This content provides a comprehensive guide to understanding and leveraging the Etsy algorithm for handmade business owners, moving beyond clickbait tactics to offer actionable insights based on Etsy's own principles and practical experience.
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[music] The world of business can be
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Hello everyone and welcome back to
[music] this podcast which still feels
really weird saying that. I had a
podcast it feels like many many moons
ago and now it's back and now it's
better and yeah it is really weird to
not be on video right now. Um, I keep
looking at the camera kind of being
like, "Oh, there's people there and
there's not." So, you're just listening
to me, which is actually really, really
nice. Means I don't have to worry if I
have bags under my eyes or my eyebrows
are a little bit unruly today. So, yeah,
it's really really just [sighs] a bit of
exhaleness, I feel like, when it comes
to content creation. So, today we are
going to be talking about the
beginners's guide to the Etsy algorithm.
Okay? And I know that this is like a
real buzzword and to be honest with you,
it's one of the reasons why I am semi
migrating away from YouTube because I
don't know if you've really noticed, but
all of the videos about Etsy, about
handmade businesses are all very much
clickbait. they are basically scaring
you with the thumbnail with the title
things like Etsy's big changes or what
on earth is Etsy doing now or you know
and it's all designed to make you scared
to make you think you have to watch the
video to know what's going on to
understand things and that is really the
reason why I'm kind of falling out of
love with the whole YouTube sphere and
it is because for me to get viewers
which is literally what YouTube is for.
I have to make content around four
topics. One of those being SEO, the
second one being things like Etsy
updates, the third one being Etsy
trends. And to be honest with you, like
me and my students, we are not down with
the whole Etsy trends thing because I
believe in being a little bit more
sustainable when it comes to business
and not being all about creating
products that are just based on trends
that are inevitably going to dis
disappear or stop or you know and then
you're left with all of this bunch of
stuff which yes might have sold well
once but then isn't selling again and
then you just end up with a waste of
time, effort, energy, money. Right? So
anyway, back to today's episode. So this
is why basically the podcast has become
a thing because I don't want to be a
part I don't I don't want to contribute
to the problem, which is misinformation
being spread around YouTube, right? Um I
really just don't think that that's a
game I want to play anymore. I don't
want I don't don't want to gaslight you
guys into watching a video because you
think you have to or you're going to be
left behind in the dust or something
bad's going to happen, right? So, that
being said, today I am going to be
talking about the Etsy algorithm, which
as you know is probably one of those
videos that you've seen floating about
and it probably has a thumbnail like uh
get ranked or how to be num number one
on page one, you know, all these kinds
of things. And again, like the thumbnail
is very much designed to make you click,
to make you watch, right? But today, I'm
actually just going to straight up talk
to you about how the algorithm works and
in the hopes that you can take this away
with you and you can actually plug it
into your business, into your mindset
today. Okay. So, a lot well to to be
honest, all of this is taken from d well
directly from the horse's mouth. Okay.
So there's nothing here that I'm sharing
which is like cool new SEO hacks that
might be a bug that might work for like
2 three days. None of this is stuff that
um I've tried, tested and it hasn't
worked. All of this stuff is things that
like I said has come from Etsy itself or
is something that I have actually tested
in my own business and my students as
well. Right? So let's talk about Etsy
just for a minute. So unlike having your
own website or selling from a platform
such as Facebook or Instagram or
something like that, right, Etsy already
has a huge loyal fan base of customers
who are wanting to buy from you. And
that to be honest with you is what makes
Etsy good, is what makes Etsy work. And
a lot of the time, you know, you do see
these new platforms pop up, don't you?
You might get ads on your feed or you
might see it in a Facebook group. Oh,
there's this new platform that's just
cropped cropped up um that says it's for
handmade products. Is it is it worth a
go? And my my answer to that is always
the same. It's always like, okay, Etsy
is spending millions, billions even to
bring the right direct warm customers to
their platform. And those are people who
are looking for something unique. They
are looking for handmade goods, right?
