If you are a craft seller, craft blogger or artist it is super important that you create a good SEO strategy so potential buyers can find you and the products you are selling.  

We have put together a great guide on SEO best practices for your craft blog, Etsy store, Pinterest page or Shopify store that will give you more visibility, reach more buyers and ultimately increase your store revenue!

Before getting into the details of how artists and craft sellers can benefit from implementing good SEO practices, it is important to understand the basics of SEO and understand what ranking factors search engines look at when determining how to position the most relevant results for a specific search query.

SEO stands for “search engine optimization” which is the practice of getting your website seen in search results.  The goal for any online business is to get as much referral traffic from search engines as possible, which can lead to more customers and more sales.  The goal is to connect with the right type of traffic from Google and provide content to those who will find it useful and relevant to their searches.

SEO For Craft Sellers and Bloggers

To get the most benefit from SEO it is important that it is implemented as you are working on your website, online store or overall marketing campaign.  It doesn’t have to be time consuming, even a few tips can make a difference.

In order to have a successful arts and crafts blog or online store, here are some of the main areas where you should focus your SEO efforts:

1. Your Website Speed – Your website should be both desktop and mobile responsive and load quickly when visitors come to your website.  If your website takes too long to load, users will become impatient and leave your site immediately.  Take into account the way your website loads and take note of the elements that are slowing your website down like images or files that are too large.
2. Your Analytics – It’s hard to know if your website is successful if you are not looking at the metrics.  Make sure to set up Google Analytics and Search Console so you can see how visitors are interacting with your website and check to see if your website is having any indexing issues.
   
   
   
3. Your Google My Business Profile – If you promote your products to a local area it is imperative that you create a Google My Business profile and fill it out with as much information about your business as you can.  This will help you to show up in the map results, give customers the chance to post reviews and gives you the chance to provide updates about your business.
   
   
4. Your Keywords – Having the right keywords on your website will attract the type of focused traffic you are looking for.  They are the words customers are using to find your products. Spend some time brainstorming the phrases and words that potential customers are using on Google, Esty, Pinterest and Shopify.  Take a look at how competitors are using these words on their website, social media profiles or online stores.  A free tool that you can use to get started is Ubersuggest.

Etsy SEO

Etsy is one of the leading websites where customers buy and sell handmade goods and crafts.  Etsy had over 41 million active buyers in 2019.  

If you have an Etsy store, it’s important to be at least familiar with how SEO works and how you can optimize your store to get in front of more buyers.  In order to sell your handmade items, your shoppers need to find them so you should invest in Etsy SEO so you can increase visibility for your product listings and increase sales and we will help you get started!

Etsy Ranking Factors

Etsy ranks matched listings based on a buyer’s likelihood to purchase. The Etsy ranking factors are as follows:

• 1. Listing Relevance – Etsy looks at the listing’s titles, tags, buyer categories and attributes in relation to a buyer’s search.  The more relevant these factors are to a buyer’s intent the higher you will rank.
  2. Age of Listing – Newer listings may rank slightly higher for a few hours or days.  This can be based on the shoppers interaction with the listing.
  3. Listing Conversion Rate – The higher the product is converting, the higher the ranking score.
  4. Buyer Experience – These factors include the About page, reviews and ratings. Sellers with a high score on these factors will see a higher ranking in search results.
  5. Language – Listings will be displayed in the language that a user specifies (useful for a shop that’s selling internationally).
  6. Shipping Costs – Put simply, this refers to the shipping costs associated with a product listing.  If you can offer lower shipping rates or even free shipping you may attract more buyers.
  7. Seller Location – Local sellers may have a slight advantage.
  8. Buyer Browsing Behavior – Products that customers have purchased or searched for previously can have an effect on listings that will show up in search results.

Etsy Query Matching – Etsy query matching refers to the keywords that a user types into the search box.  Etsy uses this information for items that match these search queries based on a product listings’ product titles, product tags, product categories and product attributes.

Choosing Your Keywords – Keywords are the words that customers use when they are searching for the items that you are selling.  It is important that you develop a strategy for identifying the keywords that best describes your product.  

Use Different Keywords For Similar Products –  Include as many different variations as possible, since customers can search for a product in several different ways.  Etsy allows you to choose 13 different keywords (tags).  You will include 1 focus keyword and repeat this keyword across your listing in the title and product description.  

Be Specific With Your Keywords – For example, use “blue girls headband” instead of “girls headband”.  Explain exactly what the product is and the type of buyer that would use it.  Use all of the attributes that Etsy provides so you can make your product type as descriptive as possible.  Spend time researching products that are similar to yours and read through to see how they have their product pages setup.

Long Tail Keywords – Long tail keywords is a more specific search, using multiple keywords in a specific phrase.  If a customer finds your product using a long tail keyword, chances are they are more likely to buy your product then if they used a broader term. The happy medium here is finding keywords that are specific enough, yet gets a decent amount of searches.  You want to avoid those highly competitive terms and find those with lower competition and high buyer intent.  

