Are you wondering how to sell on Etsy and don’t know where to even get started?? Did you just read that title and think “Best-selling Etsy listing.. Where do I even start???”
Acquiring that “Best-seller” icon from Etsy can seem daunting, and to make matters worse, Etsy isn’t even clear about what it takes to get that badge. In their handbook, How to Sell on Etsy, this is what they say it takes to get a best-seller badge: “This item has had a high sales volume over the past 6 months.”
Awesome. Sooooooo what exactly does “high volume” mean?
In short: we aren’t sure. However, looking past the specifics, we can aim for a “high volume of sales” for our listings anyway. That’s really what we’re after when we’re selling on Etsy right? & if we happen to get a best-seller badge in the process, win-win!
So let’s think about this SUPER logically – there are two foundational parts of a best-selling Etsy listing. Bringing people in (aka traffic on your listings) and then converting those people into buyers (aka getting people to actually purchase from you).
If you have those two steps on lock-down – your Etsy listing will be marked as a best-seller before you know it. It’s just math, ya know?
It’s a lot easier if we approach both of these steps one at a time. That’s how I’m going to teach you how to sell on Etsy, and we’re going to start with driving *consistent* traffic to your listings.
Consistent Traffic
There are three steps I recommend for new Etsy sellers to pull traffic to their Etsy listings. Oh, and PS: I put them in this order because I believe that’s the order to work in for the best, quickest results. So let’s start with the obvious and probably the reason you started selling on Etsy in the first place.
Step 1: Harnessing the Power of Etsy Traffic
Etsy already has hundreds of thousands of buyers searching their site everyday, looking for products just like yours. Etsy viewers are eager and ready to buy, easier to convert to paying customers than social media viewers, and looking for you – so why not help them find you?!
Harnessing the power of Etsy’s built-in traffic requires getting really good at Etsy SEO. You see, Etsy is really a search engine, kinda like google. And in order for it to show the best results to it’s customers when they search for something they are looking for in the search bar, it uses an algorithm to categorize and place listings as results.
SEO is an acronym for Search Engine Optimization and, put simply, it is the method by which Etsy sellers can get really good at placing high in these search results. And when I say high, we’re really aiming for the first page.
Because when your ideal customer is typing what you sell into the search bar, you want to be one of the first results to pop up. And if you are, shoppers are way more likely to click on your product and take a look at it.
Step 2: Sending Off-Etsy Traffic to your Listings
Etsy SEO is heavily reliant on your listing’s quality score. This is how Etsy ranks listings in their search results. And one thing that really helps you to have a higher quality score? Sales.
Don’t get bummed about your sales numbers yet though – while we’re building that quality score we can use our extra time to get found in other places, too!
So when you’re first starting out on Etsy, it can be especially challenging to show up in the Etsy search results. That’s why we can’t focus on Etsy’s search traffic alone. We have to add in some of our own as well!
My platform of choice to send people to Etsy? Pinterest.
Pinterest isn’t a social media website, it’s a search engine. And statistically, viewers on Pinterest are much more *ready to buy* than viewers on social media.
Pinterest is more similar to Etsy than, say, Instagram. & that’s why it’s a foundational piece I teach my new Etsy sellers. & by getting traffic and sales from Pinterest (who are, on average, more ready to buy than social media traffic) we can supercharge our quality scores which will help us get found on Etsy more.
Step 3: Paid Advertising
I only recommend paid advertising to Etsy sellers who already have consistent sales coming in. If we aren’t already getting sales on our products, then it’s likely you’ll just be throwing away money on new views on our products that also aren’t garnering any sales.
However, once we’ve mastered getting organic traffic to our shop listings on Etsy and off, and we’re getting consistent views and consistent sales, there is no reason not to throw gasoline on that fire!
Typically, starting with paid advertising on Etsy can be a solid way to create new leads in your business and garner the attention you’re looking for. & because you’re already familiar with the Etsy platform, it can be a nice jumping off point for paid advertising, which can be a little confusing at times.
Conversion Rate
Once we have a strong foundation in getting traffic to our listings, we can turn our focus to converting buyers. Most of the time it takes time to build consistent traffic through any of these above strategies. My recommendation is to get a solid foundation for traffic set in your shop first, and then work on conversion rate as we’re seeing views trickle in.
A typical conversion rate for Etsy shops is between 1 and 5 percent. You can find your conversion rate in your shop stats in your Etsy dashboard.
1. Free Shipping.
Statistics show that online shoppers are 20% more likely to complete their purchase if it has free shipping. Oh, and it helps you show up higher in Etsy search, too, because Etsy prioritizes listings with free shipping as of July 2019!
2. High quality listing photos.
Mockups or images you’ve taken are both great, as long as they are super high quality and well-lit. Try to include detail shots, lifestyle shots, and other products that are similar in your shop (to convince our viewers they want BOTH of course!) This is a super important part of learning how to sell on Etsy or any online platform. Online retail is built around great photo and videos, which will talk more about in a few points.
3. Using images and graphics to convey important points about your product.
There are so many ways we can share important information with our customers through our listing photos and graphics, such as: product attributes, ordering instructions, shop policies, and details on how to use or purchase. This is a key point in learning how to sell on Etsy or any online platform – most buyers are not seeking out your description, so it’s essential to include key parts of it in your photos.
4. Include a listing video.
This can be as simple (just a panorama of your product) or strategic (addressing FAQs, showing off the making process and it’s craftsmanship, or demonstrating the product in use) as you’d like it to be, but I’d say done is better than perfect. Etsy isn’t “officially” prioritizing listings with video but the statistics show that buyers are. So get those videos up ASAP!
5. Formatting your listing description for easy scan-ability.
We want our buyers to be able to scan our description for all the necessary info. But writing a listing description can feel overwhelming, right?! If you haven’t already – snag my free Etsy Listing Description Writing Workbook here for an easy “mad-lib” style approach to creating your listing descriptions.
Now that you know all about how to sell on Etsy and crafting great listings, all that’s left to do is take action! If you’re looking for something to make the process a bit easier, don’t forget to grab my free Etsy Listing Description Writing Workbook here. It’ll help you kick-start the process and get your listings off to a great start.
