Seller Handbook

The following is a transcript of a podcast episode released in September 2021. The transcript has been edited slightly for this format. You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Or stream it via the Spotify player above.

Isabella: Hi everyone, I'm Isabella from Etsy's Community Education team. I work with different teams across Etsy to communicate updates, education, and resources to our lovely seller community in our community spaces. And I’m also a seller here on Etsy!

Amy: And I’m Amy. I’m a shop optimization specialist on Etsy’s Support team and I’m also a seller!

Isabella: Welcome to part two of our search series. In our last chat, we talked about how to use keywords to get discovered by more buyers. Now we’re going to take it to the next level and discuss how to convert those extra visits into orders. We'll start by defining what conversion rate is, offer some tips on how to optimize for conversion, and then we'll point out where to look in shop stats to gain insight before making updates in your shop.

Let's start from the beginning. What exactly does conversion rate mean? Your conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to your shop that make an order. It's calculated by dividing the number of orders by the numbers of visits.

Amy: I think it's actually one of the most important metrics for growing your business. When you're optimizing for conversion you're essentially maximizing the number of orders per visit. This, of course, can help you increase sales, but optimizing for conversion can also help improve your search ranking and your shop's visibility.

Isabella: That's right. Etsy's goal is to surface items to shoppers most likely to purchase. So when we learn that shoppers are regularly engaging with a listing they discovered through Etsy search, that listing may actually rank higher in search results. This buyer engagement is known as listing quality. Basically, listing quality is measured by how often a buyer takes an action by clicking, favoriting, adding to cart, or purchasing an item that they've discovered through Etsy.

Amy: Before a buyer can make a purchase, they need to see your item in search results and be motivated to click on it to learn more about it. So when it comes to increasing your conversion rate, step one is to get shoppers to click on your listing in search results.

Isabella: Right. Every visit—or “click,” as you said—is an opportunity for an order. Some factors that can influence whether a shopper visits a listing after seeing it in search are your first listing photo, your listing title, the item's price, shipping policies, and review rating. Once they're in your shop, there are a lot of other factors that can influence whether or not that visit will actually result in a sale.

Amy: Yeah, so let's talk about the factors that influence conversion the most.

Isabella: When we talk about this, I suggest that sellers put themselves in buyers’ shoes. Really think about the buyer journey. I'd like to start with photos, since they’re often a shopper's first impression of your item.

Your first listing photo—the one that’s displayed in search results—should be eye-catching and clearly display the item that’s for sale. The first photo is what inspires a visit and then your other photos, and your listing video if you have one, come into play and will influence whether or not they place the order. Always aim to use all ten photo slots and upload listing videos when you can. Since buyers can't pick up and examine your items, your photos and your video should communicate details around size, color, texture, and material.

Photos should be clear, cohesive, and highlight exactly what makes your product special. Aspirational photos like lifestyle shots are a great way to capture how your product is meant to be used, which can help shoppers imagine it in their own lives. Check out the Seller Handbook article 7 Essential Types of Product Photos for even more ideas.

Amy: If a shopper is intrigued by what they're seeing in your photos, they're probably going to move on to your listing description to learn more. Ideally descriptions should be concise, informative (but still engaging), and written in your brand's voice. You want to aim to lead with the most essential information like size, dimensions, and color options.

Some sellers create bullet-pointed lists to make these pertinent details really easy to find and understand. Then they may enter the story behind the product, or an explanation of how the product will fit into the buyer's lifestyle or solve a specific problem. You can read How to Write Enticing Item Descriptions for more tips.

Isabella: The number of photos that you have attached to a listing doesn't directly impact your placement in search, but we know that the more photos you have on your listing, the more likely buyers are to engage with it. From there, buyers can gain confidence and even more interest in your items. So having more photos can definitely help with your conversion rate.

Amy: Yeah, I've seen that as well. I feel like that first listing photo is what can grab attention, and the other ones can help close a sale.

Isabella: Exactly, and the same thing applies to your description. Etsy search doesn't scan your descriptions for keywords, but your descriptions are definitely going to be read by your buyers and influence their purchase decision too. Are you calling out important information like size and dimensions? Maybe how to assemble the product or other things buyers should be aware of? Again, this doesn’t necessarily directly impact where you rank in search, but it will influence the conversion rate for the listing, which, in turn, does impact your conversion rate in general.

Amy: Right, I think it's a good idea to answer any potential questions a buyer might have in your listing descriptions.

Isabella: That'll cut down on Etsy Message time too. I actually saw a seller in the Forums the other day giving another seller advice that I thought was great: She said to photograph your items as if there is no description, and write your descriptions as if there are no photos.

Amy: That's so smart.

Isabella: I know, I really liked that. Something else that can come into play here is your processing times. They'll also play a role in whether or not a shopper decides to make a purchase. Think of how you shop online. Maybe you're looking for a time-sensitive gift, or you need something for an upcoming event. You'll want to know exactly when that item will arrive, and ideally it's in a reasonably short time frame.