So, it's literally like plonking your
business in the middle of the world's
busiest craft fair. Okay, you are there.
You are you have your product, your
pricing's right, your photos are right,
everything is good. Hopefully, fingers
crossed. And and if it's not, I can
certainly help you with that. There is
the book. There is well, this podcast [laughter]
[laughter]
um and the Facebook group as well,
right? And it's literally, like I said,
plonking yourself in the middle of all
of those people and saying, "Hey, I'm
open for business." And getting a flood
of people, a queue even to your store.
Okay? And that is basically what Etsy is
like. Okay? Now, not only that, but
imagine that it is a massive craft fair
that will refund you if things don't go
right, where you can always be in
contact with the shop, where you can
also easily 24/7 if you like, browse
their other products and their other
offers and look at reviews and things
like that. Right? So, all of this is to
say that Etsy does have that household
name, that no, like, and trust factor.
Okay? So, it's really difficult for me,
especially when people say, "Right, I
have an an Etsy shop. It's going really,
really well and I want to open up my own
website, right?" And a lot of the time,
I think I think that's a really good
idea. But I think it's a really good
idea if you already have a fairly large
email list, social media following, if
you already have that fan base, that
audience base behind you. Because if you
don't driving your own traffic, it's
going to be expensive. Whether that's
monetarily expensive with things like
Facebook ads, sponsorships,
influencers, all that kind of thing, or
whether it's time expensive, aka you
having to blog two, three times a week,
writing emails out, blah, blah, blah.
Now, is it something that I say it's a
good idea for you to do once you are
reaching your revenue goals with your
Etsy shop? Yeah, sure. If you've got the
time, if you have the money behind you
to be able to invest in having a website
presence, then great, fine, do it. But
again, this is where Etsy really wins,
okay? Because they already have that
loyal fan base. All right,
the next problem for Etsy though, as you
can imagine, it's not just you on there,
right? There are 7.3 million Etsy shops,
which might make you go, "Eek, that's a
lot. Oh my god, what is going on here?"
Now, that number has actually fallen
since 2021. Now, that doesn't include
active Etsy shops, okay? That number is
purely just accounts that are linked to
some kind of shop. So, you got to
imagine a fair few of them. In fact, I
would hazard a guess to say probably a
good 70% of them are people who opened a
shop maybe during COVID, thought, "Yeah,
I'm going to add some things to it. I'm
going to do this. I'm going to do that."
And then never actually get there.
Right? We've all been there. Um, we've
all been there where we are opening
something and thinking, "Yes, I'm going
to actually integrate this into my
everyday life and I'm going to list
things. I'm going to make things." Then
actually it turns out to not happen. So
7.3 million Etsy shops. Now that's not
active Etsy shops. Now you might think
that's a fairly big number. All right.
However, there are 95 million buyers.
All right. So 7.3 million Etsy shops, 95
million buyers. Okay. So that is a big
difference. That is a massive
difference. That is a lot of, you know,
even if you spread the buyers evenly
throughout the 7.3 million Etsy shops
every single month, you would still get
a fair amount of sales, right? And as we
know, they're not split even evenly. And
you know, the algorithm is what we're
going to be talking about today, right?
During Q1 in 2023, Etsy attracted, now
that's just in Q1,
right? That is just in those beginning
months. Etsy attracted 7 million new
buyers. So that is on top of the
existing buyers. Okay. And in 2021,
habitual buyers spent an average of
$200. All right. And during that period,
the number of habitual buyers grew 26%
yearonear. Okay. Etsy also remains in
the top 10 websites. Just straight up
the top 10 websites alongside eBay and
Amazon. Okay. So, as you as you can see,
there is [laughter] 7.3 million Etsy
shops. So, they all might have 10
listings. They all might have 100
listings. So, the next problem for Etsy
is how do we sort these listings and
show the ones that the customer is most
likely to buy, right? And contrary to
popular belief, Etsy actually wants you
to make sales. Etsy wants you to get
sales because then it gets its fees,
right? And Etsy wants the customer to
get exactly what they want and have a
pleasant experience doing it so that
they keep coming back to the platform
because when you make sales, Etsy makes
money. You make money, but Etsy makes
money, too, right? So, it's a selling
cycle for the platform, too. All right?
