Why Renewing Items is Still Important as Ever (even with the changes)

[#1]

Most shop owners are aware that the default on the Etsy search engine has changed from “Most Recent” to “Relevancy”.

So many people are upset with this but I am ELATED!! I’ve had handfuls of people asking me – an outspoken advocate of renewing in my ebook – if renewing is still as important. In fact just three this day have responded to a Twitter comment I made today.

My answer is YES! And DO NOT despair. This can be better for you as a business owner.

Have you ever renewed/listed an item and looked it up a little later to find it buried beneath pages and pages of competition? Sometimes the pages are filled with things that don’t even match the search!

Have you clicked on some of those items to find tags that irritate you because they’re not proper for the item being sold? Perhaps the person is using every tag from here to eternity to attempt to draw in large customers (a big mistake).

Also horrible, perhaps you looked up an item to find one of your constant competitors updated half their store at the same time and they do this on a regular basis.

NOW your item has a chance. So do NOT despair the recent change, renewing STILL keeps your *relevant* tags higher up every time you renew. If this should change ANYTHING it should be a lazy or lax attitude towards proper tagging.

Need another reason to keep renewing regularly? Okay, here:

RELEVANCY is ONLY how *Etsy* designates your customers - by default - find you.

Google & other search engines still find newer links. I know people think they can come to me with arguements to the contrary: meanwhile THEIR shops have something like 20 sales in 4 years. I have almost 750 in over one (including a decent amount during Etsy’s infamous dry period of June-September).

I am not talking from *research*. I am talking from BEEN THERE, DONE IT, HAVE THE SALES TO BACK UP WHAT I SAY.

I know what worked for me. I am sharing it with you. Proper tags have ALWAYS been important, just as important as renewing items. I’ve seen my shop come up again and again and AGAIN on Google’s front page after renewing and it stays there for a decent amount of time.

I don’t know about your shop but almost 3/4ths of first time customers with me were NOT searching for stuff on Etsy. Instead they come in from Google, Yahoo and recently a few from Bing. Many signed up SPECIFICALLY to buy my item(s).

My renewal rate will not slow down due to the in-site Etsy change.

I hope I have answered this concern with sufficient information.

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much for posting this!!!

[Former_Member]

Andrea and Toccao (cool name!) - You're very welcome!!

[Former_Member]

Hi Rebecca,thanks for this really helpful thread:)

I do so hope this isn't a stupid question.

If you have a number of categories would you for example
day 1 renew 3 bags, then day 2 renew 3 scarfs etc
or
day 1 renew a scarf, a bag, a necklace
day 2 renew a scarf, bag,necklace
Would it make any difference?
thanks again

[Former_Member]

No!! That's actually a really good question! And YES it does make a difference. (I for one feel I have too many categories, lol. I have been trying to think of ways to simplify the store.)

Basically the idea is the more TYPES of items you have (categories) the more you have to advertise because you're trying to push all the items.

So you're right in thinking that each and every day you want to renew different categories during that day. If someone is looking for a scarf, well you're not going to pop to the top if you've renewed a purse.

Again, work within a budget or you'll NEVER see a profit (or the margin will remain low) but you want to advertise for every category!

WONDERFUL question, very mindful, Ann.

[WoolWench]

Awesome advice Rebecca, thank you :) I am going to try more renewing xx

[Former_Member]

Good luck, Suzy! I hope it helps. I've added you to faves, you've got lovely yarn and my mom is, um, obsessed (it's the nicest word I can come up with) with knitting :D Oh and I LOVE your shop name, lol!

[MODplayhouse]

Great post! Thanks! I am new to Etsy and hadn't even considered renewing- but glad to know I have that as a marketing tool!

[TheSapphireTheory]

As soon as i renew i see my shop stats go up, im all for renewing :) Thanks for your post!

[TheCrookedBobble]

Thanks so much for the info Rebecca! I'm fairly new (opened in the beginning of Sept.) Made a couple of sales:) I've renewed once but from the sounds of things, I need to do A LOT more:) What is the deal with Flicker? I'm in the dark on that one........I know it's a photo site, but how does it differ from Snapfish and Shutterfly?

[Former_Member]

Thanks for the tips Rebecca!

I haven't renewed very much, and I have 1 sale only. I'll experiment with it this month at 3x/day as you suggest in your other thread and see what happens!

What gave you the idea to renew so frequently? How quickly did your sales start picking up?

