Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Why is SEO Important for my Shop?

After reading a number of conversations on the Etsy forums lately I've realized that a lot of sellers don't know what SEO is and why it's important for their shops. I'm writing this as just a quick primer on optimizing an Etsy shop for SEO (it will also work for other venues like eCrater and ArtFire). This is just an overview touching on what I think are the most important things to work on.

Definition of SEO


SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, makign your website attractive to search engines so they will rank you highly in search results. Search engines account for a tremendous amount of traffic online so if your shop isn't ranking on search engines you're missing out on a lot of visitors who may become customers. The two sides of SEO to focus on are on site and off site.

This post is just going to focus on on site optimization of your Etsy shop. Off site will have to wait for a later post.

On Site Optimization

On site optimization is creating your site's content in a way that makes it clear to the search engines what your site is about and what keywords are important so you'll show up in search results for those keywords (on Etsy tags are the Etsy search keywords). Since I'm talking about optimizing an Etsy shop the options for optimization are limited. You only have what text you can edit to use in optimization.

It is possible to optimize a site for search engines and lose customers. User friendliness and content has to come first and then SEO but the good thing is a lot of SEO changes can also help user friendliness if done right.

Keywords

Keywords are the words that people use to find your site when they use a search engine. You want to try and target keywords that you want people to find your shop using. The obvious ones are the type of product you make, subject matter, or materials, less obvious ones can often be things like occasions people would buy your product for, wider categories of products, etc. Google has a great keyword research tool that can give you suggestions based on a sample of keywords you give them.

Make a list of the keywords you would like to target to use while editing your shop. Keep these keywords on hand for Part II on off site optimization.

Titles

It's a good idea to use keywords in your title, but not at the expense of making the title informative. So something like "Blue Sparkle Earrings" is informative but few keywords "Blue Sparkle Earrings, Handmade Lampwork Glass Jewelry" is both informative and has several keywords. Keyword stuffing is loading a title with a list of keywords and while it may help your search engine ranking it will be a turn off for customers, an example would be "handmade earrings lampwork glass gift etsy blue bead crafts". You must balance SEO with user friendliness.

Descriptions

Your descriptions first and foremost must inform a potential customer about your products. The good thing about this is the more you tell your customers the more there is for the search engines to pick up on. Make sure you work in your keywords where you can. As an example I make jewelry based on cuttlefish so my descriptions all contain this paragraph after the description of the piece of jewelry:
Cuttlefish are not fish at all but are cephalopods, their closest relatives are squid and octopus. These amazing sea creatures have eight arms and two tentacles with suckers that they use to capture their prey. Some cuttlefish are brightly colored and many can change the color and the texture of their skin as camouflage, mating display, or warning.
It gives from background on cuttlefish which help customers who may not be familiar with these cool animals but it also includes many of my keywords such as: cuttlefish, fish, squid, cephalopods, tentacles, sea, etc.

Make the first few sentences of your description count the most, Etsy pulls the first 240 characters for the meta description tag. How much this tag matters anymore is debatable but some search engines pull this info for their results display. So you want to make sure it's clear in those first few words exactly what your item is.

Tags

Since tags are text on the listing page google will see them but you should be focussing them for Etsy search because that's where they will do the most good. List type of product, subject matter, materials, colors, etc. then if you have some tag spaces left over throw in some of your keywords. The tags also show up in the keywords meta tag but most search engines no longer give those much weight so Etsy search first then what might help with Google.

Shop Announcement

Your shop announcement is the only solid piece of text on your gallery page. Use it to introduce you and your products while working in your keywords. Like your item description the first 240 characters of your announcement are pulled for the meta description tag so describe your business first before any other announcements (including sales).

Also don't forget your shop title, you have about 55 characters to work with so instead of just your shop name include a little more info and keywords. As an example instead of just using "Noadi's Art" I use "Noadi's Art on Etsy, Polymer Clay Jewelry & Sculpture". It doesn't just show up in bold at the top of my shop annoucnement but is also used in the title tag, the title tag shows the title in the top of the browser (or on tabs) but search engines also factor it into your rankings.

Shop Sections

Shop sections need to be clear to your customers what they include, but they are also text so search engines see them (also along with your user name they are pulled into the meta keywords). Instead of for example listing "Hats" be more specific and put "Fleece Women's Hats".

Off Site Optimization

Off site optimization boils down to one basic thing: backlinks. Backlinks are links on other sites that lead to your shop. You want to have links from many other sites, but not just any site. Sites with content related to your shop will have more effect than a totally unrelated site and some sites have more weight with search engines than others (google pagerank is often used a measurement of this).