And the more great experiences a person
has buying something on Etsy, which is
why they have the purchase protection
program, why they really put reviews
front and center, why they are always
talking about the star seller and all
that kind of thing. It is why they do
that is because they want people to have
a great time on Etsy. So, the more great
experiences a person has at buying
something, the chances are that they
will come back and spend more money with
you and other small business owners as
well, which to be honest, I know some
people say, you know, why are Etsy
showing, you know, similar items when
people are looking for my for my items?
But it's it's it's a tit for tat, right?
It's a I scratch your back, you know,
you scratch mine. And you get traffic
from competitors listings as much as
maybe Etsy sometimes might show
something with a better picture, a
better title that better fits what that
person is actually looking for. And it
swings in in roundabouts. It really,
really does. So don't ever think that
the reason why you don't want to sell on
Etsy, the reason why Etsy is not going
to work for you is because you get other
people's products potentially shown
around your listings. Because at the end
of the day, that's the same on your own
website. That's the same on Google.
That's always going to be the same. And
if your pictures are not great, your SEO
isn't isn't great, which is search
engine optimization, in case you didn't
know. Um, if all of this stuff isn't
great, sooner or later down the line, it
is going to show and it is going to turn
people off. That might be on Etsy, that
might be on your own website, that might
be somewhere else, right? So, just bear
that in mind because I have seen that
kind of floating around as well where
people say, "I'm not going to sell on
Etsy because they show other people's
products." And I'm afraid that is what
Google Shopping is. That is what Amazon
Handmade is. That is what Amazon normal
is. That is what Not on the High Street
is. That is, you know, that is what
every platform, whether it belongs to
you or not, will do because it wants
people to spend more time on there. It's
the same as social media, right? If
people do not interact with your posts,
they will send them somewhere else
because it's in the platform's best
interest to keep people on there. Right?
So, back to Etsy then. So, there are
basically seven main factors and a lot
that Etsy doesn't actually tell us. So,
if someone says to you, I am an Etsy SEO
expert. I have the inside scoop. Run
away because they don't. Only a very few
select people on the planet knows
exactly for a fact how it all works. And
as we know, if you are playing around
with your with your listings, you know,
you're changing SEO, you're changing
your titles, you're changing your tags,
you're changing this all of the time, it
doesn't give it time and chance to rank,
right? So, in case you didn't know, um
it it takes between 60 and 90 days for
whatever changes you make to a listing,
whether that is a new listing, an old
listing you've changed, it takes between
60 and 90 days for those changes to come
to some kind of f fruition in terms of
results, right? So, if you are changing
things, like I said, every freaking uh
week, two weeks, months, you're actually
not going to see anything because you're
not going to be giving a chance to do
its thing. And that has a lot to do a
lot a lot of people say, why is that a
thing? Well, it's to do with the seven
main factors. Okay? Because depending on
what the category is that you are in, um
you know, you might have not a lot of
search traffic. And the reason why it is
that 60 to 90 days is because Etsy wants
to essentially see how people interact
with your listing. But that's going to
be very different for someone who sells
a gold a gold heart necklace that gets
thousands and thousands of views every
single month versus someone that's
selling a recycled kimono lampshade that
might get two or three views every
month, you know. So that is the reason
why the bracket can be quite large
because it really depends on a how much
traffic you are getting with that key
that keyword in order for Etsy to see
how people interact with that particular
listing and also b it depends on the
category in which you list him. Okay, so
seven main factors. Let's get back to
that. So all of these ranking and
sorting factors are just as important as
one another. All right, so I don't want
you to think that you know only one is
important. you need to focus on this or
this or this. You might need to revisit
them often to make sure everything is
staying afloat. And I want you just for
a minute to imagine seven floaties. You
know, like those like rubber rings,
those like inflatable blow up things
that you get in pools, right? And I want
you to imagine there's seven of those
holding up a car, right? Within within a
pool. So the car is floating on top of
all of these seven floaty things, right?
