How to use SEO and social media to increase your ETSY shop sales

ETSY is a global e-commerce platform for handmade and creative goods, with more than 80 million unique products and more than 40 million buyers. If you are a talented and passionate craftsman, and want to open your own shop on ETSY, then you may face a challenge: how to make your products stand out among the many competitors, and attract more traffic and orders?

In this article, I will introduce two effective methods that can help you improve your ETSY shop’s popularity and sales: SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and social media promotion. These two methods do not require you to spend too much money or time, just need you to have some basic knowledge and skills, as well as some creativity and patience.

What is SEO?

SEO is the process of optimizing your website or web page’s content, structure, links and other aspects, to improve their ranking and visibility in search engines (such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.), and thus attract more targeted users to visit. SEO can be divided into two types: on-site SEO and off-site SEO.

On-site SEO is the optimization that you do on your own website or web page, mainly including the following aspects:
● Keywords: Keywords are the query words that users enter in search engines, they can reflect the user’s search intent and needs. Choosing the right keywords, and distributing them reasonably in your title, description, tags, images and other positions, can help search engines better understand your web page content, and display it to relevant users.
● Title: Title is the name of your web page or product, it is the first information that users and search engines see. A good title should be concise, clear, attractive, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Description: Description is a brief introduction of your web page or product, it can be displayed on the search engine results page (SERP), or on your web page. A good description should be detailed, persuasive, personalized, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Tags: Tags are the classification labels that you add to your web page or product, they can help search engines and users find the content you want to show faster. A good tag should be accurate, relevant, specific, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Images: Images are the visual elements that you use to display your web page or product, they can increase the user’s interest and trust in your content. A good image should be clear, beautiful, representative, and contain appropriate file name, title, description and alternative text (alt text), so that search engines and visually impaired users can understand the image content.

Off-site SEO is the optimization that you do on other websites or platforms, mainly including the following aspects:
● Links: Links are hyperlinks from other websites or platforms pointing to your website or web page, they can increase your website or web page’s authority and credibility, thereby improving their ranking and visibility in search engines. A good link should come from high-quality, relevant, influential websites or platforms, and contain appropriate anchor text (anchor text), which is the display text of the link.
● Social media: Social media are websites or applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., that allow you to connect and interact with your potential or existing customers, thereby increasing your brand awareness and loyalty, as well as recommending and sharing your website or web page. A good social media strategy should be based on different platforms and target groups, and create appropriate content, style, frequency and time, and keep consistent and coordinated with your website or web page.
● Reviews: Reviews are the feedback and evaluation of users on your website or product, they can affect your reputation and trustworthiness, as well as other users’ purchase decisions. A good review should be genuine, positive, useful, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.

Why do SEO?

SEO is a very effective and low-cost online marketing method, which can bring the following benefits:
● Increase traffic: By improving your website or web page’s ranking and visibility in search engines, you can attract more targeted users to visit, thereby increasing your traffic and exposure.
● Increase conversion: By optimizing your website or web page’s content, structure, links and other aspects, you can increase the user’s interest and trust in your content, thereby increasing the possibility of users taking action (such as registration, subscription, purchase, etc.) on your website or web page.
● Increase revenue: By increasing traffic and conversion, you can increase your sales and profits, thereby increasing your income and return.
● Increase competitiveness: By doing SEO well, you can stand out among the many competitors, establish your own brand image and advantage, thereby increasing the user’s preference and loyalty to your content.

How to do ETSY SEO?

ETSY SEO is to optimize your shop and products on ETSY platform for SEO purposes, to improve their ranking and visibility in ETSY search. ETSY search is the function that users search for products or shops on ETSY platform by entering query words. ETSY search is one of the most important and most commonly used sources of traffic on ETSY platform.

ETSY SEO mainly includes two aspects: shop SEO and product SEO.

