1. Make sure your profile is complete
Etsy has added a few new features to the profile page since I first openend my shop in 2020, and it's important that you ensure these fields are filled, so when customers visit your shop page, there aren't any blanks. This makes your page look more professional to customers, giving them more insight into your business and suggests to Etsy that you're a dedicated seller who has put effort into completing the smaller details of their Etsy shop. These fields can include the "About Us" section, the images and descriptions section and the links to your social media pages (all can be found at the bottom of your shop's page.
2. High-quality listing images are key to a higher click rate
There's nothing worse than seeing an Etsy seller who's investing a lot of time and money into their Etsy business, but just isn't getting the sales they need because their product images aren't quite up to scratch. Remember, when you shop, one of the most important factors that make you decide whether to click onto a listing or not is the photo. You should ensure that your listing images are of high resolution, showcase your product at the best angles, have good lighting and a high-contrast background, to make sure they stand out. You don't need any fancy equipment to achieve this, just some innovative use of the materials you have around you and decent mobile phone camera - I still use my iPhone 13 Pro Max camera. If you're in need of some more inspiration when it comes to product photography, check out some videos on YouTube that give excellent advice on how to achieve great product photos.
3. Duplicate your listings and change small things
At present, Etsy favours shops who have approximately 50 or more products listed over an extended period. What this means is, the more products you have, the higher the probability a customer will fall onto one of your listings. this doesn't mean you have to have 50 ore more different products - you can simply duplicate your existing products and in those duplications, change something to see what might boost customer engagement e.g. some words in the title, tag words, description, product photo order etc etc. The factor I switch most is the photo that's the cover of the listing, as this is one of the biggest deciding factors when it comes to customers clicking your listings.
4. Tag Word Optimisation
This has been one of the biggest game changers for me. I use an extension app called EverBee that offers a free plan, which allows you to see what key/tag words other sellers are using on their listing and also scores these words in accordance to search volume and competition. It also allows you to see the searcher volume of word, which can help to optimise your product title and to assess if the demand for a product is there. For example, if your sell ceramic puppy mugs and the search volume for this kind of product is below 50 per month, it's probably worth re-evaluating if it's worth selling this product.
5. Become a star seller
Etsy introduced the star seller badge earlier this year and it's been difficult for a lot of small businesses to achieve this badge. It requires over a 95%: dispatch on time rate, 5 star review rate and message response within 24 hours rate. You can instantly improve not he replies one by setting up your automatic reply which could include FAQs. This makes it much easier to reply to all customers int eh required timeframe. When it comes to reviews, the best way to achieve this is to offer an excellent service that warrants nothing less than 5 stars however, mistakes can happen which can lead to unhappy customers leaving negative reviews. The best thing you can do in this situation is message the buyer to try and work something out so that they alter their review. When it comes to dispatching on time, make sure you've set yourself sufficient order processing and delivery timeframes, so that this one can be easily ticked off!
I hope you've found these tips helpful! If you'd like to see more of my small business support content, subscribe to our weekly newsletter and follow us on social media @littleperfectionsuk