If one starts to deflate, the whole car
might sink. And that is literally the
best way that I can visually in your
mind right now just like describe it.
All right. So when someone searches for
something in the Etsy search bar, two
things happen in that millisecond that
they click that go button that they
click that search button.
[clears throat] So there's two things.
Number one, which is query matching.
Okay. So query matching is where Etsy
will look at the titles, tags,
descriptions, categories, attributes,
and they will basically create a nice
little list. It's not a list that we can
see. Well, we can see it, but it's then
sorted. All right, but for now, let's
focus on the query matching. So that is
where you get a nice list. Okay, and
this list must match the keywords with
what the customer is searching for in
that search box. Okay. So, if someone is
typing in silver elephant bracelet, Etsy
is coming up with a list. It's going to
its database and saying, "Okay, I'm
going to look for all of the info that
Etsy sellers like you have put in the
titles, the tags, descriptions,
categories, attributes, when they listed
the item. And I'm going to go through
all of these in milliseconds
and create a nice little list that
matches the search term silver elephant
bracelet." Okay, but as you can imagine,
you get a list of well probably I mean
let's do the search now real real quick
in real time. So 5,150
results, right? That is a lot. That's
5,000 plus listings for silver elephant
bracelet that you have to go through. So
can So can you imagine if the search
stopped there? Can you imagine if the
search completely stopped there? There
was no sorting. There was no ranking. It
was just here is a list. People would
get very bored very quickly. There would
be a lot of stuff that's not re relevant
to their search because people do tend
to do things like describe it as a
silver elephant bracelet if it is a
silver elephant necklace or a silver
elephant ring or something like that in
the hopes that they will get ranked and
seen, right?
And it I think it really demonstrates
why it's really important to make sure
things your keywords, your titles, your
tags are relevant to what you sell.
Okay. So you have 5,000 plus results
here. The second stage of this, so the
first stage was query query matching. So
So the first stage was query matching.
The second stage is ranking. Okay. So
this is where we are sorting those 5,000
plus results. So once Etsy have gathered
all of the listings that match from that
search silver elephant bracelet, they
use the seven ranking factors to sort
the listings. Basically trying to rank
them by what has sold the best before,
what is the customer most likely to buy,
what shop has got good reviews, all this
kind of stuff. I am going to be going
through them with you. So, it's
basically like getting scores in a race
and being on a a leaderboard, right? You
have first, second, third, fourth,
fifth. Now, all all of this to say as
well is that there is no such thing as
page one anymore, okay? Because page one
is different for everybody depending on
where you live, depending on the search
history. There is no such thing. Back in
2015, page one was a thing. Like if if
you ranked on page one, you ranked on
page one for most people. However, that
is not the case anymore. So if you ever
hear someone say, "I'm going to help you
rank higher." They're not necessarily
talking about being on page one, because
page one is different for everybody. Um
it doesn't matter if you go on on
incognito mode. It doesn't it doesn't
matter because it will it will find out
where you are searching from roughly. It
will know what you've searched for
before on the platform. Um, and it will
also be show be showing you uh shops
that are more than likely going to
attract you. All right, so just a a
caveat there. So, seven ranking factors.
Number one is relevance. Number two is
listing quality score. Number three is
recency. Number four is customer and
market experience score. Number five
postage price. Number six translations
and language. And number seven, shopper
habits. Okay, so let's just go through
them real quick. I'm not going going to
do like an in-depth dive, but I want to
just quickly run through them with you.
