Are you trying to get people to look at your store? Or the products that are in it?

[Former_Member]

Often the question arises; How do I get people to look at my store.
As the function of this team is not to get people to look at your store, but instead, look at your products.
I think that is often forgotten.
It is forgotten that people come to this venue not to look at your store but the products that are in it.
That is what TAGS are for.
To enable a search engine to find your product listing.
Why?
Because the search engine when given a search request attempts to compare the wording in the search request to Titles and Tag wording in product listings.
And when you list your products do you try to see to it the wording in the Titles and Tags reference the wording used in YOUR product Title and Description?
Because if you don’t
when some one looks for a product and looks into your title and tags via a search engine and nothing there matches the search request? The product will not show up on a list of results and won’t even be looked at. No matter how well your product listing description matches the search request.
And this is a very COMMON problem!
Your Title and Tags do not represent the product you are trying to sell.

Have you ever thought about how YOU go about finding something to buy? Do you try to define to the search engine what you are looking for and then expect a list of products that represent what it is you want to see gets generated by the search engine so you can look at it?

If so? Why wouldn’t a potential customer do exactly the same thing.

Recently I noticed my wallet or billfold is getting a bit beat up. Well not a bit, a lot. It is about time for a new one. I bought this one at a craft show a few years back and I like it. But it is on it’s last legs so I need a new one.
I am a member of Etsy so that I can come here and purchase things I need. So now needing a wallet it is time to go look.

But first I need to somewhat define what I want to see with in reason. After all I have a certain amount of available time to look at things and I do not want to waste that time.

I know for example what my patience tolerance is. I have no interest in looking at much more than 4 pages of listings. That comes to here on Etsy as 4 pages at 40 listings per page or 160 wallet selections. All I have to do to optimize what I am looking at so that the first 4 pages of lists represent what I want to see.
I also have some idea what I can afford and for this purchase some where around $50.00 is my expected budget expenditure.

And I need a place to start with.
A first search?
Leather Wallet Mens.
This should give me some idea what is available.
http://www.etsy.com/search?q=Leather%20wallet%20mens&view_type=list&ship_to=ZZ
Some 4600+ different listings. Far more than I am going to look at.

But in looking on page one and when I shop I use the List Mode of display so that I can see a thumbnail and a full title to tell me what I am looking at I realize that I need a shorter better defined list. I am not going to browse through 4600 listings.

I do know now from looking that I want my wallet stitched.
so Add Stitched to my Search.
http://www.etsy.com/search?q=Leather%20wallet%20mens%20stitched%20&view_type=list&ship_to=ZZ
I am not down to some almost 600 listings. Still more than I want to sort through. But I don’t have to. I can do a number of things to further define my search results.
One is to change the word Wallet To Bill Fold. Why? it is a synonym and I see the word Bill Fold used. So I’ll try it.
Well here it is with the word Bill Fold Rather than wallet.

http://www.etsy.com/search?q=Leather%20BillFold%20mens%20stitched&view_type=list&ship_to=ZZ
about 150 listings and on page one they seem to be better suited to what I am looking for. Despite the fact that Wallet and Bill Fold are synonymous the word Bill Fold is working better for me at this time. So for me it is about time to choose a color. I want a brown leather Billfold today.

http://www.etsy.com/search?q=Leather%20BillFold%20mens%20stitched%20Brown&view_type=list&ship_to=ZZ
About 35 items or 1 page of results. I can live with this end result if I wanted to. There are some very nice ones available.

But I think that I want to expand back out and try a slightly different direction.
I think I will put wallet back in and replace Bill Fold and then add Bi Fold for style to see what I get.
And here is that result.
http://www.etsy.com/search?q=Leather%20Wallet%20mens%20stitched%20Brown%20Bi%20Fold&view_type=list&s...
about 14 items and they are different ones.
So as I have used two different tabs on my computer for two slightly different search results to get a few selections that represent what I would like to buy for me it is time to go look at a few wallets.
Which I will do.
And I did
and I selected 4 of them to go into my Favorites while I think about which one I want to spend the money on. I do not need a wallet tonight, but it will not take long before I do.

My point here is a need defined the requirement to go shopping.
My budget was defined by my living expenses.
I have some idea what I want
and
some idea what I will pay for it
and these two searches give me a few options that fit my needs at the moment. What I like is a bit more expensive than what I wanted to by.
I have answered many time questions about people wanting to know how to get some one to look at their listings.
People will IF the listing represents what they are looking for AND they can afford the product.
The Control you as a seller have as to where your product ends up on my search is only as good as how well you describe what you have for sale with the Titles And Tags.
The price?
Out of your hands, but important to mine.
So I now have to deal with affording things.
Not you as a seller but me as a buyer and I like what I found. I have not decided yet but I am leaning toward this one:
http://www.etsy.com/listing/111116475/hand-stitched-hand-sewn-bi-fold-men?ref=sr_list_19&ga_search_q...

They are in my favorites, I choose one when I get my bills paid. If I have any money left.

I beat up a wallet pretty bad, I am surprised my current one went 3 years.

But if you see my logic as to how I would pick and choose what I am looking for is your manner of listing compatible with my Manner of finding things?
Because if it is not, remember as a buyers I am one of 40,000,000 potential customers where as you are simply one of about 900,000 seller.
And it is a buyer you are looking for not a seller.