NoFollow

Not every link will help your search engine rankings. The nofollow attribute tells search engines not to count a link, blog often have these on the comments and all paid links (like ads) are also supposed to be nofollow. These links might bring traffic so they aren't useless but won't help you with search engines.

Getting Started

So where to start building backlinks? If you have a blog, twitter account, flickr account, etc. add a link to your shop. Then you can start searching for free directories to add your site to, here's a big list of free directories and you definitely should get added to the Handmade Product Directory. Other things you can do are start a blog just for your shop, create Squidoo lenses for your products, email other blogs about featuring your shop, most Etsy teams have a blog that lists member shops so that's yet another great reason to join a team (among many including meeting cool fellow Etsy users). If you have great products and good promotion other people will do some of the work for you by linking to your shop themselves.

Another way to build backlinks is to use the RSS feed that every Etsy shop has. has a great list of places to submit RSS feeds.

While not directly related to the normal google results you deifnitely want to sign up for an submit your products to Google Base so they will show up in the product search. Let's Ets is a great tool for getting the bulk file to upload.

Linking to Your Shop

You can't control all links to your shop just those you create yourself. This is where your keyword list comes back out. You want to create links to your shop that use not just your shop name (you do want a number of those) but also your keywords.

If you are using images to link to your shop the best option is to also have a text link below it or near it to the same page. However you can also use the alt and title tags for images in the format <img src="http://yourlink.com/image.jpg" alt="Your shop name" title="Your shop name"> and the search engines will read that text for the image.

Hiring Out your SEO

There are many companies online that will do your SEO for you. If you find this all overwhelming you may decide to hire someone else to do it for you, however be very careful. There are some shady SEO companies out there that may want to scam you or who use unethical practices that could end up getting you punished by the search engines by being blacklisted. Always do your research before hiring anyone.

138 comments:

  1. Very informative! I am going to make sure my title to my shop has all relevant keywords.

    I'm sure this blog posting will be extremely helpful to others.

    Thanks so much--you are So computer smart

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  2. This is really helpful! I'm going to look into trying to improve my shop and website's SEO.

    Thanks for posting this.

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  3. Excellent advice. Keep up the good work.

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  4. Great info, thanks for sharing with us!

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  5. this is very helpful...thank you so much!!!

    best monika

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  6. This was super informative. I've saved all your links and will start optimizing tomorrow!

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  7. this was so helpful and well written. thanks for taking the time to compile all of this.

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  8. FABulous and easy to understand article! I learned quite a bit in this post and am printing it out for reference.

    Thank you so very much for posting this and informing the team (Etsy Twitter) :)

    Cheers,
    Rocki

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  9. Thank you for sharing this great article with the Etsy Twitter Team! It's really helpful and I'll surely follow some of your good advices!

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  10. Thanks for the great post. I will look into this tomorrow!

    Cory

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  11. Wow... Thank you so much for this much helpful information... I'm bookmarking this page for sure.

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  12. Thanks for posting this. Looks like I need to spruce up my shop!

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  13. Thanks for posting this. I'm going to ready again and improve my blog and Etsy shop.

    http://linorstorecom.blogspot.com

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  14. This is a fantastic resource Noadi! You really know what you are talking about. SEO strategies and good solid, quality posts is the only way any blog will stand out in this massive sea of information. There is so much to learn and you have done an excellent job of bringing some clarity to the learning process!

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  15. I've been meaning to do some research into SEO and this post gives me a very good starting point.

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  16. What a fantastic article! It has made me think of my Etsy site in a whole different light. Thank you for explaining all of these things in such a straight forward way - I have been trying to learn about these things, but not being a techie I hadn't read anything that completely made sense until now!

    See you on Etsy!

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  17. Excellent advice! Finding sites like this are why I spend sooo much time at my computer@!

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  18. Yes, thanks for sharing. I'm in the midst of researching about SEO and there's just so much out there but you put it all together so well.

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  19. Thanx for the guideline it such a usefull post then the other

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  20. Thanx it,s really informative actually its a good sketch about SEO.

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  21. Great way of delivering the Information about SEO and its useful too

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  22. This is really helpful and I'll surely follow some of your good advices!

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  23. This is very useful and well-written. Thank you.

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  24. Such great information. Most of these things are totally outside my comfort zone so I'm glad to have someone else like you that understands it. It looks like I have some work to do.
    Thanks so much!