So, relevancy. Relevancy is basically
looking at how relevant your listing is
to what the buyer typed in the search
bar. So, people who are looking for
silver elephant bracelets, they don't
want to see anything else because they
have an image in their mind. You have to
think about how you shop, right? When
you're going onto, and this can be Etsy,
it can be Amazon, it can be eBay,
whatever, right? When you're searching
for some for something, you have an
image in your head as to what you want
this thing to look like. Okay? And you
know, you're you're searching with
intent. Okay? If you're if you're just
browsing, that's very different because
you might not know what you what what
you want to buy, right? And that is
where you might type in elephant gift or
gift for her or bracelet for her or
something a bit more generic. But if you
are searching with intent, you have an
idea in your head as to what you want
that thing to be. So someone's searching
for a silver elephant bracelet in their
head, they know what they want to find.
Okay? This is why when you have found a
keyword phrase that works well, use the
exact phrase. Okay? Don't split it up.
And this is where some sometimes this
will trip people up. And actually, I've
seen loads of uh pe people claiming to
be Etsy SEO experts that say you don't
have to repeat words. And no, you don't.
However, if you have found two phrases,
okay, uh one that's silver elephant
bracelet and one that is um 925
silver lucky elephant bracelet. and you
have researched these two phrases and
they are phrases that are getting a very
high search volume. They don't have a
lot of competition and they are overall
doing well. Exact matches always rank
better. Okay. So, if you then start to
split those up because you're like,
well, I don't have to repeat the word
bracelet, then that is doing you a
disservice because exact matches always
rank better. All right. So that tends to
trip people up at times because I I I do
find that people will often like try to
split things up and then wonder why that
that phrase isn't really working for
them. And it's because exact matches
always rank better for your superstar
keyword phrases. And by the way,
researching key keyword phrases, Erank's
really good. Um I also like just using
the Etsy search bar as well. That's
really good. My favorite I think at the
moment is a plugin and it's a Google
Chrome plugin. It is a paid thing. I
think it's like $10 for a h 100,000
credits or something like that. It's
crazy. And it's called Keywords
Everywhere. And it does what it says on
the tin. You can go on to Google. It
will show you com competition. It will
show you this. It will show you that.
But it also works on Etsy. So this this
Google Chrome plug-in works on Etsy,
works on Google, works on Pinterest,
works on Amazon, works on not on the
high street. There's just a lot of
different places that that this thing
works. So, I just thought I would just
mention that here. But anyway, like I
said, where exact matches always rank
better. Okay, so like previously
mentioned, Etsy wants people to find
items they actually want to purchase.
So, Etsy will basically look at clues as
to what items you might like based on
your shopping habits and how your
listing was historically performing with
people searching for what you sell. And
a little hint here, reviews and
conversion rate are paramount in this.
Now, conversion rate is something that a
lot of people again get quite trip
tripped up about. They get quite
confused about. And I actually do have
an amazing free training that goes into
this in extreme detail. And also, it is
designed, this whole training is
designed to get you more Etsy sales
within 7 days. So, I just thought I
would mention that here. The link for
that will be in the in the show notes.
If not, it is handmadebosses.com/conversion.
So, handmadebosses.com/con
conversion. Just type type that into
your phone. Save it on a tab for later.
But I would say really to sign up for
that because it is going to help you
with your listing quality score here. Okay.
Okay.
So, listing quality score. All right.
