SEO - Search Engine Optimization Series by MySweetieBean ~ PART 1

[H20works]

SEO - Search Engine Optimization Series
provided by MySweetieBean.etsy.com

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SEO - Search Engine Optimization Tips - Part 1

The best advice I can give you throughout this series is to THINK LIKE A BUYER. How would you search for the item you are selling? First let’s dissect the landing page of your shop.

Take a look at your main shop page. What do you have in your shop title? Is it a concise description of what your shop is about? Don’t waste this space! Google uses it as the TITLE of your page. DON’T repeat your shop name (I see a lot of you doing that) OR put a slogan or fancy Unicode characters there – people are not searching for that.

I used to have “My Sweetie Bean – whimsical creations and heirloom clothing”

The only thing helpful about that was heirloom clothing. When I reopened my shop this year, I changed it to – “Photo Props Accessories Clothes Crochet Unique+Original” I get a lot of hits from Google and direct traffic to my shop’s main page now that it accurately describes what I sell. Keep in mind that even though this field accepts 60 characters, Google only grabs the first 40, so make those count.

Now let’s take a look at your shop sections. How are they titled? Accurate categorizing of what you sell is extremely important here! Did you know that this becomes what Google uses for the KEYWORDS of your shop page?

Out of the random sampling I checked out, more of you are using your shop sections to your advantage than are not. That’s great! And though it is tempting to squeeze as much as you can in there, if your section title is "Bows/Barrettes/Clippies" vs "Bows Barrettes Clippies", you are hurting yourself. Google sees that as one big search string.

Use a comma after each word, with a space. If you don't have enough room, better to use only spaces - because again "Bows,Barrettes,Clippies" becomes one long tag and you want to avoid that.

Now on to your shop announcement. The first 145 characters become your shop’s DESCRIPTION in Google. This is not the place for fancy characters, slogans or the like – again, buyers are not searching for that. I used to have Unicode characters there in a fancy pattern along with my shop slogan.

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¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸ . • * ¨ •¸ . • * ¨ ´ • ¸ . • * ´ ¨ ´ * • . ¸
(¸.•´Whimsical creations, accessories and clothing for children of parents with impeccable taste.

Cute, but not practical. Now I’ve got:

Photo props, crochet, clothes, accessories, hair bows, headbands, fascinators, clippies, tutus, pettiskirts, bloomers, pantalettes & whimsy - all ages, baby to adult - you'll find it here at My Sweetie Bean.

Yes, SEO takes the romanticism out of witty/cute/silly/clever names for our products. It’s boring and rather dull. BUT it will result in many more views and the possibility of more sales, so onward we go! I will do my best to answer any questions about the info here.

[H20works]

SEO Search Optimization Tips Part Two

Let’s take a look at your items. When writing your copy, you need to think like a buyer. You’re going to hear that phrase a lot, but it is of the utmost importance!

Let’s start with your title. How would a buyer search for your item? The first 55 characters are important because that is what will be pulled by the search engines when your item is shown in a search. And words that match the search terms are BOLDED so it’s important to take the time to get your titles right.

Let’s take a look at this item:

www.etsy.com/listing/81758697

Scarf in Bright Blue and Pink Fuchsia with Sage Olive Green – Knitted

This is okay, but it could really use some work. You can get some ideas for common search terms on Etsy by typing in the words you want to use. You can see a drop down suggestion list, and you can use this to your advantage because these are popular searches. You can also use the keyword generator in Google Adwords to help you pinpoint key words that will work for your item.

With relevancy in place as the default search at Etsy, more weight is given to an item that matches a customer’s exact search terms. In the case of the above item, it should be listed as

Knit Scarf

But don’t stop there. What KIND of knit scarf is it? What COLOR is it? What STYLE is it? This happens to be made from a fuzzy, fluffy, eyelash yarn. It’s a blend of different colors, but it’s predominantly blue. It’s the newer style of thin width, long length. Going with that, we should see this in the title:

Soft Knit Scarf, Fuzzy Scarf, Long Skinny Scarf, Multicolor Scarf in Blue Purple Pink, Fashion, Winter, Trendy, Casual, Sparkly Scarf

As for tags, they should pull directly from the title to help you with relevancy. Again, think like a buyer. How would you search for this item?

When writing the body of your description, you want to use your targeted keywords from your title and key words at least two to three times – without sounding spammy. The first 160 characters become the page’s description. Note that Google will pull from anyplace in the body of the text if it matches a search term. For the first paragraph, I would write:

“This fuzzy and soft knit scarf is a fun fashion accessory for fall and winter. The long, skinny scarf is knit with multicolor yarn in blues, pinks and purples and has subtle sparkle…(and so on)…”

Try to change up your titles, tags and descriptions in similar listings. This will give you a good idea of how your shop is being found when you look at your stats and Google Analytics. You will see what keywords are working for you, and then you can tweak your other titles, tags, and descriptions.

It’s also important to link to other items in your shop if you can. For instance, if you have a lot of button rings but don’t have a separate shop category for them, you can make your own link as long as the rings have a word in common. Go to your main shop page. Let’s say your common word is button. Type “button ring” into the shop search and all your listings will come up.

Copy the address from the browser bar. It will look like this:

www.etsy.com/shop/MySweetieBean/search?search_query=button+ring&sea....

You can safely delete all the extra junk behind your search query and still have a good link. Be sure to test it before you add to all your listings! You can test it by pasting the shortened link in a brand new browser window and press enter. So it will now look like this:

www.etsy.com/shop/MySweetieBean/search?search_query=button+ring

And now you can add to your description:

To see more button rings, click here:
www.etsy.com/shop/MySweetieBean/search?search_query=button+ring

Providing links within the body of your description helps keep the customer engaged and looking around within your store.

So what should take away from all this SEO information? THINK LIKE A BUYER. If you do that with each listing and continue to refine your listings by analyzing your stats, you will see an increase in search traffic, and possibly sales – always a good thing!

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[watercolorsNmore]

Great idea to put the information on a separate thread!

Provided by MySweetieBean.etsy.com - thanks SO much Ivy for taking your time share with us.

[MyBeanGifts]

You're welcome!

[Former_Member]

Oh no SEO. I try to think like a buyer, but buyers appear not to think like me.

[Former_Member]

great tips - thanks for the help!

[Former_Member]

Great information Ivy ! thank you !!!