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  25. Thank you so much for taking the time to explain to those of us less computer savvy!

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  26. Thank you so much for all this information. I will have to redo somethings on my Etsy shop and other sites that my art is on.

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  27. Very informative! and so glad it is included into Etsy Success newsletter. I do hope many sellers will start taking this into consideration. I just wanted to add using social media sites if you are trying to get your Brand name out - keep your name consistent on all the accounts you create. Flickr, Twitter, ThisNext, Facebook group (if you have one) will show up in the top results for your brand in the matter of days. I would start with those BEFORE you spend too much time on directories. And use Google Analytics - it has so much to offer for free - you can see what keywords people are using to find you. Add it to Etsy, your Blog, your personal site.

    Knittles
    http://knittles.etsy.com
    http://iamknittles.blogspot.com

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  28. Great advice. I've already changed some my descriptions!

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  29. Thanks so much for this wonderful computer-savy description.

    I have been an etsy seller for several years and am always amazed how some sellers seem to know all the ins and outs and others are hardly ever seen. Thanks for the info. I will follow your tips and see if I can make it to the "SEEN" group!!

    And thanks to Etsy for including your article in their emails. Oh! And your shop is on my favorites list!

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  30. Thank you, this post was very informative, this has cleared up alot of confusion i've had regarding SEO

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  31. Great piece of info here! I have learned a lot but you gave me some more i did not know. I am going to link from my squidoo lens to your piece here. I wrote one on twittering, facebook, and how I am networking to increase traffic to my store. I saw your blog on Etsy. Thank you again so much!!

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  32. Thanks! You really simplified SEO. Great tips.

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  33. Very helpful! Thank you from www.boci.etsy.com

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  34. I'm currently setting up my Etsy shop, and the info you presented is by far the most informative I've read. Thank You!!!

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  35. Thank you ! I've revised both my Etsy shops titles and created brief shop descriptions at the very top. VERY iNFORMATiVE post... much gratitude :) brizelhandcrafts.etsy.com, brizelsupplies.etsy.com

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  36. Thanks for explaining...Sorana Gallery

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  37. Oh goody! I can't wait to put these great tips to use. Thanks very much!


    http://blackdogstudio.etsy.com

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  38. Thank you for all of your wonderful advice and knowledge, so nice of you to share with us.

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  39. Thanks! What a great article and blog. Glad I took the time to read!

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  40. Thank you so much for this article. I just updated my shop announcement, renamed my sections, and my so shop tag line. Great info.

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  41. This is was very helpful. Thank you.

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  42. Thank you for the info! The jargon is a little "over my head" but this gives me a lot of insight into what I need to understand as I try to get started in here!

    My best to you and all in the business of trying!

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  43. Thank you for taking the time to post this! Great info and clear.

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  44. Thank you!

    www.gibscot.etsy.com
    www.gibscot.blogspot.com

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  45. Thank you for taking the time to post this. Very good info and clear. TAG away! Sometimes seems like an annoying task but so important!

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  46. This is just the type of information I was looking for. Thank you.

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  47. I'm still trying to get a hang of all this...thanks for some clarification!

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  48. Thank you! This was very informative and you made it easy to understand for the new store owner! I just love the Etsy community and this willingness to help and share with others. Thank you again!

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  49. Thanks so much for the great article. I've already cleaned up some of the verbosity in my shop announcement.

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  50. Thank you so much for the info. I am new to etsy and trying to learn all I can to make my business work. Have a blessed day!

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  51. Thanks a bunch! This is going to be a great help in improving my new shop! Thankyouthankyouthankyou! :)

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  52. I am off to check out my titles and tags. Thanks so much for this article.
    http://lodahlartglass.etsy.com

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  53. Very enlightening. Your writing style presents the information in such a way that even a novice can understand.

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  54. Thank you for the easy to understand explanation of SEO. And for the tip about Google Base.

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  55. Thank You for the article. I'm so green when it comes to computers and their assorted processes. I thought I was doing well to post my shop via Etsy. That was a major undertaking and achievement for me. My shop has only been live for about a month and I was wondering how to create more traffic. You have made my day. I just hope I have the savvy to wade through all your information and implement it.

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  56. As a brand new blogger and Etsy seller, this was extremely informative. I'm onto it....after the weekend!

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  57. great article..so helpful..the Handmade Product Directory isnt taking any more shops..this will be a boon to all shops!

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  58. Great advise. Thank you!

