I have been doing a lot of reading about tips for improving ETSY sales, traffic and my product descriptions. I made a lot of mistakes when I first opened my shop several months ago so I am changing things up a little this week while I am still on summer vacation.
I am still trying to work on my SEO for my ETSY traffic. This is something that I have avoided because it requires “thinking” and I have been waiting until I know more. But some of these tips are things I just realized I have been doing wrong, and are quick fixes. So I will be making these changes this week and track the results. In 3 months, I should have some data.
What will I be doing differently?
Tip 1. Connect Social Media Accounts to ETSY
Add shop handles to social media platforms. Run giveaways, post new products and offer ideas on different products.
I add products to Instagram, Pinterest (especially) and twitter. When I run sales or offer coupons, I post this on social media platforms as well to drive traffic to the shop. It is free advertising.
TIP 2. Use Coupon Codes on ETSY
Use coupon codes as incentives for a variety of things. Offer them to customers who post products on their social media. Use coupon codes to get customers or potential customers to sign up for newsletters. Use them to bring repeat customers back to your shop.
I also offer a coupon for customers who buy 3 or more items at one time and a discount for customers who have favored an item. You can use these offers to encourage customers to buy and return to your shop. Giving incentives for customer that favor items also helps the ETSY algorithm to send more traffic.
TIP 3. Abandoned Cart Discount
Under the marketing tab, in addition to coupons for sales,, discounts for favored items and discounts for buying multiple items, ETSY also offers an abandoned cart discount. This is also under the marketing tab. If a customer puts something in their cart, and continues shopping without checking out, ETSY will send them an email about the “forgotten” item. I offer a 10% discount for customers to return to my shop.
TIP 4. Change Headlines/Tags
I thought once I created a headline or tag it was there forever, but it is healthy to keep changing things up and refreshing. Check the tags you are using and keep trying to refine them for better results. Same with headlines. Using Blue Digital Paper is probably not as descriptive than Seashore Digital Paper or Stormy Sky digital Paper. Those titles evoke an emotion and people buy based on an emotional connection.
Before holidays or other sales events, change headings or tags to reflect. Example: Christmas Gifts, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, Black Friday to make listings pop. And make sure to change them back later.
Make sure you use all 13 tags. Yes, you are limited in characters but you can still squeeze a lot of descriptive information in there.
TIP 5. Change Shop Announcements on ETSY Banners
I haven’t changed my shop announcement since I opened my store. By keeping the same announcement, it looks like my store is stagnant. Some say to change it weekly, but I am going to try changing the announcement monthly to see if this makes a difference.
The shop announcement is also where you can add a “freebie”, a notice of a coupon, or the optin form.
TIP 6. Develop New Products
If there is less than 50 products in your store, your priority is to add new products. I have heard that 100 products is the magic number but I am not sure. I guess it depends on the quality of those 100 products. But continually adding products on a regular basis will help with the ETSY SEO and keep your store fresh.
It also gives customers a reason to return to your store and check out new products. Think about adding seasonal products of different types.
TIP 7. Create Scarcity
When I first opened my shop and found that I could have 999 products in stock, I jumped at the chance to save that $0.20. That’s a case of being penny wise and pound foolish, lol. But when customers see that I have that much product in stock, there is no sense of urgency to buy now. They may buy later, but often people keep shopping.
So now I put between 3 and 8 products. If a customer sees that I only have 3 of that product (or 8) psychologically they are more likely to buy.
TIP 8. Offer Gifts
For repeated purchases you could offer a small gift to customers. Not full products, but a small token of appreciation for stopping by and shopping. I have offered a small set of clip art for signing up to my newsletter.
The small gift could also be a taste of a full product. It could also be a sampler of several types of products. For example in my store the gift could be a piece of clip art, a paper, a word art, a coloring page, etc. all bundled together so customers can see a range of products they might want.
TIP 9. Run Sales
I run sales twice a year on all products. On seasonal products I offer discounts or sale items on those products the week before. If you offer sales too often, customers will be conditioned to wait until something is on sale. And it gives the impression that your products are overvalued at their regular price.
TIP 10. Follow People on ETSY
Follow people (10-20) who have favored some of your products. When you follow someone, ETSY sends them a reminder which may remind them to check our your store. Also follow people who follow competitors products which are similar to yours. These are potential customers.
TIP 11. Comment on ETSY SM
Comment on ETSY Blog and Social Media platforms. This gains you some exposure and possible those who see the comments will come check our your products.
TIP 12. Create Optin Form
Create an Optin Form in Convertkit, Mail Chimp or other email provider. Put an link in your shop announcement, order fulfillment, blog and social media accounts.
TIP 13. Descriptions
Break up long text in description to bullet points. Vary the font, size, for variety and to make it easier on the eye. Use long tail keywords in descriptions and headings.
TIP 14. Underperforming Products
Look at products that are not selling and tweak the headlines, descriptions or tags. Also look at the photos to see if there is room for improvement. Check the search bar to see if visitors are looking for something more specific.
15. Check Competitors
Look for shops that sell products similar to yours and look at any negative or less than perfect reviews. These reviews may show an opportunity to meet a customer need. Also look for similar products on Amazon or Shopify to check those reviews.
TIP 16. Sort Searches
Sort the ETSY search to have most current show first. This shows what visitors are looking for right now, not last year. Adjust any keywords, tags, descriptions and headings to reflect the current searches.
TIP 17. Thank You Card
In your product download, include a Thank You card with a coupon with a discount for future orders. This will give you repeat customers.
TIP 18. Featured Products
You have 4 spots for featured products. Put your new products, bestselling products and any seasonal products in this spot. Change this section on a regular basis so your store always looks fresh.
I hope this has been helpful and you will use these tips to improve your shop and gain more traffic. If you are looking for more information on ETSY, check out these other blog posts. CREATING WALL ART