3 Tips To Freshen Up Your Etsy Shop (or How to be Found Again)

If you just realized that you have clicked your refresh page button for your Etsy shop for the 10th time within the last hour, it is time to do something slightly more productive to get your online shop found again. Here are

3 Tips to Help Freshen Up Your Etsy Shop and Be Found Again

1. Add new items.
I know it has been said a million times. But really, add new items. If you are not selling, it is even more imperative to add new items in order to be found. Need to be convinced?

Scenario A
Someone is following your shop via Twitter, blogging, Facebook or just on Etsy in general. Think of this someone as your secret-admirer, internet-stalker type but in a good way. Then, you add something new to your shop. Now, this secret admirer will probably check out your new widget. Since they already like your stuff, they will most likely post it on their internet planet. In turn, their internet planet finds your shop. So now, you have connected with people who have not seen your stuff before.

Scenario B
Some Etsian is bored and is killing time by scrolling through the “Promote Your New Listings Here” threads which dot the Etsy Team worlds. (Yeah, you know you’ve done that once or twice). So now, you have something to add to those threads. Then, instead of someone else’s shop getting discovered by other bored Etsians, they are clicking on your link and checking your stuff out! Not to mention that your link creates a new relevant backlink to your shop which as we have discussed before is always a good thing.



Scenario C
Someone on Etsy or even Google is looking for a bright blue widget. All your widgets are beige and red. So of course, your items are not coming up in their search. Now, you add a blue widget, they search for blue widget, and your item comes up. They find your shop! They can heart your shop or add you to their circle. Again, their internet planet is made aware of your shop’s existence.

Practical Hint:
Go through your shop and see if there are colors, types or styles which are simply not represented in your listings. Then, either make the item, or if it is actually laying around, take a picture and list it! You may just hook up with a new someone or someones who would have not found your shop otherwise.

2. Redo Pictures.
No time to make something new, and much less take a new picture of it? I have an easy cheat. I am talking about a very easy change here. Move your pictures around.

Yes, it is that simple. Sometimes, a fresh set of eyes on an old photo will tell you something new. Like – “oh the bottom of that picture cuts off the bottom of the item when in the thumbnail view”, or “that third photo which I hated ages ago, shows a better angle of this widget”.

Solution? Simply switch which first photo represents the item. This gives your shop a new look with minimal effort.

Now, sometimes the photo situation is more dire and does need ‘surgery’.

If I can’t find a decent picture to use as a first picture, then I go back and re-edit the picture. Now, this is best done with the original picture file. Again, a fresh look at things may give you information you did not see before.

Practical Hint 1:
Look at all the original pictures taken for the listing, then, pick only one or two to redo (remember time is an issue), then work on only those pictures with a time limit.

Practical Hint 2:
Re-cropping a picture gives the viewer a different angle of the object. Or, it can give an item a new look or feel. Sometimes all the pictures in your shop begin to look the same, both to you and your audience. One solution is to change them up a bit. Create a new drama or ambiance for the item. This could mean the difference between someone who clicks on your shop and lingers, or someone who clicks in and out.

Practical Hint 3:
Edit your photo's lighting. Sometimes a lighter picture gives better detail on a sparkle, a color representation, or a pattern. Fix dark photos and at the same time, make the pictures ‘pop’ off the page. I’ve gone back to my original jewelry pictures to see if I can make something a little brighter and to avoid gray undertones which generally makes jewelry dull on a computer screen. I make sure to keep the colors the same as the actual item. But, I do find that making a photo ‘pop’ off the page adds that wow factor which makes a huge difference in the attention the listing gets.

Once you've done some photo surgery, you'll find that your previously neglected listings will get new hearts. Then as the Etsy world turns, hearts can lead to treasuries, which can lead to more views, which can lead to new circle peeps, and yes, Virginia, sometimes even sales.

3. Rewrite.
I know. I think I just heard a collective groan. You have probably done it a hundred times - for each listing. And yes, I have too.

But sometimes, switching words around does get your item found faster. When I write a lot of descriptions in one sitting or even day after day, I tend to repeat myself. Even I begin to get bored reading my own descriptions, or I tend to use the same keywords over and over.

Here are some reasons why you (and by that I do mean me) need to rewrite:

A. You’ve changed.
Hopefully, as time has passed while owning an online shop, you have learned a thing or two about marketing. The way you described your item 10 months ago, may now sound ‘odd’. Today, you are more polished. You know your target market better. And yes, you know how to entice them to click and buy.

B. Seasons have changed.
Re-write descriptions to match the needs of the moment. Is a new holiday coming up? Maybe this is a great way to freshen up a listing which was written for a “bright summer dress” to be “perfect for that holiday dinner party”. You get my drift. Give your audience a reason to need your item. Also, it helps to give the impression that you are in the shop right now and busily working on the new display window for them! You don’t see Macy’s leaving their bikinis and surfboards up in their display window in the middle of the Christmas season do you?

C. Etsy changes.
Go to Etsy’s front page. (Yes, insert yet another collective groan here). Okay, now look at the way Etsy has changed how random people will search on the site.

On the top left corner, right below the bright orange Etsy logo are four critical links. Currently it says - Fashion, Home & Garden, Kids, and Holidays. Click on one of the links and you will see what Etsy is trying to promote for that season. Below the large graphic design style box are three boxes. These change and rotate all day long so there are lots of chances to join in and be relevant.

Currently, there are words like “Gifts under $50", or “Geometric Decor”. These boxes give you hints on what to use as keywords to become more relevant to the Etsy search.

One Last Practical Hint:
Scroll down below the three boxes and check out the words under the header “Trending Now”. Yes, this is how you know what is being searched for on Etsy or what Etsy is telling people what to search for - take your pick. Either way, these trending words, eventually become the keywords used for the three boxes above. So, use these keywords to help get your shop found on Etsy.

Two Quick Rewriting Tips to Remember
A. If you add certain keywords in your title, to be Google relevant, you need to add the same keywords in the first line of your listing description.

B. To be Etsy relevant, you need to repeat your keywords and key phrases in both your titles and your Etsy tags in order to be easily found on page 1 of Etsy search.

Moral of the Story:
You shop being found again will take a little effort on your part. But, with some help from your internet planet, Etsy hearts and circles, new eyes on new photos, and relevant keyword changes to meet Etsy's search, your views will increase and next thing you know, you will be neck high in packages to send out to your new found clients.