We know that shoppers are more likely to purchase items that ship quickly. Try to keep this in mind when setting up your processing times. If you have items that are ready to ship, avoid padding your processing times if you can. You can also offer shipping upgrades to accommodate shoppers who need an item as quickly as possible.

Amy: Your shipping price also matters to buyers. We've heard that Etsy shoppers are 50% less likely to buy an item if they thought the price of shipping was more expensive than they expected. You might consider folding some of your shipping costs into your item price so you can lower what you charge for shipping. This may help make the decision to buy from your shop a lot easier.

From personal selling experience, I have found that offering free shipping on orders over $35 not only helped improve my shop's conversion rate, but it also helped increase my average order value. So instead of checking out with one item shoppers are now more likely to purchase two in order to be eligible for free shipping.

Isabella: Let's shift gears now and talk about how to use shop stats.

Amy: Yeah, I think shop stats is a great way to learn about how buyers are engaging with your listings. And you can use these learnings to improve your overall conversion rate.

Isabella: All right, so you've got your shop stats dashboard open. First, you'll notice that at the top of the page you can select different time frames to dig into. Your conversion rate is best measured over longer periods of time. So when you're analyzing your stats with a goal of making strategic updates, I always recommend viewing at least 30 days of data. It's common to notice more fluctuation in the day-to-day stats, so zooming out a bit can help give you a more accurate and holistic read on how buyers are engaging with your shop and your listings.

Amy: And if your shop has been open for more than a year, you can look at your year-over-year data as well. You'll get the best perspective by comparing your stats to the same time frame last year, and keeping track of anything that may have caused a spike, like a different marketing initiative or a feature in the press. For example, if your conversion rate is up for a timeframe you're analyzing but visits are down, you might review any changes in your traffic sources in the “how shoppers found you” section of stats.

Isabella: Yes, this portion of shop stats measures internal and external traffic sources that brought in visitors to your shop and can help inform where shoppers are engaging with your shop the most. With that said, when I'm optimizing for conversion, I prefer to scroll down the page to view engagement on the listing level. This data helps me better understand a few things, like which listings are viewed and sold most frequently, as well as my shop's average views-to-visits ratio.

Amy: We've been focusing on visits as it relates to conversion. Let's talk a little bit about how views are defined.

Isabella: So views tell you how many times someone looked at each of your listings. For example, if a shopper clicked on a listing, then clicked five other listings in your shop, this would count as one visit and six views. This metric can help you understand how engaged shoppers are. If your average listing views per visit is low, it might mean that people are visiting your shop but not spending much time exploring other listings.

Amy: Right, and the key to conversion is engagement. So keeping buyers interested and clicking around your shop is ideal. With that in mind, a lot of sellers will add links to their listing descriptions to help guide buyers to other listings in their shop.

Isabella: Oh I think I've seen this before. I know one seller will be selling a gemstone necklace, and then she may link to other pieces of jewelry containing this gemstone in the listing description to help buyers navigate to what they’re looking for. Maybe they found that item in search, but it wasn't exactly the right item. But then they find the right item by browsing around that seller’s other listings.

Amy: Right!

Isabella: That's a good strategy. Another way to keep buyers browsing around your shop and engaged is to have an about section in place. About sections are so important especially when it comes to your personal brand, and it fits into Etsy's brand story as well. We've seen that sharing your story and cohesive branding across a shop can resonate with buyers and pique their interest. This is, of course, good for your conversion rate as well. Additionally, simply having an about section in place will automatically give you a boost in search. So we definitely recommend filling it out, plus it only takes about ten minutes.

Amy: The same goes for shop policies, just having them in place will give you a boost in search. And it can help buyers feel more confident making a purchase.

Isabella: Yes, so that’s also good for your conversion rate.

Amy: Right. I know when I'm shopping on Etsy, I always check out the seller I'm purchasing from via their about section and then I review their policies.

Isabella: Yep, me too.

Amy: All right, back to stats. Beyond comparing visits and views to gauge buyer interest, I also like to look at the data from this section to see which products are bringing me the most orders. When analyzing my best sellers, I look at where the majority of my traffic is coming from and what search terms shoppers are using to find my items. Then I'll look at my less popular listings to see if there are any updates I can make based on what I'm learning about those best sellers.

Isabella: Yes, it definitely makes sense to compare high and low performing listings any time you approach optimization. Generally if your listings are getting a lot of visits, it likely means your tags, titles, categories, and use of relevant attributes are helping them get discovered in Etsy search. And shoppers are finding the photo, title, and price appealing. This is great because as your visits increase, you're increasing opportunities to make that sale.

Amy: And if your orders aren't really keeping pace with these visits, that might mean it's time to freshen things up, like your listing photos. You might want to add a listing video. It could mean that it's time to revamp your descriptions, or even run a sale.

Isabella: Right, some sellers opt to revamp listings that have low traffic or sales, or they may retire some of their lowest performers in order to focus their energy on their higher performing listings.

