Why you are not getting found newbies

[#1]

Things are tough when your category has 2,000,000 items, and you have 40.
You must do everything possible to give yourself a chance to be found. I dont see that in threads compalining about low views.
And, it isnt that hard, nor does it take much time to have good tags and titles. Ignore all that constant "tweaking" noise you read about. Do it right the first time, and you can spend the tweaking time making things.

I have learned the following from the Queen of SEO:

1.Your title is not the name of your item. It is a 70 character string whose goal is to get your item found by etsy search.

2. If you cant tell exactly what the item is by reading your tags, your tags stink. Those words are what people search on. If I had a dime for every purple necklace that had neither purple nor necklace in the tags, I would have a lot of dimes.

3. Words in your title must show up in your tags. If Blue scarf is in your title, blue scarf needs to be in your tags.

4. Use as many of the 20 characters in your tags as possible. Blue scarf as one tag is better than blue, then scarf as two tags.

5.Read about SEO at cindys seo group. she is very wise. http://www.etsy.com/teams/10713/cindylouwho-team/discuss/10196168/

the end

[SplendidLittleStars]

very helpful thread!

[Former_Member]

chris from adelaide with xmas cards.

omg. naughty santa. I would put Bad Santa in the tags. very funny yank movie.
you only have 26 items, you will need more to be found.
you do have a niche you can exploit. I would like to see some drunken elves.
i could really get carried away on bad taste xmas cards, but I shant..
please use inches for us yanks. chicks have enough trouble about sizes, metric will just confuse them more
how bout buon natale cards for the italian types. I have sold hundreds of buon natale thingies.
i think you need christmas next to card in the title to be truly optimized, though i aint certain.
there are only 500 results for naughty santa, so you should usually be first or second page.
i would also like to see a card for us orthodox types who celebrate on january 7. Maybe a Mir Bozi card. those are hard to find.
what kind of stock is that? glossy, matte, etc

do you know why you cant use gift in the tags? Because you are only allowed to describe the attributes, not the use. silly, but thats how it is.
i think you need to get more specific in your tags.like christmas angel card , christmas santa card. i think those are 20 characters.

so, more stuff
more specific tags.
your busy season is here

[Former_Member]

Thanks Alex, Will do more research on American holidays and traditions.. damn us Aussies...

[Former_Member]

jo from portlandia

doya know the Wash Post has pittsburgh as the new hippest city in the us of a? you are #2
anywho
wow
I am going to be very honest with you. I am staring at the cleavage pics. Got my attention. which is good. men buy jewelry for women too. I do like to see how jewelry hangs on chicks. But, you only use three pics, how bout a close up of the piece without the awesome cleavage. what kind of shells are they?
I want to see the clasp. the tags handmade necklace and gift for her are meh. Mebbe the type of shell, or anything more specific. the necklace category is 6 figures, getting high up in smaller, specific searches will help more than being on page 982 in handmade necklace.
i see in another cleavage pic you have 5 pics and a closeup of the item. perfect.
the title for the green turquoise has lotsa room for more words.not sure what, maybe the clasp or the type of wire, or size, or shape of pendant.
ugh. the butterfly earrings do not have butterfly earrings in the tags. yoi, most of those tags bite. can woman, whimsical, fall fashion, copper, gift for her. No one is going to type those in search when they are looking for butterfly earrings. {shaking head}.you have czech glass beads in materials-use that. Be specific in your tags, and use more words in your titles that describe the attributes. Get a friend to help brainstorm. Its like playing 20,000 Pyramid.
use multi word tags.

big jewelry sellers have over 200 items. I know your material costs are high, but if you commit to listing several a week, I think you will sell. Your photos are awesome. As is the cleavage.

[Former_Member]

^Best response ever

[Former_Member]

Hey Alex - do you get paid for your advice? You should if you don't. Unfortunately, my listings are all over the place; I have work to do on many of them. I'm learning more every day and I'm hoping to be able get a grip on listing things more efficiently and effectively. Just had to stop in and say your advice is duely noted.

[Former_Member]

Alex, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for this thread! This is such a concise and useful explanation of tags. It's weird, I feel like I keep hearing SEO advice, but this really clicked for me. I'm going through now and editing a bunch of my listings. (And if you're still doling out critiques, I'd happily take one! I know I have a lot to work on!)