So, like I said before, Etsy will look
at clues as to what you might like
depending on your shopping habits and
how your listing was historically
performing with people searching for
what you sell. And like I said, reviews
and conversion rate are really important
in this. And this could include things
like geographical location and things
that you've clicked on or bought before
will change your search results as a
buyer. So, new shops in this do have a
ne a neutral score. So don't be
disheartened if you are new. Um
basically all this means is that when
when you are brand new it might take
again 60 to to 90 days before the
listings that you've put up even start
to get seen. Right? So don't be
disheartened if it gets to 3 or 4 months
and you've not made a sale. That's
actually completely normal. And if
you've made a sale before then then
jolly good. That means that your listing
qual quality score is starting to go up
which is what we want. Okay. So when you
do a search and I would say if you can
right now whilst you're listening to me
do a search for silver elephant bracelet
and the shops that you see on the top
two or three rows excluding ads of
course. You will see shops that have
plenty of reviews. The item arrives
quickly. It will probably be based near
you. And there's just a bunch of like
it's basically a listing that has proven
to sell over and over again to similar
people like you. The same geographical
location. Yeah, all that all that kind
of stuff, right? And this is why you
might see at times people with really
bad SEO or I don't know, something might
be off with their listing. And you might
be sat there saying, well, why are they
ranking higher? Like their photos are
really bad and their SEO isn't good and
it's not following Steph's advice and
why are they ranking higher? Well, and
this also answers the question as well,
why you will not sell this one
particular listing for weeks, months,
maybe even years. And then all of a
sudden, it's like boom, you get a sale
and then a review. And then within two
weeks, you get two more sales and then
two more reviews. And then within a
month, you get five sales. And you're
sat there thinking, "This listing has
been on here for ages. Why is it
starting to sell now?" And it is because
as soon as that review is left, it's
giving Etsy a thumbs up saying this
person really liked this thing. So
therefore, I am going to put it higher
in similar people's search results
because as we know page one is not the
same for everybody. Okay. So that is
where the quality score it is a bit of a
a sort of shrouded in mystery type of
thing. But we do know sales reviews,
sales reviews, sales reviews definitely
help with this. So now let's move on to recency.
recency.
So if your listing is new and it has no
reviews at all, you've never sold it,
you know, you might be sat there being
like, well, how do I build my listing
qual quality score then for new
listings? Well, that that's okay because
Etsy helps new listers or new listings
out by implementing something called
recency. And this is where listings get
a very small boost in search so that
they can see how shoppers react to it
because at the end of the day, we don't
want new listings to get buried by the
ones with a higher listing quality
score, right? We we don't we don't want
that. That's not fair. So, this is where
basically um Etsy will boost it and
observe it. And this is where the 60 to
90 days thing really comes into play
here. Okay. So really when you think
about it for new listings recency then
gets overtaken by listing quality score
once the newness wears off. All right so
then there is customer and marketplace
experience score and you might have
heard people reference this as ODR in
the past. Um I think they called it ODR.
Do you know what? I can't actually even
remember what ODR stood stood for, but
basically now it is the customer and
marketplace experience score, which is
kind of a little bit more
self-explanatory than ODR, right? Etsy
doesn't want the negative vibes of a
scorned customer at the end of the day.
So that's why your shop has a secret
score that very few people on the planet
actually knows about and how it works,
but it's there always watching. So
things like great reviews and they do
take an average of the last 12 months as
well. So this is why if you have had
like a hiatus from your shop or you
haven't sold anything within the last 12
months that little reviews bit goes like
gray or it just kind of disappears or
the stars are still five but they become
empty. It's because Etsy is basically
saying we are taking the average from
the last 12 months to kind of determine
your customer and marketplace experience
score. And if they don't have anything
to go on, they're not saying it's like
your shop is now a one-star shop, but
they're saying we've not had anything in
the last 12 months. So, um, as long as
you are getting reviews within a 12
month period, that's fine. Okay. So,
great reviews, completed about section,
and shop policies are all things that
Etsy have said helps. You don't want
recent cases, copyright strikes, or
intellectual property notices. Those are
all things that go against you, so to
speak, in the customer and marketplace
experience score. Now, don't worry if
you have ever had any of these because,
like I said, it's it's really something
that is more a recent thing. But if you
have had one of these in the past, I
don't know, week, month, two months, you
might find that it might affect you.
Okay, so posted price pretty
self-explanatory here, but surveys and
Google forms and research have always
said, and it's always come back the
same, that buyers were more likely to
buy something with free postage or a
really low postage cost. Items with the
free US shipping guarantee. So, if you
are in the UK or any other country and
the US free shipping guarantee is turned
on, you might find that you have higher
search rankings. I've had pretty mixed
reviews myself on this, but Etsy have
said that they will give you a boost.