Choosing an Etsy Shop Name – Choosing a shop name is the first step to building your brand.  Here are some tips to get started: 

• • Pick a name that is directly related to your products.
  • Make sure it’s easy to spell.
  • Make sure it’s easy to remember.
  • Choose a name that’s different from competitors.
  • Try to include your targeted keyword, if possible.
  • Choose a name that’s short and to the point.
  • Keep the name under 20 characters.

Etsy About Section – Your About section gives you the opportunity to show buyers what you have to offer and what makes you unique. Here’s some thoughts to consider:

• • Show how your products benefit the consumer.
  • Include high quality photos that build a connection with the visitor. This could be pictures of your best work, profile pictures of you, the products being made or your team members.
  • Tell your story – Talk about how you got started on creating these products, what inspires you, why you love what you do and what others have said about your work.
  • List awards, accolades or press mentions if you have any.
  • Use Etsy’s option of linking out to your social media profiles and website.

Add Store Policy Information – Having a comprehensive store policy on your page is necessary to protect you and your customers.  Make sure to include the following information on your page:

• • Estimated delivery times
  • Taxes that apply
  • Payment options
  • Return Policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Shipping information

Etsy Product Titles – Your product titles will tell the buyer what they are looking for, here’s some optimization tips to get started:

• • Include your product category in your title.
  • Use a long-tail keyword – a phrase with three or more words.
  • Add your primary keyword as the first word in the title.
  • Use synonyms after your primary keyword.

Etsy Product Descriptions – Good product descriptions creates a great opportunity to communicate with potential buyers about what makes your product better than the rest. Be sure to include the following in your descriptions:

• • Create a short description of the item, including your main keywords.
  • List a few key points about the item such as size, dimensions, colors, materials. Etc.
  • Include unique aspects about your product such as gift wrapping, free shipping, promo codes.
  • Show how the products can be helpful or useful to them or the types of people that would benefit from using the product.
  • Include an FAQ if possible.
  • Add contact information, social media links so customers can contact you if they want more information.
  • Add a call to action to get users to convert.

Selecting Etsy Categories and Product Listing Tags – Be sure to describe your items as accurately as possible and make sure it clearly represents what the product is, not what it is used for or what it is made of.  If your product falls under more than one category then use multiple categories. Also make sure to include all 13 Etsy product listing tags in each ad.

How To Use Photos in Your Etsy Ad

• • Photos should be in .jpg, gif., or .png format.  Animated files are not accepted.
  • Listing images should be 2000px for the shortest side and a resolution of 72PPI.
  • Shop icon should be 500 x 500px.
  • Profile photo should be 500 x 500px.
  • Team logo should be 170 x 100px.
  • Order receipt banner should be 760 x 100px.
  • Mini shop banner minimum size should be 1200 x 160px, recommended size is 1600 x 213px.
  • Big shop banner should be 1200 x 300px.
  • Collage banner for 2 images is 600 x 300px, 3 images is 400 x 300px, 4 images is 300 x 300px.
  • First photo in the listing should be landscape or square.

How To Get Etsy Reviews – The best way to get more reviews on Etsy is to offer quality service, offer each customer a personal service from the start to the end of the sale and exceed customer expectations.

• Use the “message to buyer” feature in your Etsy account to leave a short note for your customers once they place an order.
• Send a follow-up message after the order.
• Insert cards with the order package asking for a review (you can offer a discount on a following order).

Getting Backlinks To Your Etsy Store – A backlink is a link from one website to another.  Backlinks are important for SEO and can help you increase traffic and boost rankings.  The more relevant the backlink content is to yours the higher the quality of the backlink. Building backlinks to your Etsy store can be a very effective method to bring in more traffic.

Some Additional Ways to Promote Your Etsy Shop:

• • Use great images of your products to create a showcase and share them with your social media followers.  
  • Write about topics related to your products on your blog
  • Reach out to bloggers writing about your product type and let them know about your shop
  • Create a mailing list and promote your products to your audience
  • Promote your products on Pinterest

Need more help? Here are some Etsy SEO Tools You Can Check Out:

• https://etsyrank.com/
• https://seller-way.com/
• https://erank.com/
• https://marmalead.com/

Pinterest SEO

Pinterest has become a huge channel for craft sellers and artists to showcase their work.  More than 416 million people visited Pinterest each month.  Just like Google, Pinterest determines search results by website quality and relevancy.  If you stay engaged on Pinterest, pin consistency and creating high quality content, you can drive a lot of traffic by using this channel.  It is important that your pins are relevant to the terms that users are searching for.

Why should you use Pinterest for Business? 

