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

[Former_Member]

I do have one more thing to add.I got a convo from one of you engireer chicks, and I think it is important for those who have a good grasp of the seo stuff back there to know this.
Its about getting to the front pages in browse. I havent tried to game it much, but some of you may want to. Not a bad idea. I have 175 hits from browse, which ARE NOT VIEWS!!!! They are Traffic Sources. For me, that may be worth from 325 -500 views, based on my average of 62 listings this month.
Also, if "any" ballbusting little blonds girls are reading this, I am done with all my wholesale orders, so my shop will be gettin filled soon. I am not "done" done, as in wrapped and in the mail done, but pretty much done. Pretty much complete. Just got to sand and shellac and wrap and find a box and mail "done".
anywho....
Before 10/2011, search on etsy ranked the listings for each search term based on when it was listed, with most recent being first. So If you listed a baby doll dress 1 second ago, and someone searched on "baby doll", you would be first page first slot in search until other listings with baby doll somewhere in the tags or title was listed. Even if it was a " monkey baby doll pipe bomb", People found that out, and some renewed every item in their shop everyday. Expensive if you had 100 items. The category format also worked that way, until it was replaced by browse. Browse is now based on relevance, like search. So.... people who had success pre 10/2011 kept renewing every day because it still helped getting found in categories.
Like this woman:
http://www.etsy.com/teams/7718/site-help/discuss/11057071/page/1

take a gander at her tags. Etsy ruined her business by dumping recency and categories and replacing it with browse. Her way out is to promote through social media and to rely on old customers to get sales. She was doing pretty well before the changes. Heathers dog could come up with better tags by smacking his widdle paws on the keyboard.Of course she isnt being found by search. She has no clue how to do it. She is still doing what worked in the past. Kind of like the Giant Panda only eating bamboo shoots. I bet next year she will still be renewing every day and whining that etsy killed her business. Big advantage for you noobs. You have no strong suit to give up. She is married to it.
The only reason etsy used most recent in search, is because they didnt have the man or brain power to write a good search algorithm. It took al gore 35 years to invent it(between adapting his romance with Tipper into the tear jerker "Love Story", and inventing the innernets). I am sure Dr. Ididntspend8yearsinevilgradschooltobecalledMs. Pam can tell you that algorithms are a tough gig. My cuz, the mathematician did that for 15 years. His company was hired by the big banks to write algorithms to rate the credit worthiness of buyers for new financial products. Banks couldnt do it themselves. As you may have seen over the last six years, they aint perfect predictors of human behaviour. Neither is etsys, they are constantly making and testing new and better ways to make sure a search for "baby doll dress" only brings up baby doll dresses. That is why I told you 147 times to go join cindylous seo team. She figgers that stuff out for a Living. She is a math girl. And a cliche, as she makes jewelry to sell here on the side. Shocker. headshake.
That cotton woman back there is oblivious to the changes. dont you be.

Cindy has also figured that the new browse search ranks items in the subcategories (not the top categories like ART, which are handpicked by etsy) by bundling tiny searches together and using them to fill the top pages.
LAst week i had a blue moon mosaic move steadily upwards to first page top slot in Art<Mosaics. Lotta traffic, so I made another. Bingo. First page, second row.
There was something in the tags and titles of those two that were in one of those small searches. You can figure that out, lotta female brainpower here.
But those smaller searches change every few days. But you can figure those out. You is smart. Cotton lady probably wont. She is married to what worked in the past.
Cindy also speaks about that in her team.Go Join, ask her stuff. She is giving free info. Like a golf lesson from Jack Nicklaus.

hmm

good reason right there to form my own team. We can share that info between us and Crush Everything In Our Path!!!!!!

I will ask if I am allowed to do that.
yes, I am protecting my man parts with nontyping hand.

[Former_Member]

Thanks Alex for all the good advice. Work hard and do well!

[Former_Member]

Rocky could certainly come up with better tags than: tshirt or Tshirt. WTF is the difference between those two tags. besides the magical capital letter T? Here come some better ones to replace those...

Rocky - get out your widdle paws and smack away...

djkjwjg kljfoefowepegrj

Tags done. Way to go! *high five* good boy.

[Former_Member]

Oh - and please invite me to join your team if you start one. I'm a big fan of crushing things in paths. ;)

[Former_Member]

Yes Alex, please invite me to join, I have been working diligently on my tags every day and only have about six or seven left to do. I might have to redo them again as I have yet to see a lot of traffic from my new reworking, but that is the game and I AM playing!!!

[Former_Member]

this is fascinating. i joined cindy's team, thanks for the recommendation. also - i tried 'shoptimizer' on appleturnovershop and it was pretty fun. i'm not sure how accurate it is - i'd love to hear what you think, alex.

[Former_Member]

Hi I would like to know if the tweaking I'm doing to my listings with titles and tags are doing anything in the right direction.

[Former_Member]

Alex,

Interesting. But, as an SEO professional, it is easy for me to see that your shop and listings have a long way to go with SEO, especially with Google. You talk a "tough game" but your listings and the rest of your shop are only part way there.