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  59. Thank You for posting this. We need all the help we can get. I'm new on etsy and have only sold one item. I have the passion part of making my premade scrapbooks now just need the help of getting seen.
    THANKS again,
    Pagesbynat.etsy

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  60. Great info...SEO is one of my least fav things about having an online business! :)

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  61. Awesome info! I am going to work on improving my SEO!

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  62. Thanks for the great info. Must make changes soon... ;>)

    http://www.Legacy925.etsy.com/

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  63. Thank you for this information, I have just been realising that I'm not showing up in google search with a fellow DUST team members Handmade Detective site she is developing. I've been wondering what I needed to do. You have just taught me ! So many thanks to you. Now I might actually begin reaching the right people who want to buy my art-wares.

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  64. Excellent article, very informative!

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  65. Thanks for the 411. Read this article very quickly and realize there is much I need to understand still. Bookmarking it for future reference so I can study in more detail. Regards.

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  66. Hi: Thanks for this great, informative article. I do have one specific question: is the idea to use highly competitive key words or words that are more average or low? I couldn't figure it out from the explanation. Regards, Foxy G.

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  67. This is sooo helpful. Just what I need though it's going to take a while for me to get my head around all of it. Thank you so much!

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  68. I just found this post through the link etsy sent out.

    Thank you so much, this post was really helpful and easy to follow.

    Teague

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  69. Wow! Thanks for all of the info. I never realized how much you need to do to get your shop noticed. Thanks again! :)

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  70. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this article! It's very informative and I'm going to start implementing those ideas right now!

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  71. Thanks so much for taking the time
    to share.
    There's such a big learning curve (setting up a shop on-line,)but I'm finding my fellow Etsians are so helpful.

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  72. Thankyou!
    Your sharing is SO appreciated,
    it will help me (and other Etsians) make the most of our on-line shops.

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  73. Thank you for the fantastic article. I found it very informative and easy to understand.

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  74. Heh, fantastic info. thank you for sharing.

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  75. This is so helpful for me in improving flow to my shop. Thanks.

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  76. Great information. Thanks for sharing!

    http://www.annakaycreations.etsy.com

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  77. Wow, that was very helpful. I had better get to work!!!
    http://www.charmandjewels.etsy.com

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  78. Great advice! Heard about your blog through the Etsy success newsletter.

    Stop by sometime & say hi!

    ~Amber

    http://cloud9designstudio.etsy.com
    http://cloud9design.wordpress.com
    http://cloud9emporium.wordpress.com

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  79. What a great article!! Thanks for sharing!!

    Jillian :)

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  80. Thank you for all the work you have done to make life easier for the rest of us.

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  81. Thanks for taking some of the mystery out of driving customers to our shops!

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  82. I found this article very important and useful- THANK YOU!

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  83. Auroras Treasure,
    Today I am going to start setting up my jewelery shop,your informative blog is really going to help


    Thank you so much.

    http//AurorasTreasure.etsy.com

    Jewelery Treasures that brighten your day.
    http//aurorastreasure.blogspot.com

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  84. Thank you. Great information!

    www.hinniemune.etsy.com
    www.fionamacneil.etsy.com

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  85. Such useful information many thanks. I have only just started setting up my shop and this will help greatly. Thanks again!

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  86. So informative! I've got a great deal of work to do! Thank you! Thank you!

    http://objettrouve.etsy.com

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  87. thanks for being so generous with your information.

    mccheeksmayhem.etsy.com

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  88. I had no idea that SEO existed. Thanks for your advice, I am going to try this.

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  89. It is an extremely helpful piece of information,thanx for taking time out to explain this to us.

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  90. I am so grateful for all the time you put into this,and for sharing with all of us!!!!

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  91. Wow! Thanks so much for this great article. So many of us are still trying to figure this stuff out.

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  92. Thanks a million, I really needed this info! You are an asset to all artisans and etsians!

    verymary jewelry

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  93. Gee thanks for all the info; Im so new I dont know where to start. You've been so informative!! Thanks!! 10pm Jewelry
    Patty

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  94. Thanks for the great info. Especially for someone who is computer illiterate, I have a lot of work to do.

    Rebecca
    Slumptown Glass

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  95. Great tips. Thanks for teaching me. Need all the help I can get.

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  96. I've been reading a lot about SEO and you really nailed it for the needs at Etsy. Thank you for cutting through all that info for us.

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  97. Thank you for the info and thanks to Etsy for the email with the link. I think this is the start of something grand!

