The basics of Etsy SEO

Now I am by no means an expert, but since I spend most every minute of my free time learning how to run an online business, I have picked up a few good tips.  Every new Etsy seller I come across does exactly what I did.  I made cute stuff and listed it and crossed my fingers.  My first shop opened in 2010 and to be honest, I have been running it wrong until a few months ago.

It was so bad, my husband wanted me to shut it down.  I love doing graphics, and once they are made, folks just download them and I am good to go.  Well, I don't want folks waiting 6 years to find they are doing it all wrong.tr

Now again, I am NOT an expert, but these little tips should at least get you going in the right direction, as opposed to my wrong direction.

1.  SEO is tricky, it changes, and you cannot just make a listing and ignore it ( guilty as charged).  You need to keep monitoring your listings as trends come and go and make sure your items are staying on the first 5 pages.

2. What the hell is SEO?  Search Engine Optimization.  Basically it is how your wonderful stuff gets found on Etsy.  Now how do find those magic words?

3. The search bar, now this is a debate, in reality, the search bar only shows the MOST RECENT searches, but I have found it still matches up fairly well with my choices.

4. Google keyword tool, they just changed how it works, it is FREE, but a little tricky, it will make you think you need to pay for ad words...FALSE.  But is is a little awkward.  You can google how to use it for free.

5. Marmalead, there is a free version and a paid version.  I did the paid version for a month and kept a notebook of the good keywords.

6.  Now you have gathered your keywords, you need to get that listing going.  There are different kinds of keywords, long tail keywords and "regular" keywords.  You want to use both.  A long tail keyword is 4-5 words and should be near the beginning of your title.  You then want to REPEAT that exact keyword phrase in the beginning of your item description.  You then want to REPEAT that phrase again in your tags.  If it is too long, do the best you can.  By repeating that phrase it
is giving that phrase a lot of strength.

7.  The title of your item should have that combo of keywords separated by a comma or dash.  Do not run all the words together, it hurts the eyes, and well, it looks terrible.

8.  Use all that space in your title if you can, the more options folks have, the greater chance you will be found.

Here is an example:  You are listing a boho style silver statement necklace, do not just say Silver necklace, boho necklace, statement necklace...you want to link them all together into 1 long tailed keyword: Silver boho statement necklace- now folks looking for more general terms will still find you.  For example if they look for silver necklace, silver statement necklace, silver boho necklace, those are all included in your 1 long tailed keyword. After the long tailed keyword, fill in with other keywords you may have found such as gift for girlfriend, or mother's day gift, Christmas gift, etc

Now, silver boho statement necklace is too long for a tag, so try boho necklace, silver necklace, statement necklace

Now this is just a starter, there is so much more, but it is a lot more I knew when I got started.

Happy listing!

Graphics and sign making

I love designing graphics, and that is how we started making our signs.  I was contacted yesterday by a customer who absolutely loved her camper sign ( good job hubby).  I then spent 2 days designing a new sign for her.

I should have charged more, but what the heck, we are still a new little business, and at this point am just happy having a repeat customer.  I am so thrilled with this design, that I may make it as a regular item in the shop.

Here is the design:

Now we will take this design and transfer it into the pine wood.  I cannot wait to see how this turns out.  I will take pics once it is done.

I also listed this little guy on Facebook, this is hand painted, so a different technique, but I love the black and white, this one sold the day I put it in our group. 

I am really proud of not just the sign, but the pure white background that I managed to capture. Normally I think it is a boring look, but I think it looks great with the black.

Well, record heat is heading this way, everyone keep cool!

Mistakes happen, and then....

So I have been having issues doing my image transfers, it always seems easy, but the slightest little movement, and your hard work is ruined.  Don't let the do it yourself sites fool you, it is not easy, and I have ruined a few pieces of beautiful pine wood in the process.

I actually have more fun doing the hand painting, and may leave the transfers to the spouse.  Yes, he actually has a better hand at it than I do, plus it keeps him out of trouble (lol).

I was completely annoyed yesterday when I messed up again.  There is no way I am trashing a nice piece of wood, it is just not happening, and sanding it does not really work well.  Not to be deterred, I found some nice Behr black paint just sitting around, and behold, I now have beautiful black wood to work with.

I am still working on my painting technique, and some fonts are a real challenge, but I am in love with the black and white. So lesson learned, you can always find some positive out of a mistake, and it may even work to your benefit. Excuse the work table, you can tell it has been well used.

Christmas in July

Ok, well, all the hype and no Christmas in July sales, but I did get a lot of views, and I figure at least I can let the SEO simmer in time for the holiday season.

I admit I have been having a blast making signs when it is 95 outside, and since it is my first holiday season I figured it would be a good time to stock up.  I think my favorite signs are made from reclaimed wood,

I love getting a piece of scrap wood and imagining what it could turn into.  I have a a few with a base coat of paint on them, and now I just have to study each piece to see what it will turn into.

Here are some of my reclaimed pieces, and there are many more in my Etsy store. I am especially excited about this first sign, not for the design, but that I was able to capture a good product photo with a little point and shoot Kodak camera.  I tried a piece of white board, and with just the right amount of positioning and some Photoshop tweaking, I think I did ok.

Finally back to blogger

Well, so much has happened since the last I wrote, I really need to get back into the swing of things!
We have sold 2 signs at The Gifted Crab in Maryland, several on Ebay, and now our shop is starting to take hold.

I wanted to expand a little and add some painted signs to our collection, so we collected a bunch of driftwood and I have been working on those.  I tried the paint pens, and although it seems easy in theory, there is definitely a steep learning curve to using them.  I am glad I have plenty of spare wood, because I have ruined a good amount of wood.

So summer is in full swing and we are busy crabbing ( not so good) and fishing in Maryland.  I have taken some cool pictures down along the rocks, and am continuing to work on our product photography.  All in all, we are a busy couple, and I must admit I love it.

Here are some pics I have been working on.  

Oh, and we have a Facebook Group page to promote special events and to allow our customers to purchase signs before they are listed on Etsy at a discounted rate.  Our page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/191559681240034/.

Website...why not, free trial!

I am not sure a website will help sales, but hey, anything to try and get the name out there, and it's free for 30 days, I just need to remember to cancel!

It looks nice, it is integrated with my Etsy site, and I think it looks nice, clean simple lines, and since I am clueless with website code, it will do for now.

So, here it is, let's see what happens!


http://thequirkyimage.patternbyetsy.com/