Would You Let Etsy Tweak Your Titles for SEO?

by: LDWCallsOut

Am laughing so hard!  After more than a decade, someone at Etsy STILL believes that adding "gift for her" as a keyword phrase to listing titles will be helpful to searching shoppers?  I remember commenting in the Etsy Forum before I was perma-muted in 2013 that adding "gift for her" and other nonsense phrases to millions of listings won't help any item get views.

Most of the listings active on Etsy could be a "gift for her" if that is something the giftee would like.  The question I have is why Etsy wants to position itself as the destination for buying gifts for strangers?  Like the 2023 Winter Holiday tv ad campaign about parents who have trouble buying gifts for their children, and children who can't think of what their parents would like.  Unlikely scenarios.  

by: ThebigR

They'll leave no stone upturned to try and generate income to bad the group as a whole doesn't have a clue...  

by: Stone Cutter

*** NO…leave my Title alone! ***

The problem….Etsy only allows a maximum amount of characters for the Title. If Etsy decides to ADD text to the Title, the last bit of my data may be excluded.

Who is a Etsy to decide what should be in my title? I know my customers. I know what data they are looking for.

BTW - I’m not a gift item and never have been. I sell jewelry to women who purchase for themselves. If Etsy were to include “gift for her”, it would be nothing more then wasted data that could override my data.

LEAVE MY TITLE ALONE!!!

by: Lisa

this is only for sellers who opt in or are required to  be in the offsite ads. This is SEO tweaking  for  external search engines  only.

As a side note, a lot has evolved since 2013. "gift for her", when relevant, has become a highly searched phrase. It consistently ranks high in marmalead and erank. It also autopopulates extremely high in etsy organic. Depending on your shop category, it is a phrase that can be really helpful. It is 2nd in my stat search words right under 'decorative'. If that phrase is relevant, put it in your tags at the  very least.

by: LDWCallsOut

''Decorative'' is almost as bad as ''gift for her''.  There is no way that using keywords and phrases like these will get any item listed on Etsy seen.  Unless, of course, something else in the item's SEO assures Etsy's algorithm that the item is on the current trendy merch list, mostly likely to be purchased by one of Etsy's target market.  

Imagine shopping at a bricks and mortar furniture or home decor store and asking an employee for help finding a ''decorative'' item.  Or visiting King of Prussia Mall or Mall of America and requesting help at the Customer Service desk in finding a ''gift for her''.  

by: BlueDenim

This year sales have been much slower for my shop; talking about 69% down compared to last year.

I would be willing to give it a try. Even though those offsite ads suck and the abandoned cart ones too. Each sale helps boost the shop score and placement in search. If I have to take a hit on profit now to gain some momentum and more sales, it is worth trying.

Plus, if I can see what terms they are using, I may learn something. Can always apply that to my own stand alone.  

by: Stone Cutter

*** Descriptions vs. Title ***

Since Etsy decided to cram our descriptions to a right sided column, many Sellers, including myself, use the Title field to further describe our products as our ‘description’ is now hidden. And now, Etsy wants to implement what they find as useful and appropriate?

I worked in Software engineering for decades. Etsy can’t seem to get the “search” routine right. How can I trust Etsy to get my Title right?

And what happens when Etsy includes incorrect data that eventually comes back to bite the Seller? Think about it...Etsy says they will correct typos, however, what about abbreviations? Would Etsy know the difference? How will Etsy deal with that?

And @LDW is right! Adding “gift for her” is too generic when a zillion items can fit that criteria.

by: Snapped

Here’s a thought experiment.

Never mind Etsy’s proclivity for absurd glitches and general marketplace incompetence.  For this exercise , we can even give them benefit of doubt for a moment and assume everything’s ’working as designed’.

Three sellers each with similar items with similar attributes all list simultaneously.  Current search on a given keyword relevant input returnees them all, ranked seller A item #2, B as #3, and C as #4 for ‘whatever’ reason, all behind someone else’s better ranked item (say that one is basically being given away at happy the price; whatever.

Now, each opts to allow Etsy to muck with their titles to see if that ‘improves’ anything.  But because they ‘all’ are already essentially equivalent, all that mucking is treated ‘equally’ for each item.