Amy: And on the other hand, listings that have proven to perform well may earn more sales as they get discovered by a wider audience. Promoting them through your marketing on social media or Etsy Ads could help increase your conversion rate.

Isabella: OK, time for our listing critiques! First up is a macramé hanging shelf from happinessByB.

I think this one is off to a really great start, especially the title. I love that it's simple and leads with a phrase that clearly sums up what the seller is selling. The full title is “Macramé hanging shelf in natural and other colors.” I’m not sure if that last part of the title, “and other colors,” is necessary. My suggestion would be to leave it at “macramé hanging shelf in natural wood” or “wood macramé hanging shelf” could also work. Otherwise you could put a comma after natural. Maybe “natural color,” comma, and then come up with one other phrase that you think could work well for the title. Maybe “living room decor” or “living room wall hanging.”

Moving on to photos, the first listing photo is really lovely. I love that they're including a few potted plants to show off how the shelf can be used. It also helps demonstrate scale. I would suggest removing the logo from the image. An overlay or a watermark could impact whether or not the listing is featured. Etsy typically avoids featuring items that have overlays, logos, or watermarks like this. Sites like Google and Google Shopping tend to avoid this as well, so keep that in mind. If you want to have your branding executed here, maybe you could think about a hang tag, or displaying a sign in the background of the photo that features some of your branding on it.

Another thing to consider is linking your different color variations to your photos. We have a variation tool that links back to photos now. This way, when somebody selects a variation from your drop-down options, the photo will change with it and show off the different options that they could purchase. So that's a nice way to tie it all together and make navigation a little bit simpler.

For the descriptions, I really like that this one helps buyers imagine how they can use this macramé wall hanging in their homes. The description does a really good job of calling out different use cases or problems that this item could solve, which is great. If you're not already doing this, you might want to specify the different use cases for this shelf in your tags in case somebody searches for your product that way, like “spice shelf” or “plant hanger.”

Overall, really great job with this one. This item is super cute and I could see it in a variety of spaces. I also think it could make a great gift.

Amy: Next is a lazy Susan from DancinHuesStudio. All right, so starting with the title, I might simplify this a bit. I think some of the details might be better suited for your tags and your descriptions. I might go with something like “Personalized lazy Susan with handles, blue marble tray for weddings, barbecue, and bars.” What do you think? Is that too long?

Isabella: No, I don't think so because looking at this item, it could function as a couple different things. So I'm OK with the title being a little bit longer as long as you're using punctuation like commas to separate out those phrases so that it’s easy to read.

Amy: I agree. All right, so I love your photos. I also love the listing video because it really shows off exactly how this piece functions, as well as the cool marble design. Great work there. I also really like that you use some props, because that's a good way to demonstrate scale. Though I think it could be great to see this as part of a larger composition—maybe part of a table setting—so buyers could really envision how they could use this in their home.

And another photo idea, since it's personalized and makes an amazing gift, you might want to include a photo that shows off how it looks when it’s packaged. This type of photo can be really helpful for buyers who want to purchase a gift and have it sent directly to the recipient.

For your tags, if you're not already using these, I would recommend including phrases like “wedding gift,” “housewarming gift,” or “bridal shower.” Think of all the occasions that this would make the perfect gift for.

Isabella: OK, the last listing that we're going to go over is an oil painting from ArtGoodMood. First things first, this is absolutely gorgeous and really making me miss the beach right now.

The title is a bit on the longer side. Right now, the title reads “Sunset at sea, original oil painting, wall art, gift for the sailor, evening landscape, painting as a gift, and living room.” So a long string of keywords there. I would recommend moving that second phrase that you have in the title, “original oil painting,” to the front. And I might work “sunset at the sea” into the tags. Things like “gift for the sailor” and “evening landscape” could work as tags as well. I might just focus on “original oil painting,” and then maybe one other phrase. So a comma after “original oil painting,” and then maybe “living room wall art” or “abstract beach painting” or something like that.

For the photos, I love that you can see all of the details in this painting. You can even see the brush strokes, and it’s so beautiful. I think it could also be helpful to include a photo that shows the painting hanging on a wall. Or even propped up against a shelf, perhaps with a few props to demonstrate scale and to help buyers imagine the painting in their space. Maybe you prop it up against the wall and put a plant next to it. Maybe there’s a lamp, or a little vase with a sprig of rosemary. Photos like that can really help influence a buyer’s purchase decision when they’re browsing, because it helps them envision it in their own space.

For the description, I would include details about the materials that have been used so that buyers know exactly what to expect. Is it painted on a stretched canvas, wood, or cardboard? These are things that I’m not sure of when just looking at the images and would probably look for these details in the description. Try to proactively answer any potential questions about your listing that a buyer might want the answer to before making their purchase decision. Your description is the perfect place to do that.

OK, so that's going to do it for our listing critiques! If you're interested in more Etsy education and tips, check out the Etsy U program where we've teamed up with experienced sellers to host Etsy success workshops. They'll cover topics like search engine optimization, photography, branding, marketing, social media, and more. You can see what workshops are happening and when over at EtsyU.Etsy.com.