Etsy search hack, stops spell correction

[VibeEnvy]

So from a post about Etsy correcting spelling unnecessarily and ruining search results I discovered the simplest trick to force Etsy to give the results you searched for instead of the results if "thinks" you meant.

Place a period after any word it corrected and it will stop it from changing it.

I haven't extensively tested but the post that lead to this was about "fops" getting changed to "flops" which I found "fop" also gets changed to "for". A second test whets the word "droll" is changed to "doll".

The solution

Fop.

Fops.

Droll.

A period after the word, even if its the middle word of the search, seems to maintain the user's original spelling. I know Etsy changing the words is extremely frustrating and hope this helps a lot of people get more out of search.

Please feel free to test and share results here if this is universal across search or if it just worked in the few cases I tested. Hopefully this is a proper workaround for unwanted spelling correction.

[VibeEnvy]

I feel like this got buried and the information is very useful, so I'm commenting to bump my post up. I know in the past I've hated when it corrected my search and was just stuck never being able to conduct the search I want and would have loved to have known about this then.

[PrimFun]

It works but I know I won't remember it.  It's not an issue for me as I look for the sentence that Etsy places when they change wording.  I just find that easier.  Same with the search engines I use.

But have you tested this outside of Etsy.  All search engines auto correct to some degree.  So if it doesn't work outside Etsy..... 

[OneEyeCatStudio]

You like the Etsy search the way it is, so you can simply not use it. No reason to discourage.

I truly appreciate this information being posted here.

[SewlyButtons]

@PrimFun 
Unfortunately, etsy does not always offer up the "search instead for..." sentence. 

You're fortunate if you have no issues with search on etsy. I wish I had the same luck. I find myself wasting tags to include idiotic etsy spelling "corrections"... just so some of my items WILL be shown in a search

And MANY thanks to the OP for this tip. If only shoppers looking for something to buy on etsy knew that trick too!!

[Duckwells]

Since it isn’t useful to you, why comment?  I struggle with Etsys autocorrect and appreciate the sharing of helpful information.

[LastCentury]

thanks for sharing that tip... that's great especially when you're searching for an author or designer with a weird spelling and you end up in that loop we're all familiar with and giving up... and then give up listing the item wondering if the target customer looking for that item will ever find it.

and if it only works inside etsy, that's fine with me.

[SwirlingOrange11]

I have a question on this.  It is okay for a seller to know this, but the ordinary buyer would not.  When listing, and the search constantly auto corrects, do you put the auto corrected word in your tags so that any potential buyer? Using "Fops" as an example, would get a whole bunch of "flops" instead, would it be a good idea to put flops in the tags to make sure your item surfaces?  I would test this too, so at least you have the auto correct word Etsy is insisting on in your listing somewhere so it surfaces for a buyer who does not know about the period.  Curious if you would see a change in views for your FOPS ?  

[VibeEnvy]

My tip is for making search work for the one searching, making listing's work for broken searches is an entirely different scenario altogether. I don't really work my listings that way but it seems like it would be problematic, as you will for sure turn up for the wrong word but that would generally mean you are hurting your own conversion rate. I wouldn't want to show up for flip flops if I don't sell flops, and none of those searching that other word are going to buy your product. When someone searches and Etsy changes the word, they're not as likely to dig heavily through a bunch of bad results when they know Etsy isn't searching for what they actually want, so you'd have to rank really high for the misspell word to get eyes on them before the buyer gives up on the bad search.

[riverofbeautydesigns]

Very cool. I tested it in a few searches. For me it wasn't perfect but it definitely helped. Thanks for sharing this tip! 

[VibeEnvy]

You're welcome. Hopefully this spreads, or people remember when others complain about the problem in the future to offer this advice. I know for a lot of sellers, using search for research is really important and the more control we have over the results the better.

[SwirlingOrange11]

I was only suggesting that if ETSY AUTO corrects a buyer (who does not know the period hack, which is brilliant) would it make sense to put one of the auto correct words in your tags so you do show up for someone who is, in fact, search for FOPS but does not know to put a period after that word? 

Yes, you probably would show up in a flops search, but if the person searching can't adjust the auto correct, your item would show up for their search, even if the search term was auto corrected!  See my point? 

I am not suggesting doing this for all listings, just trying it to see if buyers will see your FOPS (only used as an example) under an auto corrected search term.  Only for testing purposes!  I would try it on 1 (ONE) listing and test it on several browsers without being signed in to see if your listing surfaces, after etsy does its damage!

This was only a thought.  At this point in etsy's evolution, anything is worth trying to get your items seen, no?  Who knows, maybe someone searching for "flops" sees a FOP and all of a sudden wants one!  One never knows.  And as an aside, I have done this very thing, not on etsy, but have searched for something and a totally non related item shows up that made me curious because I had never heard of or seen it before, and I actually looked at that item and researched it, but this is just me.  

Thank You for the hack, it is great information and helpful to all, much appreciated!

[VibeEnvy]

I'd say basically it's a gamble and maybe it works well, maybe it doesn't. You would need to be successful doing that right of the bat which would make the gamble pay off but more than likely it will have a negative effect, as you will not make sales to the ones searching flops on purpose, so you would lose rank for that word meaning in results for the incorrect word will have you buried in search under items that are more relevant to the word, so yes you may turn up in results for the misspelled word but you'd rank very low and unlikely to even be seen by the ones actuality looking for what you are selling. And by having low rank keywords I imagine it would also affect the items overall ranking reducing it in search for the other more efficient keywords.

