARILY WANT TO FIND A SPECIFIC ITEM...BUYERS WANT TO SEE WHAT'S OUT THERE. ESPECIALLY IN HOME DECOR. PEOPLE WILL BUY WHAT THEY LIKE--- IF THEY SEE IT. WHO IS GOING TO PUNCH IN PINK FLOWER AND POLKA DOT BUNTING OR GREEN DAMASK PILLOW. THEY JUST WANT A CUTE BANNER AND A NICE PILLOW-THEY ARE NOT INTERESTED IN THE DETAILS AND THE ACTUAL PATTERN. MANY COLORS AND PATTERNS CAN WORK IN SOMEONES HOME.
PLEASE GIVE OTHER SELLERS A CHANCE AND BE FAIR.

[Former_Member]

Oh my goodness..... I've retagged, I've re-done, I've revised and am still doing it, most of my items are in the first 3 pages of a search, and I know that most of my pictures are great... so why are my views STILL low????? I'm so lost... right before the change, I was well on track to having a year that was 30% better than last year... now I'm not so sure :(

[Former_Member]

@dprintsclayful - I have looked at your shop and it is very cute...Some of your tags seem a bit repetitive? maybe varying the tags in a few listings? I wish I had more creative ideas...

@Brooke - thank you. having a generic frame and matte that I could temporarily place the art and take a photo is a great idea. Recently I started showing a photo of another "like" piece of work that is framed, but to show the actual piece in frame I hadn't thought of.......As far as treasuries, some are out of the blue, but mostly by a couple of teams I am a part of. Such as "FineArtFriday" - We all as able make treasuries to post on Fridays. Things like that. This has been a great way for people to find my shop.

@??i just forgot - anyway - I like the idea of typing in your target audience. I guess I would put in "art lover, art collector?"

[Former_Member]

Can anyone tell me why all the same few shops are on the first pages?

[AppalachianVelvet]

Wonderful advice! Thanks for the new view.

[Former_Member]

Hear! hear! In my day job I manage several websites for an industry-leading manufacturer, including managing SEO and PPC programs. While visits and page views are nice, it's about the quality of the visit. Lookie lous are always welcome, but it's the potential buyers everyone wants!

[MetalAndGrete]

I tought abaut it a lot, I have an high number of favorites in comparison to the number of visits (one item with 43 views and 13 favourites). I think this is good but I still have to get more views, because 154 in a week (the last one) is very low I think.

[Former_Member]

I wish I could be so positive about the change.s I have seen very few sales with this new method.

[Former_Member]

Hi Danielle!!

Thanks for the info! It looks pretty useful! :)

I am new to etsy... I started my shop just a couple of months back... Have been doing the trial and error regarding the tagging and the titles.... Looks like I am still not getting the knack of it!

To me, it seems that its a cycle that I am not able to break.. to be at the top in relevancy search you need good number of views.. and you need to be on the top in the search results to get good number of views and hence the sales!!

The vicious circle doesn't seem to be breaking for me yet! I feel relevancy search is not good enough for new etsy members...