So, that's me reporting back to you what
Etsy have said to me. All right, but not
only this, but items with free shipping
are also shown to convert better,
helping your listing quality score
eventually. So when you are searching on
Etsy, right, I personally think the
reason why free postage works on Etsy so
well is because the price that you are
being shown on the grid on on the search
results is the price you are going to
pay. Okay. what I think turns people off
and why you might have quite a lot of
abandoned carts or or a little badge
that says 43 people have this in their
cart and you're thinking why aren't
people buying look at your postage price
because it could be that people are
getting to they're like yes I like this
thing I'm going to consider buying this
thing and yes I am looking at the
postage price I'm thinking it's like
another £510
$50 whatever and it's turning it's
turning me off. Like that is just an
additional wall, an additional objection
that I now have. Okay. My general
recommendation is that if your postage
price is under £10, put it in your item
cost and instead charge free postage. I
nor Etsy really want you to lose out on
postage money. I'm not saying you just
have to swallow the postage cost. Not
saying that at all. But instead increase
your item cost and do free postage.
Okay? Right. So, let's move on to
language and translations then. Quite a
quick one. Your main language should be
the one you that you list your items in.
Okay, I get a lot of questions on this,
but what if I speak two or three
different languages? First of all, well
done. That blows my freaking mind how
how you can do that. Uh, the second
thing is is that you can get a slight
boost by translating listings yourself
for Etsy because these translations will
basically override the the automated
Etsy ones which are not very good. Now,
I do predict that in the future AI tools
will make this a lot easier. So, I think
that maybe there might be a chance that
this ranking factor might actually
become a little bit obsolete. really
will AI replace someone who fluently
speaks that language? No, it won't. But
I do think that Etsy's uh like standard
ones will get better. However, like I
said, if you do speak different
languages, then you can translate
listings yourself, which is awesome, and
you do get a bit of a leg up there. The
next ranking factor is shopper habits.
Okay, so have you ever wondered why you
click on one ad for Nike shoes and then
you start to see them everywhere? It's
not magic. It's a common cookie tracker
that's been placed on your browser that
monitors what you look at and shows you
personalized ads and items that you're
more likely to click on and that is
based on what you've shown interest in
in the past. So, more specifically for
Etsy, this is cool. Now, don't don't get
scared by this term. Contextspecific
ranking or CSR technology. It's
basically a nifty bit of AI kit that
serves up what you like today based on
what you showed interest in yesterday.
Okay. So, um that is definitely
something that is working all of the
time within Etsy. So, if you are
clicking on one person's shop, it's
going to show you more products that are
the same within that shop or not. Okay.
So, that has been the beginners's guide
to the algorithm. And hopefully this
might have kind of really opened your
eyes a little bit more as to how it all
works. And one thing I would say is
don't obsess over controlling all of
these things because at the end of the
day if you are trying to control
everything you're going to drive
yourself insane.
Okay. Um it is not something you know
even like for example the language or
translations if you don't speak French
then it's not worth ftting over because
you can't speak French. Right? it it it
is what it is, right? Focus instead on
the things that you can control. So,
this is things like uh listing qual
quality score, relevance, customer and
market experience scores, all that kind
of thing. Okay. So if I was to say there
were three to focus on as soon as you
can, I would say re relevance, I would
say your listing quality score, and I
would say your customer and marketplace
experience score as well. And also
postage price because that's like a
really easy fix. If you can just do that
as free and then put that in your item
cost, that is that is great. Um, we
recently had someone said that that
wasn't allowed under some kind of
trading law. We did actually do some
research into that ourselves. We
actually contacted them and said, "Hey,
in this instance where, you know, you
have something that's £10 per you put it
in the in the item cost. Are we allowed
that?" The guy said, "Yes, you are." Um,
however, if you are worried about it, if
you're if you're not really sure, if
you've seen something in one Etsy group
with someone saying, "Oh, this isn't
allowed." Then honestly, just literally
email them, research this yourself.
