I haven’t done a ‘Spotted’ post in a really long time. Honestly, cause I really haven’t found anything cool to share. That is until now…

I opened up my ETSY shop Two White Owls, in early August. I can’t complain, I have had a few sales so far but definitely not as many as I would like. So I have been looking up Etsy selling tips and ways to get more traffic to my shop.

Here are a few of the tips and tricks I’ve found so far:

Etsy Selling Tips

Join A Team

Joining teams is definitely a must if you have the time. You’ll get support from fellow shop owners, you can ask questions and some teams even help promote each other’s listings. Plus you’ll feel more connected, less isolated and not like you’re selling all by yourself.

SEO, SEO & More SEO

As I’ve been finding out SEO is just as important on your shop as it is on your blog. It’s the difference between getting found and floating out there in oblivion. No traffic=no sales. Using keywords  is very important. A great way to find keywords (ie; what and how people are searching) is by typing your item name (example: for me it would be coaster or switch plate) into the Etsy search box. A drop down list of recently searched for terms will appear giving you ideas and keywords which you can then use in your listings titles and descriptions. Of course, you to want to choose keywords that actually go with or describe your item. Etsy Guide To SEO

Use Those Apps

There are a bunch apps you can find by going to ‘Your Account’ and then clicking on ‘Apps’. They’ve got apps from everything from help sending out newsletters to integrating your shop into your FB page.

Photos Are The Star Of The Show

Let’s face it, even if you have an amazing product, if your photos suck then no one’s gonna even look at it. Another plus is that you’ll have a greater possibility of getting treasured and even featured on the front page. Some of the tips they give on Etsy are to use natural light, take shots that convey texture size and how the item will be used. Basically make the customer feel like they are holding the item in their hands. Etsy Success: Product Photography for Beginners

It’s also not enough to have good-looking photos (most listings have decent photos). You want to stand out from the crowd in your category in search. An easy way to see if your items stand out is by doing a search yourself. Look at all the results surrounding your item; does your item just blend in with everything else? Then maybe try a taking your photos at a different (but still flattering) angle than the other listings. Or include props to make your item look more pleasing and welcoming.

Use Etsy’s resources

Etsy has a million and one posts, videos, forums, online labs and info on everything you could possibly ever want to know about selling on their site. The seller Handbook is a great place to start.

Finding info on the site about a particular question you might have is not that easy though. What I do is type in my question adding the word Etsy at the end into the Google search tab. This will give you lots of options: etsy articles, etsy forums and posts on blogs. I’ve been able to get most of my questions answered that way.

Also signing up for their email list helps keep you informed on the latest happenings and tips.

Quantity Matters

As I research more and more on getting found on etsy, the more I realize it’s a number’s game. Basically the more items you have listed the better chance you’ll have of getting found in search and on Google. Since more items equals more keywords in the titles and descriptions, there’s more opportunity to get found. The magic number (from what I’ve read on forums) seems to be 100. In order to get decent traffic you’ll need to have around 100 listings in your shop. Which is a lot easier said than done!

Listing Names Matter

One tip that I found (that of course I sometimes ignore) was to not name all your listings the same, try to use different keywords in each listing. For example, if you’ve got two similar items (two knitted hats) one listing could be ‘Hand Knit Hat With…’ and the other ‘Women’s Knit Hat With…’. That way you’ll have the opportunity to be found if someone is searching for either term.

Promote Your Shop

This is the hard part for me, I want to get people to come to my shop but don’t want to be pushy about it. I think the trick to this is to think about and treat your shop like a business (which it is) and do what other business owners do. Meaning getting some business cards, advertising (if you can) and talking about all the fabulous new stuff you just listed with your family, friends and co-workers. A great way to get the word out is by posting about it on your blog (or getting a blog if you don’t have one) and connecting to social media. I read a book a while back called Guerilla Marketing (aka creative and cheapo marketing tips) which helps with the advertising if you are on a budget. They also have a site by the same name (Guerilla Marketing) with lots of free articles.

Etsy Selling Tricks

Just to clarify, when I say tricks I don’t mean it in a bad way. These are not ways to game the system, they are just ways to make your shop look more appealing and to get more customers through the virtual door. So let’s begin, I found some really juicy stuff this week I’m dying to share…

The Shoptimizer

Here’s a free app that’ll not only grade your shop’s seo but will also help you fix it. You’ll get an explanation and tips on how to fix your grade.

Here’s a screenshot of my shop’s Report Card. Feels like I’m back in high school, not really, ok maybe just a little.

You basically then go down the line and try to fix everything. By clicking on the TIP button, you get an explanation of what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it.

Looks like my efforts have been mostly paying off.

FotoFuze

Ever wonder how some people achieve those amazing photos with the crisp bright white background? So did I!

I built a light box, made the cheapo version of studio lights (Home Depot metal work lights with daylight bulbs), lightened my photos until the image was almost unrecognizable… But no matter what I did my backgrounds still ended up muddy looking and still too dark.

Then Foto Fuze entered the picture. It’s really easy to use, but watch the intro video for tips. It pulls up all your listing photos so you can edit them one by one, then inserts them back into your shop. I took all my shop photos from drab to fab in one sitting. I think it’s only for Etsy photos, but I’m thinking I might try to see if I can use it for some of the blog photos too. Shh, don’t tell them.

Setting Up An Etsy Mini Shop On Your Blog

Having your etsy shop visible on your blog is a great way to promote your items and your shop. And what’s even better is that people can shop right from your blog. Here’s a great video I found on how to add it.

The etsy navigation menu has changed a bit since this video was shot. So in order to find the etsy mini click on ‘Your shop’ (top right hand corner) then towards the bottom of the left side of the screen you’ll find etsy mini under the ‘Promote” section.

Well, hope you found these tips useful and hopefully they’ll equate to more traffic and sales. I’ll keep you posted on my results after implementing all this stuff and if I find more useful info along the way.  Looks like I’ve got a lot of work to do.