[Former_Member]

I have been struggling in the saturated jewelry category to get noticed. I was renewing, but stopped and also got frustrated with listing new items because views on both were so low. I'm not sure your advice would work for jewelry designers, but I am willing to set a budget if you think it will help.

[Former_Member]

That's good to know because I had actually stopped renewing after the changes because so many people said it didn't make a difference.

[ZehOriginalArt]

Thanks for the post. I have noticed in the past that when I renew, more views come in so it's good to hear from others that renewing does help. I'll have to get back to doing it more, had slacked off a bit since the relevant search.

[Former_Member]

S Bradt - You're so very welcome :)

Selena - Thanks for the support!

Sarah - I honestly have no idea how it differs. I know that Flickr gives you SOOO much control and copyright assurance. I love them and won't change as long as they stay true to their roots and continue to get better.

[Former_Member]

Sabrina - First I LOVE your cat print! Your cat looks JUST like my girl, lol.

I got the idea just by studying/trying out every "tip" and reading everything I could find. Once I realized that renewing really was renewing the SEO, I was ALL OVER IT.

[Former_Member]

Harriet - I sell jewelry! Not only that but I sell stuff that you apparently can buy from China for .25 a bracelet! What the heck? Talk about SLAVE labor. That's just awful.

Think that's not saturated enough? Okay, look up HEMP JEWELRY on Etsy. SEE how many sellers you find.

My point is that every store has it's challenges and if saturation is a problem you've got to find out how to stand out.

Find your successful competition and see how they describe and tag their items. LEARN from them. Then put your own slant on it.

I DON'T think that your items are found all over Etsy. Your stuff looks hella unique. My suggestion to you (if you want it) would be to add more variety to your photos. Sometimes show a close up of the pendant as the lead photo.

AND renew!!

Your stuff is GORGEOUS.

[GreenDesignsByLisa]

Thank you!! I renew often and was wondering if others did and what others' views were!!! Gotta go renew some items now :-)

[Former_Member]

Stephanie - That's exactly why I posted this! A lot of people I have helped in the past were coming to me freaking out about the changes.

[JudyStalus]

I have two shops and have been watching my stats pretty closely.
When I renew an item I find I get at least 10 views pretty quickly (more if it is picked up for a treasury or liked by someone in a lot of circles).
That is about $.02 per view.
I have also been experimenting with the Etsy ads but so far without much success since I am averaging about $.10 per view.
I think it is early on in all these new Etsy changes but so far it seems that renewing is still a better way for me to spend my advertising money.
By the way I get very few views from Google but renewing still seems to work pretty well for me.

[Former_Member]

Janet & Lisa - Hope this gave you both a little reassurance :)

Judy - 2 cents a view is a good price, lol!

Do you have a Google Analysis account? If you know what keywords people use to find your shop you can try working with your Shop Announcement (approx the first two sentences) and your brief "shop description". Usually "Memories and Dreams" aren't things people type into to find something to buy.

Just something I though might help with Google/Search Engine Views

[Former_Member]

Thanks Rebecca! I am also quite new here (since September) and haven't renewed anything yet because I was under the impression that it wasn't necessary with the new relevancy search.
I'll go ahead now and renew some of my oldest items and will watch carefully what happens! :-)

[Former_Member]

Linda - Yeah, as long as you still have RELEVANT tags and descriptions, it's totally important! I'm so glad that I've helped a few folks out. That's the whole reason I posted this. I am surprised that Etsy isn't more on top of making sure it's shop owners still KNOW that renewing is a great method of advertising/reaching customers!

[Former_Member]

Really helpful info! I read your earlier post too, and I am going to give it a whirl ;)

[FantaSeaJewelry]

You are so right on with this information. I tried it today and went from getting viewed 50 times and favorited maybe 15 if I was lucky to getting almost 300 views with 140 favorites today. The only thing I did differently was renewed at some of the peak hours.

So it still does make a difference! Thanks for this post Rebecca!

[Former_Member]

Rebecca:
Thanks so much for your post! I am new to the renewal issue and this type of feedback is so important!
I do have a question: I was wondering if you have an opinion on WHAT TIME OF DAY to renew items. I worry that renewing when I usually have time (i.e late at night) is a bad thing, and that I need to renew in the mornings when there is a better chance of getting seen. Is there a difference, or am I over thinking this?
Again, thanks for the info!