You always want to look at the big picture when it comes to testing and experimenting with search results and ranking, the pros and cons.

If you have an item who's main descriptor keyword is not included in Etsy search, you may have no other choice but to work around the fact Etsy won't let people actually search for the word and the only way to be found is through the corrected spelling. But if there are other strong keyword and titles that will lead to discovering your item it would be better to focus on those keywords and gaining rank that way.

You never want to hurt strong keywords by focusing on low quality ones, so it all really depends on all the possible things you can rank for and putting the efforts where they will be the most benefit.

And I wouldn't put a lot of faith in people wanting to buy it when they weren't linking for it in completely unrelated search. It's not like selling socks and using shoes as a keyword, maybe someone looking for shoes might be interested in socks to go with them, or selling beach towels and using flops so people looking for flip flops might want a towel for their beach trip, but they are highly unlikely to just want a fop when looking for flip flops because French police buttons have no correlation to the flops search. With that type of thinking you could just put every popular keyword category in your title and tags but you'll never rank well for any of them and it will kill your listing. Targeting people actively looking unrelated products is just not a viable strategy. Relevancy is best for ranking.

[vintagesilverlynx]

Oh! Thank you, I will try this next time it happens instead of just getting increasingly irate.

[TheHomespunLoft]

@VibeEnvy 

THANK YOU! I just tried it for specific searches.. and it worked for that.. Like I buy fabric online. I put in a specific designer name and put a period after the name and I ONLY got that fabric designer! AND it brought me back exactly what I was looking for--not similar items

 Generally I get a few of that one designer and a bunch of other designers I didn't ask for and other sizes. I have tried it a couple times and it worked all those times.

[VibeEnvy]

So it sounds like in this case, you weren't getting around the spelling correction, but instead it actually made the search more targeted to the word you were searching?

Sorry if I'm misunderstanding.

Was it originally changing the designer name when you search or was it originally just not showing enough of the specific designer?

That would be great if this served a dual propose stopping Etsy from changing the word as well as improving the results similar to other searches that let you use "parenthesis" to make search more targeted.

[SwirlingOrange11]

My last comment on this, I don't think you are understanding what I am suggesting.  Buyers do not know the period trick, if a buyer comes to etsy looking for "FOPS" and etsy auto corrects FLOPS, that buyer does not see what they want and gets lost in the myriad of schmuck that shows up. 

But, if you have flops in one tag space, and the buyer does a search for FOPS and etsy auto corrects, your item will show up, as possibly the only FOPS on etsy <<< this is my reasoning and may or may not be worth it, and why I suggested a test on one item that gets auto corrected by etsy. 

If it were me looking to get surfaced for an item that etsy consistently changes the word for when searched, I would most definitely test out one tag with the "Etsy corrected" word being used, but again, this is me!

Regardless of how this is used, it is great hack and thanks for sharing it. It is going to be helpful to many!

[SewlyButtons]

@SwirlingOrange11 
It does work to put the incorrect spelling in as one of your tags. I just tried it for a french fop button I was going to list on eBay. But thot, what the heck! So, one of my tags is "french flop"... and a search for french fop that was auto-corrected by etsy showed my item on the first page. Don't know if y'all will see the same thing if you search for a "french flop".... but there was my little button in a sea of flip-flops!!!

[VibeEnvy]

@SewlyButtons Etsy search is bias towards the sellers items. I searched "high tops" as a test search today and saw dozens of my listing's, I know I'm not flooding the first page of such a high priority keyword for everyone, it's just showing me my listing's because it knows I've looked at them and it's trying to show me things it thinks I already want. I never trust my results to match anyone else's.

But if using the bad spelling works, than go for it, my opinion on using the bad spelling is based on my own logic but Etsy doesn't even use logic so really anything could work lol

[VibeEnvy]

@SewlyButtons I searched French flops and your button was #1.

Hopefully you keep that ranking and that it leads to actual sales for your!

[SewlyButtons]

@VibeEnvy 
Crossing fingers! It's not a super pricey button, so definitely a good one to test the waters with!

[SewlyButtons]

These spelling corrections are really getting ridiculous. Many vintage and antique brass items (buttons at least) are gilt finished (as in gold washed). Etsy is now auto-correcting the word gilt... to GIFT....    both without or with the period. 

What's interesting is that after I tried different searches with the word "gilt" seven or eight times, etsy stopped changing gilt to GIFT. So will that be permanent and search will always let gilt remain gilt now? Or will it revert back tomorrow? For everyone? Or just for me???

[CanningCrafts]

It used to be that you could add parenthesis around a search term & it would only use that exact search phrase. But I think Etsy took that away some time back too? I know many just use Google to search on Etsy which is not how it should be!

[VibeEnvy]

This is really weird... it actually seems for me like Etsy had suddenly stopped correcting the spelling. All the things I tested since posting this, that required the period trick, now no longer get affected.

I wonder if words that typically get corrected never become searchable because it never accepted the word, and once the words actually made it through search using the period trick, that it learned the words already and now accepts them.

Anyone who tested words that usually get corrected and needed the period trick to get around the correction, can you check again after 48 hours and let us know if the original word now works in search like normal?

I'm kinda hopeful that this not only provided a work around for a specific issue, but also forced search to start fixing itself through the data generated by the workaround.

That would be really cool if this was actually causing search to improve itself.

[Duckwells]

Years ago, this is how MS Word worked.  The user would actually “train” for words.  You had a library created and you could save your corrected words.  It’s been many years, don’t know if it still works in this manner.