[Former_Member]

kendra from cincy. too bad about the reds.

you look young and eager

you have few items, way too few

the shoptimizer gave me an F in materials. I only use one. sooo.....
you earned your F.
dont put the title of your work in the title. put it in the description. No one knows your titles, ergo they wont search on it. Put main words toward the front. i think thats for the google.
i love the macaroon print. a freaking dorable.
those tags are awful. they leave me with the duckface.
you have ten one word tags.double them up, cookie wall art, cookie print, sea blue cookie print. Of course, no one will search on se blue cookie print. But they will on sea blue, and cookie print. So you can save an extra tag. You arent writing proper sentences. They dont have to make sense, nor does your title. They are words you choose to help people find you in search.
The more specific and descriptive words you use, the more you will be found.
doing good seo is only a piece of what you need to do. Any one thing wont automatically make you a superstar, it is a buncha little things.

all your tags need attention.

those macaroons will sell well.

[BaloolahB]

I am going to be very honest with you. I am staring at the cleavage pics. Got my attention. which is good. men buy jewelry for women too. I do like to see how jewelry hangs on chicks. But, you only use three pics, how bout a close up of the piece without the awesome cleavage. what kind of shells are they?
...............................................................................

Best answer ever!!
Dare I ask for a crit too?

[Former_Member]

becky from rochester

you sell cards ,, you customize them. i send u pic..Wow you have to do a lotta conversing with customers. Have many people asked how can they figure the dpi?? ha
you explain the how very well
gee.. those tags are making me face palm.
for the love and joy xmas one with megan, you dont have custom christmas card. 21 letters, one too many. You could use custom xmas card, or other combos.
10,000 results for custom christmas card. How did the first pagers get relevant for that? You need to be there, because thats what you sell. Boo and Loo are up there, and they are brand new!!! Check out their titles. You dont have that first. Their tags are bad.I dont see your shop, and I quit looking.
boo and loo are everywhere. And I would search custom card before printable card. But you could spread them both amongst your items.
brilliant.
your birthday invitations dont seem to have the tag of...............................................................................................................................................................birthday invitation.
custom invitation has 72000 items. tag for the specific kinds of invites, so you can get a chance at being found.
I had a history teacher who said "BS" all the time. And he would spit when he said it. Best teacher ever. I took AP history as a junior in a senior honors class. That guy straightened my ass out in a hurry.Did not feel special very long.
anywho, It means BE SPECIFIC. think about that when doing the tags.

[Laremi]

Hello! Great topic. Can you tell me what do you think about my store please!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/HandmadeLaremi

[Former_Member]

I am going to be very honest with you. I am staring at the cleavage pics. Got my attention. which is good. men buy jewelry for women too. I do like to see how jewelry hangs on chicks. But, you only use three pics, how bout a close up of the piece without the awesome cleavage. what kind of shells are they?
...............................................................................

Best answer ever!!
Dare I ask for a crit too?
.................
sure

I hope I didnt offend anyone, or sound creepy.
I am not breaking new ground here
I am pretty sure we all know that happens
a lot.

[BaloolahB]

Too busy laughing to be offended!

[Former_Member]

one mo before bed
i am learning stuff also

laremi from londonium

lotta items, open 11 months. weak sales. good fb and tweeter #s.
crocheter. no mittens. no blankies. shrugs. boleros. I have never heard of either one. Except the opera. Reading your girlie stores is like learning a new language. There has to be a class for this stuff. anywho
15000 items in shrugs. chicks know it.
does the hand washing put people off? me mum hated me buying handwashables for her as a gift. And it aint like she had to take it to the creek and beat it with a stick.
you obviously have been doing this for a while, and I bet you sell around The City. I would like to know more about you in your profile. I would like it if the person making me an $80 shrug has experience.
why aint angora in your tags?
some dont say anything about the type of yarn anywhere. you best hope crochetgirlie aint reading this. she would give you a much better critique than me. ask her. she is very kind .
you do great work.
I have no idea how I would go about making crochet lace.
that gotta take a lotta time.
nothing about mohair in the tags
not good
go see where you rank for "mohair shrug" i am tired.
I bet sticking the type of yarn in there will help.

