WHAT TO DO ABOUT ETSY BROWSE

December 11, 2012 KURBUHAUN

GETTING INTO ETSY BROWSE

Etsy Browse

I’m probably among the very few who actually like the etsy browse feature. Actually I thought it was a genius move. Absolutely genius and long overdue. If you listen to the Etsy community, comprised of the forums and teams, you’ll most likely hear the exact opposite.

There’s a lot of anger and dissatisfaction with Browse. It represents yet another sudden change for many sellers and something else to worry about. There’s also bitterness among those whose product listings cannot be found in Browse. To make matters worse there are entire categories missing. Leaving the people making a living in those categories unlikely to ever be found there. The really strange thing was that for some reason, top selling shops lost their traffic with the debut of Browse. It stirred up pure panic by puzzled shop owners looking for answers. So then with all the confusion, traffic carnage, and missing categories, what makes Etsy Browse so great?

The short answer is it improved the shopping experience for visitors. Giving the site a floor that people can walk around the way you would at the mall. Those who are undecided on what they want to buy can just look around, that’s what was missing from the site. Exploration. This type of movement within a site can induce the impulse buy. The discovery of something you didn’t even know you wanted.

Unfortunately this isn’t the type of floor where all the inventory makes it to the racks and shelves. That’s what a lot of the chatter is about. How in the world do you get your products found in Browse?

HOW TO BE FOUND

According to Etsy the items that make it to browse also perform well for search. So the first criteria is performance. You will want to audit your product listings and pay close attention to your stats. Locate your best performing products. Take note of the number of views, hearts, and sales. Check shop stats to see if search is your top traffic source. This will indicate that you are performing well through search.

If you notice that you need work in this area, here are a few tips that will help your product’s relevancy and performance.

For the example below I’ll be using a Pendant Necklace.

How To Perform Well From Search

1) Select The Proper Categories

Locate the categories that match the primary location you are aiming to appear in from Etsy Browse. Example: Jewelry > Necklace

I highlighted Pendant because it’s a category within Browse that’s relevant for this example. I’m going to make sure to add that broad keyword to my title and tags.

Select the same categories when you are listing your product. Jewelry > Necklace

2) Find Relevant Keywords Through Research

Keywords make or break your product listing. You want to make sure you are targeting the keywords your target market uses to find what you sell. If you target the wrong keyword you stand to risk attracting the wrong traffic. Which can result in high view counts but little to no sales. Or worse, no traffic and little chance of making a sale.

Keyword research begins with figuring out the words people actually type to find what you sell. In this example we are pretending to sell a pendant necklace. My first stop will be the Etsy homepage. I’m going to use the keyword suggestion tool to find out exactly what people are typing relevant to my product. This tool is built into the Etsy search box at the top of the page.

To use the keyword suggestion tool simply type in a keyword relevant to your product and a drop down menu of keywords will appear if there are any. The list of keywords in the drop down menu represent the most popular keywords in relation to what you’ve typed. This is a great way to find out what people are searching for. Those are generally the keywords you should target.

Another tool you can use is the Google keyword tool. Since this tool only gives you data from the Google search engine, it’s not an accurate picture of what happens on Etsy. At this point use the Google Keyword Tool to find keyword ideas that you can then research using the Etsy suggestion tool.

3) Write A Strong Title

Now that you have a target keyword it’s time to put that keyword in your title. There are a couple of reasons for this. When the keyword is in the title it helps the person doing a search understand that they have found what they are looking for. Example, If I do a search for green pendant necklace and see the same keyword in a title, I’m going to be more inclined to feel like this is going to be what I’m searching for.

Etsy is a search engine. The way it works is by scanning the words in the title and tags, on each and every page and indexing that page on it’s servers. If your page happens to have the same words on it as what someone is typing in the search box, that page is served to them in list called search results. Which are comprised of the products listings.

The Etsy search engine searches the title and tags to figure out where you belong.

Ever see those product listing that have the words “free shipping” in the title. Guess where their product listing is turning up? When someone types free shipping, their page is included. Does free shipping attract their target customer? Not even close. It’s a general search. It’s better to attract someone searching specifically for what you sell.

So remember to write a title that contains the right target keyword. Even if you keyword stuff your titles, get your primary target keyword in there somewhere. I won’t fuss over where to put your keywords. Best practice says at the beginning of the title. As long as you get it in the title you’re okay.

4) Find And Write Great Tags

It can be difficult to find different keywords to describe one item. Especially if you sell items that are similar to each other. In some cases there just aren’t that many keywords that are relevant. No matter what the situation use every possible slot allowed for tags. It may take a longer amount of time to find the right keywords, but it’s worth it.

Use the same tools you used to find your primary target keyword to find many more. At the end of this article I’ve included a list of resources. You’ll find tools that will help you generate tags.

You’ll also want to include your category keywords in your tags. For this example my category keywords were jewelry, necklace, and pendant. Very broad keywords that may help you make it to browse.

5) Find Power In Promotional Teams

Promotional teams can be a big help when trying to get your product listings to perform well from search. There are teams that will favorite your item if you favorite theirs, share you on social media, and a variety of other services if you participate. When you are just starting out or about to list a product for the first time, teams may be the best way to make your way to the first page of your target keyword.

Teams can also help you with SEO, keyword research, and critique your shop. The value is overwhelming, so don’t overlook this powerful tool.

SHOULD YOU WASTE TIME WITH BROWSE?

I’ve seen advice advocating against spending time being found in Browse and think it’s something a shop owner would have to weigh and consider. I personally feel it’s to your advantage to be found more places. It wouldn’t take that much more time to optimize for relevancy as well as browse.

CONCLUSION

Getting your products listings to show up in Etsy Browse depends on how well you perform in Search. There’s no big mystery or quick route. It’s not about just your title and tags but if people are clicking on your product listing, how many favorites your product listing is getting, and if people are buying from you.

Use this guide to perform well and you too will enjoy the extra exposure and hopefully sales from being super easy to find on Etsy.
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Resources:
Promotion Teams On Etsy

Heart4Hearts: http://www.etsy.com/teams/14500/hearts4hearts