I’ve been selling on Etsy for over 10 years now, and it’s so much bigger these days that it’s much more difficult to get your items noticed. You have to try a little harder. Our Guest Geek post this week talks about three important ways to upgrade your Etsy store, so you’ll stand out from the crowd.

There are more people than ever trying to get started on Etsy. After being stuck at home so often lately, it made sense for people to flex their creative muscle and make some money at the same time. What many came to realize is that selling on Etsy isn’t easy.

There are a lot of factors that go into a successful Etsy store. There is a big learning curve that will take place as you need to know how you can use umbrella lights for product photography and so much more. 

In this article, we will go over some of the basics that you’ll need to know to be able to create a store that will actually make money on Etsy.

How to Improve Your Etsy Store

1 – Improve your photography

There is a lot of competition on Etsy so when a visitor makes their way to your store, you have to grab them within the first few seconds. This means that the product photography has to pop. The difference between an Etsy store that does thousands of sales per month and one that does very little is usually due to the photography. Make sure to take lots of pictures showing the product from every angle possible. 

Put things in the frame for scale. Even though the dimensions will be in the description, it helps for people to see the size. This could be because you are holding it in your hand or showing something of a certain size that everybody is familiar with. 

*Editor’s note: As an Etsy seller, I can tell you getting good photos leads to much better sales! The more you learn about lighting, the better. Invest in good photography lights if you can’t find a spot with natural light. I’m planning a future post about the lights I use and how I set up my photos for Etsy, Poshmark and Instagram.

2 – Use better SEO techniques

SEO is Search Engine Optimization. In a way, Etsy is a search engine very much like Google. This means that you have to do certain things that will help you come up on the first page of the search. 

It involves using the right keywords in your description as well as your tags. Think of what a potential customer would use to find your product. For instance, if you make earrings then use language like “costume jewelry”, “nickel free”, “hoops”, etc. The first keyword is that people are looking for cheap jewelry that doesn’t look cheap. The second is that people are looking for materials that don’t cause rashes. Lastly, the style of the earring is important as people are looking for a specific type for their style. Be sure to use all 13 tag spaces.

When you zero in on what people are searching for and use those keywords, you will beat the other stores who don’t have their SEO game on point. 

3 – Choose the right category 

It is really important to pick the exact category that your products will fall under. This helps Etsy’s algorithm understand exactly what you are doing so it knows when to show your page in search. 

For instance, you may be making bookmarks made out of paper, but that shouldn’t be categorized under Paper. Something more specific like Paper Crafts, or something similar. It’s helpful if you search for your similar products and see what categories they show up in. That will help you discover the best categories for your products. Also be sure to fill in as much detail as possible when filling out the listing form, because that will help you show up in the search results better.