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  98. Wow! what great information. I can't wait to get started. Thank you so much for sharing in such an understandable way. www.jewelrybySuzanne.etsy.com

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  99. Thank you for sharing this important news with us. This will really take our boutiques to a new high.
    Thanks,
    The Sweetest Batch

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  100. Thank you very much. I am going to try to take ALL your advice. My shop is great and I don't think enough people see it!

    Danette
    The Passé Purse

    http://www.passepurse.etsy.com

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  101. I am fairly new to a computor and to ETSY. This information was very helpful to me. I appreciate your taking the time to help us less experienced ones.

    GrannysUniqueGoodies

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  102. Thank you so much! That's very informative and helpful, I have a lot of work now! Thanks for sharing :))

    Meital Levi
    http://www.toolisjewelry.etsy.com

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  103. Thank you so much for all the useful tips. I will incorporate these into my listings and shop from now on.
    Angi
    http://www.ajoydesigns.etsy.com

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  104. Nice write up.

    Folks need to know before they spend a lot of time entering into the ETS link you provided.
    As you said: "Let's Ets is a great tool for getting the bulk file to upload."
    Readers should know that this is to set sale items up for Googe check out, which costs money.
    Thanks again.

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  105. Oh my g didn;t take notes , but what great information. Gotta go redo to make more search engine friendly

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  106. such a informative post and not complete but enough detail about SEO

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  107. Petrina: You DO NOT have to offer google checkout to list your items with google base or pay anything at all to do so. Google base merely gets your items into google's product search alongside other merchants like Amazon, Ebay, etc.

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  108. Just a word of thanks. I've built (what I think) is a pretty nice shop and other website but no idea how to advertise. This will be very, very helpful to me!!

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  109. Thank you very much!! I have been looking for ways to get my shop out there. This is very helpful!! THANKS!! :)

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  110. Very informative! Thanks.

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  111. You are so sweet to share this information. I like many others, really appreciate your thoughtful goodwill to fellow Etsy members! God bless.
    Florasfancy

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  112. Thanks! this was a great read, and i hope i can do some of the ideas you mentioned!

    thanks

    TheLoudLion

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  113. This is a informative article. I have been thinking about this very subject as I work to grow my Etsy shop and business. Thank you!

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  114. Thanks for giving the brief description about SEO

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  115. Although all this internet solutions are not so understandable to me, I found this information very useful!!
    I hope sometime do it successfully!!
    Thanks

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  116. Wow. What else can I say? I love making my handmade Engagement and Wedding Rings - but how to market them? That is the question. You have given me a lot to do! Thank you SO much!

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  117. This is awesome! We're new to Etsy and are trying to make our mark. Very helpful! Thanks!
    Alicia
    http://www.RaeRaeSisters.etsy.com/

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  118. wowee, thanks for taking the time to write this out!

    -Christy

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  119. Thank you for taking the trouble to share this valuable info.

    Back to take another look at my descriptions and tags!

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  120. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  121. Oh Boy, I have a lot to do. Thank you for all your excellent help. Very encouraging.

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  122. Thank you for the great information. I used it to update some of the areas that were needed based on your info.
    Karen

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  123. thank you so much! very clear information!

    www.JustineJustine.etsy.com

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  124. Thanks for this very helpful information. I'm now trying to put it into practice.

    www.angelleadesigns.etsy.com
    (funky handmade kids wear)

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  125. wow! thats a whole lot of info for one time...I'll have to come back and reread..thanks so much for helping us fellow etsian's out....rozzi
    www.rozzissweetpeas.etsy.com

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  126. Thanks so much for pointing me to this post. If you would like to check out how I put your suggestions to use, here is my shop link:
    www.mommiedawn.etsy.com
    I am trying to make my mostly Appalachian Photography easier to find, HARD work!!

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  127. Great info. Thanks for the post. I will certainly put this into practice.

    http://www.sacredjewelry.etsy.com

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  128. Great info! Thank you so much!

    www.socialbutterflies.etsy.com

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  129. Thanks! This was a great read, and I am working on some of the ideas you mentioned!

    thanks for posting this.

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  130. Thanks for telling the great value of SEO for our business really useful info.

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  131. thank you, I made a few changes based on your article. It's good to be kept on one's toes!

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  132. i would like to say thank you for helping me to select my key words. your posting is do informative.thanks again.

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  133. The Handmade Product Directory seems to have vanished. Just thought I'd let you know so you can update your blog! :-)

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  134. It hasn't quite disapeared, it moved to a new domain http://thehandmadedirectory.com so I've updated the link.

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