[LeLaStudio]

Hi Alex,

Wow, so many people are asking for your help. Could I ask for a critique as well? :) Opened my shop in April but started listing around the end of June. My views so far average 60-80. I tried to work on my SEO but unsure if I am going the right direction. The sales dropped to the bottom...I only got 1 so far this month. Very frustrating...please help if you could spare a little time from your busy schedule. Many many thanks!!

Lisu

[Schalrausch]

Alex,
Good Morning from Germany,

may I ask you to have a look at my shop please?
Your thoughts/critique would be really appreciated.
It is kind of difficult for me due to different language too.

Thanks a million.
Heike

[MagpieQuilts]

Alex - this is great! Learning lots and LMAO! They need you to do an Etsy online lab! Off to work on my tags and titles!

[Former_Member]

jamie lee from NC

you have awesome pix. I see you took them yourself!!!! wow. those are professional. I bet your packaging is too. it looks like yuo chew your nails.not ladylike.
i could nitpick some stuff, but it would be weak.
just keep regularly listing stuff, and find ways to spread the word. do you use wanelo? that has been good for me. very ez.
your prospects for success are good. be patient, and dont be hard on yourself when sales are slow.
You are doing everything right.

i think 2-3 views per item listed is decent. But traffic from search is the key number to look at. with 80ish items, I would think 50 is good. If its in the 20s or 30s, I would play with the tags to get more specific.

put your best keywords into search, then look at the related suggestions down at the bottom.
they are usually pretty good ones to use

i should try that too
ha

[ChrisOsCreations]

alex thank you very much for the tips
and for finding my typos:)

[Former_Member]

sia from portland

first thing, your pics arent very good. go look at jamielees from raleigh. Ask her how she does it.
i see you dont have swavorski in your titles or tags in the turquoise earrings
i have seen very similar types of jewelry while doing this. It is very crowded. I went to see a friend at a show a few months ago, an outdoor mid level tent show.88 booths, 85 selling jewelry. I am in a guild, where you have to be juried to get in. Almost all the noobs are jewelers.
so...
you either need the best tags, titles, pix, patience, tons of items
or
do more to differentiate your products from theirs.
ideally both will work.
I am no expert in jewelry, but I do high end shows, and am usually surrounded by jewelry. I see what sells. It is a tough gig.
there are 65,000 turquoise earrings here
some are $5-10
didya know its the December birth stone?
my granma had the birthstones of all her kids and grandkids on a brooch.
have you looked to see if your other stones are birthstones, or have other meanings to people? many months have more than one, due to inflation.
your tags and titles are ok. fair.middling. But you need to do better to be found. You need an angle. the birthstones are one, I am sure there are others.
most of your keywords lead to ginormous results where you have little chance of being found.
be
specific
find angles
jamielee quality pix.

your work is good
selling it will take time and patience.
you have the basics down, go read the cindylou seo team stuff to get better.

[Former_Member]

Thanks Alex! :)

[AGemAmour]

Hi Alex,

Thank you for helping so many of us. May I ask you for an over all critique of my store? My average for last week is only 18 views a day. Yesterday had 10 and today no views at all. I am trying to rework my tittles and tags and working on the pictures. Hardly any sales. Please help!! Your honest opinion would be greatly appreciated.

[IAmLovedDolls]

Hi Alex,

Really fantastic tips and help here. I've been working on tweaking my titles and tags to make them specific, but broad enough to catch lots of searches. Views have been improving lately, but I'm not sure if that's due to increased activity within Teams or better tags/titles.

Would you take a look at my tags and titles specifically and let me know what else I could do to improve them? I'm currently editing them to make the most important keywords in the first three words in the title so Etsy will find them more often.

I'm aware of the flaws with my photos: next time I have a moment I'll start updating them all with more consistent and better photos. Right now I'm most concerned about tags and titles!

Thanks a million!

[Former_Member]

Thank you for the advice, what other things do you think my shop needs?

[Former_Member]

Thanks for all the help! Will work on tags, photos, descriptions, and inventory!