I have been on Etsy for over four years with 3 shops and have seen many changes over that time. Etsy is no different than the rest of the Internet, which is in a constant state of change. Etsy's Relevancy Search and Browse Pages are simple child's play compared to Google SEO.


Try my SEO Teams for more about SEO that you never knew or thought about: SEO Teams:
http://www.etsy.com/teams/11352/relevancy-and-seo-for-all-etsy-shops
http://www.etsy.com/teams/12637/seo-team-seo-reviews

[Former_Member]

thanks mary I read you a lot

i havent put much into getting google traffic
i am getting more than I used to , but there is a lot of meat on that bone

[Former_Member]

Alex,

Interesting. But, as an SEO professional, it is easy for me to see that your shop and listings have a long way to go with SEO, especially with Google. You talk a "tough game" but your listings and the rest of your shop are only part way there.

I have been on Etsy for over four years with 3 shops and have seen many changes over that time. Etsy is no different than the rest of the Internet, which is in a constant state of change. Etsy's Relevancy Search and Browse Pages are simple child's play compared to Google SEO..
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I have given this some thought. It is true than I have barely done anything with google. I have been concentrating on being found through etsy. Of the 1000 items I have listed here over the last year, only the 65 I have listed now are unsold. I removed around 300 and sold those offline, the rest sold here. Etsy is still my #2, and only gets my leftover time.
It has been so long since I had a listing expire, that I no longer check. Over the course of this thread, I have been thinking about why that is. Things that have worked for me, and some that havent.

I do talk a good game, but I also play one. Especially darts. Throw like Marino.
Anywho. I have shared my proven winners.

As Mike Tomlin says, you are what your record says you are.

[Former_Member]

Alex,

You have a good start with SEO.

There is so much more that you can do with views and sales including on Etsy. but if you are happy with your views and sales then this is what really matters.

[Former_Member]

Alex,

You have a good start with SEO.

There is so much more that you can do with views and sales including on Etsy. but if you are happy with your views and sales then this is what really matters.

..............

so true

here is my "logic"... I only made improvements to my pix, etsy seo and now google seo when I got more time to make things for etsy, in an incremental fashion. I am sure the day will come when 75 sold items a month is no longer acceptable. Then I will deal with better photos and delve into more google stuff.

It is like I have been slowly easing off the brake since I opened for good one year ago.

[Former_Member]

Hi Alex, please could you critique my shop :-)

what is the goal for your etsy store?
To sell well and to get my brand name known

how long have you made stuff?
2 - 3 years.

have you sold elsewhere before you opened on etsy?
Shops

how well do you think you will do here?
At the moment, I'm having my doubts! but I would love it to work - I am looking else where on the internet to sell too that is more focused on designer products.

[Former_Member]

Hi! I've been reworking all of my listings, and I'd love a critique about how I'm doing so far! I'd really like to try and get involved in etsy this holiday season, and actively promote my shop!

[TheSapphireTheory]

Thats so interesting! Tags always confuse me! I will be doing this as im currently listing my new collection, will also read the post on SEO.
Thanks again!

[Former_Member]

I would love to hear your opinion on my shop if you wouldn't mind. I haven't benn open very long and I'm trying to take a lot of the advice I read within the teams and forums, but I would love to hear your opinion!!!
Thanks!!

[Former_Member]

oh alex a critique would be so welcome to this newbie!
just starting out.......and well...would like an expert opinion.
self marketing is not my strong point, but am learning.
thank you.

[ShopOrangeBlossoms]

Would you mind critiquing mine? I know my pics need help. I'm learning how to take pics.

BTW, my daughter is Serbian and Greek. :)

[SeagullSmithJewelry]

Hi Alex I did take your advice and made sure I use all 13 tags, but I'm still not getting sales. I don't want to be a pain in the butt, but could you give me a once over with my titles and tags and make some suggestions? My pics are in the process of being changed to all white backgrounds also. Ellen

If anyone else on this thread has suggestions or comments as to why I'm not getting sales please post constructive advice. Thanks

[SeagullSmithJewelry]

Nikki I just looked at your shop and your items are adorable. I think using Foto Fuze to get a white background might work for you. Try it out. Good luck

[ShopOrangeBlossoms]

Ellen, thanks for the tip! I am really struggling with photos!

[happystitchery]

thanks for the info & link - I will def put your advice into practice

[Former_Member]

i'm new to etsy and pretty new to selling my candles online period. selling them period, I should say.
any suggestions for me??
thought it was best to only list a few items to start, to see how it goes....is that a wiser decision over listing everything?

thanks so much

[Former_Member]

@ellen How are you promoting your store? Do you use any social media? Because the trick is you want to build an audience. I don'tjust post links like 98% of all etsians. I am trying to build my brand.I share my experiences with my followers with works in progress, or an insight to my inspiration.That may help. But SEO and titles are a trick. You want Google and websearches to find you.

Views don't generate sales, yes. But I think if you try to tap into who might buy your stuff, it helps. I don't know what happened to cause my store to finally get a shot,but you just have to keep on plugging away. If something doesnt work,move on to the next thing.

[Former_Member]

This is very helpful thank you!
I went back to look at my title and tags:)
How is my page doing?
I am a newbie so all I get are views and likes so I probably have a lot of problems!

Thank you again!