Obviously, I am in the UK, so I can only
speak for what I have learned being in
the UK. Um, but to be honest with you, I
know millions of shops. I've seen it
happen for years and years and years
being in the e-commerce industry and the
retail industry. I've seen this happen
hundreds of thousands of times myself.
Um, and it is not something that I've
ever known to cause issues. So, so that
is one thing that I will say is that we
have actually contacted the I can't
remember what the body was, but we
contacted them and said, "Hey, is this
allowed?" And they were like, "Yeah, as
long as you are not misrepresenting
things like you know you you see these
uh ads that are like get a free book and
you click onto it and it's like ah you
get a free book but you have to cover
the posted price and the handling and
all that kind of thing." Um, I think
these were really big around the kind of
'9s era where it was like get a free
video, get a free DVD. It's it's, you
know, you can't say that the the postage
is free, the item is free when it's not.
Okay, I just thought I would just say
that in there just because uh yeah, we
had a person who was a little bit
concerned about that and we actually
contacted them ourselves. So, I really
hope that this episode has helped you
really get into SEO. um how it all kind
of works and how you can start in real
time to implement this within your own
business. Okay, as I said, it's not all
about keywords. There's so much more
that goes on behind the scenes. However,
keywords are a great place to start. And
it's why mainly I will say don't have
your listings on auto renew because what
this is is this is basically Etsy is
just renewing, renewing, renewing. And
it doesn't give you chance to edit it
really because, you know, trying to keep
track of like 50 plus listings is
ridiculous. It's hard. It's really hard
to do, right? So, it's why I will put
all of my items on uh manual renew and
then when they expire, they go obviously
in the expired listings bit and then
that gives me chance to go through them
and edit the keywords, edit the the
attributes, edit the tags into something
that's going to work a little bit harder
for me. So, again, just another little
tip there [laughter] for you. Don't have
your things on auto renew because it
doesn't allow you chance to go in and
change things up. Okay, so I really do
hope that you liked this episode and if
you did, I would love it so much if you
would consider leaving a review for me
because the more reviews I get. It's
like my very own little podcast listing
quality score, right? The more reviews
you guys leave, the more chance that
this podcast will be found by others who
need help. And follow me as well. I
don't know what that looks like for
whatever you are listening to this on.
It could be follow, it could be called
something else, but consider doing
something so that you get pings every
time there is a new podcast episode. As
you can see, they're going to be a bit
longer. They're going to be a bit more
informative rather than the 8 minute cap
on YouTube video minutes that I seem to
have, otherwise no one watches them or
gets clicks on them. So, yeah, thank you
guys so much for [music] watching. Thank
you so much for tuning into how to be a
handmade boss. And if you're eager to
boost your Etsy [music] sales within
just 7 days, then be sure to join my
most popular free [music] training at handmadebosses.com/conversion.
handmadebosses.com/conversion.
You can also find the link in the show
notes as well. Keep an eye out [music]
for our next episode where we'll be
continuing our journey towards handmade
business success together. And until
then, keep crafting and stay inspired
because the world really does need
[music] those special creations that
>> Thank you so much for tuning in today.
If you love this episode, make sure you
hit the follow button so you never miss
the [music] next one. And also, why not
come and hang out with me on Instagram?
It's @ handmade bosses for daily tips,
behind the scenes, and also don't forget
you can catch the video version of this
podcast over on YouTube, too. Until next
time, keep going towards your handmade
business [music] goals, boss, because
the world really does need those special
Thank you so much for tuning in today.
If you love this episode, make sure you
hit the follow button so you never miss
the next one. [music] And also, why not
come and hang out with me on Instagram?
It's @ handmade bosses for daily tips,
behind the scenes, and also [music]
don't forget you can catch the video
version of this podcast over on YouTube,
too. Until next time, keep going towards
your handmade business goals, [music]
boss, because the world really does need
those special creations that only you
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