I hear your frustration. It is so demotivating not to see the results of your hard work. I know how much time and love goes into creating your products, and it is disheartening when no one buys them! I remember when I opened my first Etsy shop. I spent so much time working on my products, thinking that when I publish them, sooner or later, customers will come. But my excitement turned into disappointment when weeks went by without any orders. I kept refreshing my browser and only got a few likes – which I later found out were from my husband, who was trying to support me!

Seven years later, and over $500K in sales on Etsy, I know ALL of the mistakes I’ve made and why I was not getting any sales. Chances are that you are making the same mistakes, so today, I am going to share with you the top 3 things that transformed my Etsy shop. I wish I had known this before I started my small business! Are you ready? Buckle up, this post is filled with actionable tips you can apply to improve your Etsy shop today.

Getting orders on Etsy, boils down to the 3 most important things:

1. VERIFY IF YOUR PRODUCT IS IN DEMAND ON ETSY

While it is very tempting to create anything you love, it is important to understand what kind of products are selling on Etsy to avoid disappointment and frustration. There is nothing worse than spending hours creating your adorable product, putting all that effort into making a listing, and no one buys it. Not every product will sell well on Etsy, and spending time to verify your product idea before you spend time and money on creating it will save you a lot of headaches (and money).

Here is how you can quickly verify if your product idea has potential: 

• Search for your product idea in the Etsy search bar and look for similar products to yours with badges “popular now” and “bestseller.”
• If you can find a similar product to yours, this means there is a demand for your product, which is a great sign!
• Now, you just need to identify how your product will stand out from the competition, which takes us directly to the 2nd tip.

2. MAKE YOUR PRODUCT STAND OUT

The most successful Etsy shops are DIFFERENT and strive to be DIFFERENT because that is what makes them stand out from the crowd. There is over 4.3 million active sellers on Etsy. Spending time to study your competition and defining how you can make your product better will set you up for success. Remember, instead of “blending in” focus on standing out. Use hints below, to get your started.

• What makes your product different/better than your competitors?
• Are your photos going to catch shoppers’ attention if your products appear in Etsy search results?
• What is your competition lacking? Read their reviews, learn from their mistakes and make it better.

3. LEARN HOW TO GET FOUND IN ETSY SEARCH

Etsy customers are searching for your product in the Etsy search bar. But if your product isn’t showing up on the first few pages in search results for your customers, it is unlikely that your customers will find you. In order for your products to show up in the early pages of Etsy search results for your customers, you need to SEO optimize your shop. Optimizing your shop means using quality keywords in your shop and listings. This can help your product show on the first few pages of results for your ideal customers, increasing the likelihood of sales. To get started, here are a few tips you can apply and start optimizing your Etsy shop today.

5 STEPS TO SEO OPTIMIZE YOUR ETSY SHOP:

• Schedule time to brainstorm & research relevant long-tail keywords for your listings. Review your Etsy shop analytics & start working on listings that are getting the least amount of views (do not change keywords on listings which are already selling)

•  For each of your product listings – make sure your listing category & attributes are filled out (those are the scroll-down menus that Etsy gives you to fill out when you are creating a new listing)

• Optimize your product title & tags – use relevant long-tail keywords in your title & make sure to use all 13 tags

•  Check if your Etsy shop title is filled out – it’s the place right under your Etsy shop name and should be filled with keywords describing what you are selling

• Fill out your shop about section, announcement section & shop policies (it also helps with boosting your shop in search results)

If you need more help with SEO optimizing your Etsy shop, download my free Etsy SEO cheat sheet below.

Well, there you have it! If you found this helpful, I would love for you to share this blog post with your small biz bestie! Good luck with working on your shop and look out on my Instagram at @smallbizbabescommunity for new blog post announcements.

Xo,

Michaela