Today we have a guest post by Nyjole Waters, an Etsian who has rapidly grown her sales through optimizing her Etsy shop for Google. In this post she shares the details of exactly how she’s done it so the rest of us can benefit from her experience!

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SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. This is the process of planning your webpage so that it shows up as high as possible in the search results when someone Googles what they want to find.

Now for the last two weeks I have gotten 3 to 7 help question about the SEO and tags, etc. So I thought I would write one big post and answer all your questions.

In the past we have had quite an easy trot with just using tags and item headings to get people to find your shop. We also used super cute and interesting words for our titles, and tags. Gone are those times! It is all about being heard and being seen amongst the thousands, and getting millions of people to find your shop with the search engine provided by Google.

A needle in a hay stack really isn’t it!!!! It is achievable, maybe not in the millions but in the hundreds and in the thousands.

I would like to give you a some statistics on my views since I changed to the SEO way!

Before on an average day I would get around 80 to 140 unique shop visits and 400 to 600 page views.

Now on an average day I receive 200 to 400 unique shop visits and 800 to 1600 page views, sales have been fantastic!

I remember changing them all one Friday and then Sunday came around… the views just kept coming and coming!
(Please note this might not happen to all, depending on the Google cache….which I will explain latter in this post.)

Lets start with some interesting resources and tools that I found very helpful.

The Etsy Storque. SEO articles.
http://www.etsy.com/storque/search/title/seo/

My favorite two:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/etsy-news/etsy-and-seomoz-helping-the-etsy-community-with-search-engin-4443/
And
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/seller-how-to-optimizing-your-etsy-shop-for-search-engines-3835/

How to find good tag words.

http://bit.ly/9D2wku

What is Google Cached? A must read to find out how SEO operates.

http://www.googleguide.com/cached_pages.html

Key Words

Search engines use keywords — the words and phrases people type into search engines — to measure the relevance of search results. Employing the right keywords in the correct places is a basic tenant of good SEO. However, it’s important not to go overboard!

Research key words. http://bit.ly/9D2wku these are the main key words that your target market will search for. (type in your search word…eg Jewelry)
Try not to use fancy and cute words anymore…. Put yourself in the customers hands and use the same words that they will search for.

Shop Title

Your title is the first line that your customer will see when using the search engines to find your shop. I would keep the title to the point and descriptive of what you sell. Google allows 60 characters before it will cut you off.

For my title I use : Handmade Wedding Jewelry by nyjolejewellery on Etsy

Etsy would love us to use ‘Handmade’ and Google would like you to end your title off by using your username….. ‘by username’…. followed by ‘on Etsy.’
I have 5 key words in this shop title.

Shop Description

Again Google will use the first two lines in their description of your shop when searched on Google.
This is the first two lines in my shop announcement.

NyjoleJewellery specialty is Weddings. Handmade Wedding jewelry for the Bride and Bridesmaids. I love creating beautiful jewelry for the modern woman.

Try to repeat your username, and key tags words in your announcement for google to pick up on. I have 9 key words in just these two lines.

If you have an announcement, or a promotion you would like to put in your shop announcement, please put it below these first two lines. Use hearts or stars to accentuate and make your promo stand out, but do not put them above these two lines.
(Believe me it does look funny when I search for your shop in google and I see – “YAY! My work has been featured”…)

Item Titles

With all these changes made to everything in your shop and all your listings, then and only then will you see a change in your views.

If you want to keep your titles pretty and cute…go ahead and you will be happy, but views will stay the same. But if you want to change with the times and comply with SEO, to get more views and have the world see what you have to offer. Google is the number one search engine that will get you views outside of Etsy.

• I always think of categories when I think of my item titles.
• You should always list in order of importance.
• Use descriptive words, materials in a non-sentence.
• Spelling plays a big difference in views, as well – I try to use both. But that is not possible at times, as most of my viewers are from the USA I use the American spelling. But if you have a spare tag word slip in the English spelling version.
• Excluding words such as these…..and, it, the, on, with, a.
• Instead of sentences you should use full stops and commas to separate each word.
• Always with each listing use your ‘username on Etsy.’ at the end of each title. e.g. Jewelry by nyjolejewellery on Etsy.

This is one of my titles. ( Warning: it is not pretty and cohesive):

Wedding Brooch, Weddings, Jewelry, Silver, Pearls, Crystals, Rhinestones, Enchanted Brooch. Wedding Jewelry by nyjolejewellery on Etsy.

For the order of tag words, I always go by this order.
1. Category: Necklace…..or Apron….or Painting….or Hair clip.
2. Category: Wedding Jewelry….or Jewelry….or Fine Art…..or Accessories.
3. Materials. Can be a number of materials. But please use the most common searched material first.
4. Colour
5. Sub category. E.g. children, teenager…etc. (number 4 & 5 can be changed around.)
6. Items name or number.
7. Always end in this sentence. “Jewelry by nyjolejewellery on Etsy”. Instead of my username and Jewelry you can put the right category in for your item.

I have 12 tag words in this title.

Item’s Description

The first two lines play an important role for the search engines as well, this will be in the description when searched for in Google. Also use key tag words as well.
I always use the same two lines in all of my descriptions, although I do change the first word depending on what the item is.

This is what I have in my description: Wedding Brooch. Accessories for the Bride and Bridesmaids. Wedding Jewelry by nyjolejewellery on Etsy

(although I need to update my description at the moment, as they are all over the place!)

I have 9 key tag words in this Description.

With the rest of your description try to use as many key tag words as you can.

Tags

It is very important to list all tags in order of importance. All tags should be one word if possible, and of common simplistic wording. Use this tool to search for the most commonly used key tag words. . Google Key Words. http://bit.ly/9D2wku

Think of your target market and imagine what words they would use to search for your product. Simplify your categories, eg instead of toddler use Children, which will cover a broader market.

Use the Etsy category tool for the first two or three tags, then start using your own tags. Remember spelling in your tags for different countries as well.

I then use this order to list the following:

(this is after Etsy’s main categories)
Material
Colour
Catorgory…eg child, adult..etc.
Style
Descriptive words
Username This is very important for google and your customers that specifically search for you! (that’s your shop)
… Team (any team you are a part of)
Country (Australia)

Materials

An area we tend to forget about. Materials are also picked up with Google, so use them wisely and correctly. Meaning – don’t be sparing with your words. You can use different words for materials in here. E.g. I use the word Diamantes, but in America they use the word Rhinestones….so I use both in my materials. You must respect Etsy rules and do not abuse this area. Other sellers will report you if you do!

Conclusion

When you change all of your listings, shop title, shop announcement, tags, item titles, item descriptions, and your materials to comply with the SEO, then and only then will your views change.

Note: It’s important to note that the changes won’t appear in Google search results immediately. Google checks web pages for updates periodically, so the changes won’t appear in Google search results until Google visits your page again and updates the information it has about your page. If you want to see when Google last checked one of your pages, search for the page in Google and click the “Cached” link for your page.

What and where is the ‘cached’ http://www.googleguide.com/cached_pages.html

I hope this is a help, it really is your decision to make the changes, I’m not saying you must change. This is what I have done to change my views.

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Ny is a creator of beautiful wedding jewellery. She lives in the gorgeous tropical Queensland town of Mackay, and has been creating beautiful jewelry for brides for a number of years. You can find her Etsy shop here.