1. Pinterest is the fourth most popular social media platform in the United States. (Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/fact-sheet/social-media/).
2. Pinterest rates as the 10th most relevant brand in the U.S. (Source: https://www.prophet.com/relevantbrands-2019/).
3. The number of people using Pinterest monthly has increased by 28% with 322 million active users.
4. 97% of queries carried out on Pinterest are non-branded (Pinterest, 2019), meaning that Pinterest users do not search for a particular brand name when browsing. (Source: https://business.pinterest.com/sub/business/insights/PinterestSeasonalInsights-2019.pdf).
5. One-third of Pinterest users in the US say they use the social media platform to follow brands and companies (Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/250906/pinterest-usage-reasons-usa).
6. There are over 200 billion pins saved on Pinterest (Pinterest, 2019). With a total of 300 million Pinterest users, that’s an average of 667 pins per pinner. (Source: https://business.pinterest.com/en).
7. More than three out of four (77 percent) Pinners say they have discovered a new brand or product while browsing on Pinterest (Source: https://business.pinterest.com/sub/business/insights/PinterestSeasonalInsights-2019.pdf).
8. 82 percent of weekly active users on Pinterest say they have bought products based on their brands’ content on the platform (Pinterest, 2019). (Source: https://business.pinterest.com/sub/business/insights/PinterestSeasonalInsights-2019.pdf).
9. Shopping is a top priority for 48% of Pinterest users (Source: https://www.emarketer.com/content/pinterest-is-the-talk-of-shoptalk-as-it-eyes-ipo).
10. Advertisers can reach more than 169 million people on Pinterest (Source: https://hootsuite.com/pages/digital-2020).

How To Optimize Your Pinterest Profile

1. Create a Pinterest Business Account if you want to use Pinterest for marketing purposes and be sure to claim your website or blog on your profile.
2. Create a business name that is the same or similar to your website or company name so you can start to build online brand awareness.
3. Use a good profile picture for a professional look.
4. Optimize your profile with relevant information so users know exactly what you have to offer them.
5. Use Pinterest Rich Pins that have your website name and link icon on the bottom of the image.  Rich pins provide more detail and a direct link to your profile.
6. Make sure to clearly communicate what users should expect to see from your Pinterest profile.  Use focus keywords in your profile description with a high quality profile and cover image.
7. Write good post titles and descriptions for all of the pins that you upload (between 150-300 words).
8. Use descriptive keywords and descriptions for all boards that you create and keep them organized by similar products or categories.  Use the Pinterest guided search which helps users narrow down their search to get more relevant results.
9. Your images for pins should be on average of 600x900px size.
10. Add overlay text on images to encourage users to click on your pins.  Canva has great Pinterest templates that you can choose from.
11. Pin often, shoot for 3 or more times a day. Use a social media management tool like Tailwind to help you manage your scheduling and analyze your pin performance.
12. Add retail prices of your work to your pins.
13. Utilize the variety of ad formats that Pinterest offers such as video, shopping, carousel and collections options.
14. Join a popular and active art group board on Pinterest where you can pin your work.
15.  Include Calls to Action words to your pin description to encourage users to take a desired action (examples: buy now, learn more).
16. Use Pinterest Analytics to see which pins are performing well and learn more about your audience.

Shopify SEO

Shopify is an e-Commerce platform for online stores that allows you to create your own online store and sell your products in-store, online, via social media or other marketplaces online.

Shopify gives you the SEO tools to reach potential customers and bring them to your shop. 

Here is a list of the basic Shopify SEO tools available:

1. Page Editor – This page editor has an interface to build product pages, blog posts and landing pages. You can format headings, titles, descriptions, as well as embed video and photos.  This level of detailed information will provide important information about your products to attract prospective customers.
2. We recommend you create a Contact and About Us page so customers can get in touch with you and learn more about your business. You can also create a page for your return policies, shipping information.
3. Even though Shopify gives you your own store link on their platform, you should have your own website in place.
4. Purchase the paid plan so you can be indexed in search results.  This is not offered on the free plan.
5. Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.  You can check this using Google’s mobile-friendly tester.
6. Setup Google Analytics and make sure it is set up in Shopify correctly.  More information on how to do that here.
7. Submit your Shopify XML sitemap (example: yourstore.com/sitemap.xml). Follow these steps to submit it.
8. Create an easy to navigate site structure, starting with main categories on top, followed by subcategories and products.
9. Do thorough keyword research using Google or other free tools such as Ubersuggest.
10. Write good product descriptions that will  help you rank higher on search engines and entices visitors to buy.
11. Install only the apps you need to your store.  Shopify Apps can slow down your site.
12. Fix any duplicate content issues: Make sure your custom domain on Shopify redirects traffic to your domain.
13. Blog regularly: Create content so you can reach readers at different stages of the buyer’s journey and increase the chances of them buying from you in the future.

We’ve covered how to implement SEO best practices on the main channels where artists and crafters can showcase and sell their work.

One important thing to remember with SEO is to be patient and consistent.  It can take a few weeks before you see any results, so keep going!