The #1 Mistake I Had Been Making in my Etsy Shop & How to Fix It!

Do You ETSY?

I do! I love Etsy. It has a great seller/buyers platform and it focuses on small business! Which, is so important to me. I buy small business, I am small business, and nothing is more special than handmade! Etsy offers many great tools to further your handmade or vintage business. It's seller's platform is pretty straight forward for the most part, but like with everything, there is a bit of an "art" to making it work to it's full potential. 

I recently discovered that I had been making a very crucial mistake in my two Etsy shops. My titles!!! It was so small and simple I didn't even realize it was a problem. BUT! When it comes down to being found on the World Wide Web, it made all the difference. 

Now, the obvious reason for a title is to describe to the customer exactly what they are buying. Making sure to include descriptive words of the main features of your product. That part I understood and did quite well. My titles were spot on and popin' when it came to their descriptions! Here is the part where I had been missing the mark... the TITLE ORDER! My titles were all out of wack when it came to making sure the important keywords were showing up in my listing's URLs. This is 100% necessary because when someone searches for "sterling silver earrings" on google, google will bring up all the sites that have "sterling silver earrings" in the URLs. It is important to have the main description of what your product is, BE part of your URL. Its like free advertising and is a sure way to increase the your listing views! 

So how do you accomplish this? Its really shockingly simple. Etsy makes the first 4-5 words in your title part of your listing's URL. When you go to write your titles, focus on the first few words the most. Here are some examples.

WRONG WAY to write them (my original listing title):

Amethyst Cut Nugget, Turquoise, and White Jade Gemstone Stretch Bracelet - Adrienne Adelle - Stacking Bracelet - Chunky Bracelet

Here is how the wrong way's URL looked:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/238258327/amethyst-cut-nugget-turquoise-and-white?ref=shop_home_active_15

RIGHT WAY to write them (my improved URL listing title):

Amethyst, Turquoise & Jade Stretch Bracelet - Amethyst Cut Nugget, Turquoise, and White Jade - Adrienne Adelle - Chunky Stacking Bracelet

Here is the way the new improved URL looks:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/238258327/amethyst-turquoise-jade-stretch-bracelet?ref=shop_home_active_15

Do you notice the difference?
The first attempt at a title's URL included the words "amethyst-cut-nugget-turquoise-and-white". That doesn't make much sense by itself.
The new title's URL includes the words "amethyst-turquoise-jade-stretch-bracelet". That is a searchable tidbit that will direct people to my Etsy listing much better.

TIP: Don't use the word "and" at the beginning of your titles. It will show up in the URL and is a useless word. Instead use the "&" symbol. It won't count as a word and gives you more space for searchable words in your URL.

The first title I had given this listing wasn't bad in the area of description. That part delivered great. It was the way my title order affected this listing's URL that made it a poor overall title. With just a little tweaking this title has much more exposure in search engines... which is HUGE and FREE! I recommend you go back and look over your Etsy listing titles and URLs. See what improvements can be made and watch the increase to listing views you get. Small change. Big difference.