Shop SEO is to optimize your shop that you open on ETSY platform for SEO purposes, mainly including the following aspects:
● Shop name: Shop name is the name that you give to your shop that you open on ETSY platform, it is the first information that users and search engines see. A good shop name should be concise, clear, attractive, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Shop title: Shop title is a one-sentence introduction that is displayed under your shop name, it can be displayed on the search engine results page (SERP), or on your shop homepage. A good shop title should be concise, clear,attractive, and contain the keywords you want to highlight. You can use commas or dashes to separate different keywords or phrases, but do not exceed 55 characters.
● Shop announcement: Shop announcement is a paragraph of text that is displayed on your shop homepage, it can be used to tell users your shop’s features, discounts, events, policies and other information. A good shop announcement should be concise, clear, attractive, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Shop story: Shop story is a video or image slideshow that is displayed on your shop homepage, it can be used to show your shop’s background, philosophy, process, results and other stories. A good shop story should be interesting, engaging, personalized, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Shop sections: Shop sections are the subcategories that you add to your shop, they can help users find the products they want faster. A good shop section should be accurate, relevant, specific, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.

Product SEO is to optimize your products that you sell on ETSY platform for SEO purposes, mainly including the following aspects:
● Product name: Product name is the name that you give to your product that you sell on ETSY platform, it is the first information that users and search engines see. A good product name should be concise, clear, attractive, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Product title: Product title is a one-sentence introduction that is displayed under your product name, it can be displayed on the search engine results page (SERP), or on your product detail page. A good product title should be concise, clear,attractive, and contain the keywords you want to highlight. You can use commas or dashes to separate different keywords or phrases, but do not exceed 55 characters.
● Product description: Product description is a detailed introduction of your product, it can be displayed on your product detail page. A good product description should be detailed, persuasive, personalized, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Product tags: Product tags are the classification labels that you add to your product, they can help search engines and users find the content you want to show faster. A good product tag should be accurate, relevant, specific, and contain the keywords you want to highlight.
● Product images: Product images are the visual elements that you use to display your product, they can increase the user’s interest and trust in your content. A good product image should be clear, beautiful, representative, and contain appropriate file name, title, description and alternative text (alt text), so that search engines and visually impaired users can understand the image content.

To do ETSY SEO well, you need to use some etsy seo tools to help you find and optimize the best keywords for your shop and products. One of the most popular and effective etsy seo tools is [ETSY Rank], which is a free online tool that can help you analyze your shop and products’ performance, compare with your competitors, find new keyword ideas, optimize your titles, tags and descriptions, and more. Another useful etsy seo tool is [Marmalead], which is a paid online tool that can help you research and test your keywords, optimize your listings, track your ranking and sales, and more. You can also use some other etsy seo tools such as [ETSY Gadget], [ETSY Keyword Tool], [ETSY SEO Keywords Tool], etc., to improve your ETSY SEO strategy.

How to use social media to promote ETSY shop?

Social media promotion is to use websites or applications such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., to advertise and promote your shop and products that you open on ETSY platform, thereby increasing your online popularity and influence, as well as attracting more potential or existing customers to visit and buy.

Social media promotion mainly includes the following steps:
● Choose the appropriate platform: Different social media platforms have different characteristics and advantages, you should choose the most suitable platform for you according to your target group, content type, style and other factors. For example, if your products are mainly image-based, then you can choose Instagram or Pinterest which are visual-oriented platforms; if your products are mainly text-based, then you can choose Facebook or Twitter which are text-oriented platforms.
● Create attractive content: You should create attractive content according to different platforms and target groups, to show your shop and products’ features, advantages, stories and other information. You can use images, videos, texts, links and other forms, to increase the user’s interest and trust in your content. You can also use hashtag, mention, comment, like, share and other functions, to increase your content’s visibility and interactivity.
● Update and maintain regularly: You should update and maintain regularly according to different platforms and target groups, and publish new content regularly, to keep the user’s attention and expectation for your content. You should also reply to user’s comments, questions, feedbacks and other information in time, to establish user’s loyalty and trust for your content.
● Analyze and optimize: You should use different platforms’ data analysis tools, such as Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, etc., to monitor and evaluate your content’s performance and effect, such as traffic, conversion, revenue and other indicators. You should also adjust and optimize your content strategy according to data analysis results, to improve your content’s quality and efficiency.

Conclusion

ETSY is a very potential and opportunity-rich e-commerce platform. If you want to open your own shop on ETSY platform, and get more sales and revenue, then you need to master some basic online marketing skills, such as SEO etsy and social media promotion. By doing shop SEO etsy and product SEO etsy well, you can improve your ranking and visibility in ETSY search, thereby attracting more targeted users to visit; by using social media promotion, you can increase your online popularity and influence, thereby attracting more potential or existing customers to visit and buy. I hope this article can help you, and wish you success on ETSY platform!