Net result, no change.  Everybody’s ‘optimized’ in the same manner.  Ergo - no ‘real’ optimization. Even IF it ‘works’.

That “gift for her” is an empty box.  And Etsy thinks we all must have empty heads to reach for it.

by: Lisa

apparently. you don't understand the etsy algorithm and as it pertains to your item and relevancy. I was going to tell you guys how certain keyword phrases work with your items when relevant  and how to use stats & 3rd parties to see what keyword was used to find your item, But, I  think you guys would rather bitch and moan than  actually learn something. However, 'decorative'  is surprisingly  my  number one searched word, according  to my stats. Even though  it is searchable under the  root decor, It is reinforced when I use decorative in my tags, but decor in the category or title. I have about 55% conversion on items using this keyword  (fluctuates). Higher conversion listings get  higher SEO placement. Or sit around and  bitch about everything, you do you.

by: Stone Cutter

*** But let’s talk “Probability” ***

@ Lisa
Maybe you need help from Etsy…but I don’t. I also don’t need Etsy to find me buyers outside of Etsy to charge me extra in Off-Site Ad fees, as my sales are strong with only 7 pieces left in my jewelry shop.

If Etsy were to inject themselves into my “Title”, there could be a “greater probability” Etsy could slow down my sales.

Example: When I cut stone, I cut for pictorial images. I may have an image that looks like “under the harvest moon”, of which I put in my Title. My customers love the images I create and they want to see my image description in my Title field. What I put in my Title provides me with FAST SALES. I do not want Etsy to override my data.

Many shops, like mine, do not suffer from slow sales. I honestly believe that if Etsys growth begins to slide, Etsy will inject themselves into our listings and could cause suffering, for many.

And by the way Lisa, I never fill in my “Tags” because I don’t need to. You constantly FAIL to understand that everyone’s shop is different and each shop does not run the same.

What Etsy does can affect us all, differently.  

by: Stone Cutter

@Lisa

“You say… Higher conversion listings get  higher SEO placement. Or sit around and  bitch about everything, you do you.”

But Lisa, I already have a high conversion rate as I typically sell new pieces in a matter of hours.

Like I said, not all of us need help from Etsy. There are many other jewelers, like myself, who have a strong repeat customer base for fast sales. I do not want Etsy in inject themselves into my Title.  

by: iheartjacksparrow

I would never use the word "decorative" in any listing title, as that not only takes up space but could apply to anything and everything. Same with "gift for her," which takes up even more space in the title. When I create a listing title, I put in everything relevant to the item and leave out all the fluff words. No one needs to read that a Disney Sleeping Beauty Maleficent figurine is a "gift for her."

by: Lisa

you are correct jacksparrow. sometimes keywords are fluff and irrelevant to your particular item, Sometimes the same keyword is totally relevant for a completely different item, People use the keyword 'decorative' for me in conjunction with other keywords to differentiate between utilitarian and upcycled. That may not  be relevant to you of course,  but when i started using it a few times as a keyword just to test  if it is truly searched llke 'decor', I was  surprised to see it as number one in my stats, but there it  was. now i  use it all the time. It  would be stupid  not to.  

by: Flying Childers

Reading something like this from Etsy reminds me of one of the 7 biggest Lies, namely, "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help you."   Beware!

by: Whatever

No - that is if I had any the answer would still be no

by: quirkyantiques

Its all about gouging you for MORE and higher commission like mandatory offsite ads "We promote Etsy listings on Etsy, through Etsy Ads, and across the web on sites like Google and Facebook through Offsite Ads." Etsy search itself is almost an afterthought. 5,000,000 results for "gift for her" on google so exactly HOW will adding this to your title help? Hard pass for me not that I've been invited. Or maybe I was but I X out any of this nonsense in my dashboard on reflex. Nothing Etsy thinks is good for me is actually good for me.

by: Rexford

Reminds me of laundry detergent commercials spouting "New and Improved".

If all the sheep are using "Gift for Her" wouldn't you want to distinguish your listing from the sheep listings?