I had a drop in Etsy sales this month. And it was a real learning experience for me.
So I thought I’d share what I’d learned here.
1. Don’t Make Sweeping SEO Changes
This month I decided to tweak my Etsy SEO. Across all of my listings. All at once.
I had heard something somewhere about not making a lot of SEO changes at once. But I wasn’t sure if that information was accurate so I went ahead and made a bunch Etsy SEO changes. And sales at Catholic Book And Card ground to a halt.
I didn’t do anything in the shop for almost two weeks after that. I didn’t realize, at first, that I’d lost my motivation because I was discouraged. But, when I did, I saw how silly it was.
The shop had been going in the right direction and the drop in Etsy sales was not the worst thing that could happen. Quitting is the worst (Etsy) thing that can happen. So I got back to work.
2. Keep On Keeping – Drop in Etsy Sales Not Withstanding
It’s been my idea for a while now to do one new listing a week. I had heard that doing this gives you a bump but I always felt that, given the huge amount of traffic on Etsy, that bump wouldn’t amount to much. So even though I knew this, I didn’t really think it made a difference.
But when I finally got back to work, I wanted to do everything I could. So I did one new listing and renewed a couple of old ones. I do think it helped and when I thought about it, it actually seemed kind of obvious.
If people who bought from me in the past don’t see new items, they aren’t going to buy anything else. If people who followed my shop (but haven’t purchased) don’t see new items they’ll forget all about me.
Doing new listings does take time. With things like soap and candles (that people use up) you need to make new items. But can use the same listing for things that people really seem to like. With digital listings you have to create new designs AND new listings.
But I think that’s what turned things around for me and that it’s worth it.
3. Get Your Etsy CEUS
Just kidding 🙂 There are no Etsy CEUs that I know of.
Unlike your day job (if you have one), no one is going to remind you that need to go to this inservice or that one in order to stay current in your profession. But being a small business owner IS a profession – so it makes sense that continuing education is important.
This is a little hard for me. I like writing and design (and making new listings) more than I like reading about Etsy. But after the SEO fiasco I committed to learning something new about Etsy every week.
If I’d been learning about Etsy on a regular basis since I opened my shop I feel very sure that there wouldn’t have been any drop in Etsy sales this month because I would have made gradual SEO changes. And I’m sure there would have been other benefits too.
There is a lot of good info on Etsy out there. But one of my favorite resource right now is the Etsy Seller Handbook. Almost every topic you can think of is covered. And there is no pressure to sign up for a course or mastermind group in order to learn more.
Browsing is a the Etsy Seller Handbook little difficult though BECAUSE there is so much information. So I’ve been starting out with google, then searching the handbook. Sometimes I go back to google to clarify things but usually the seller handbook articles cover everything.
4. Try Something New
This week I learned about Shop Updates and decided I wanted to try to do them out in the future. Shop updates are something you can do from the Etsy app (they are listed under Marketing in the menu and then under Social Media). Essentially, you are posting an image and a bit about what’s going on with your shop. You can also share these same updates to social media.
Shop updates will appear (under ‘recommended’) to anyone who has interacted with your shop. This includes people who have purchased, of course, but also people who have liked items or follow your shop
I haven’t tried Shop Updates yet, so I don’t know if that would have prevented the recent drop in Etsy sales but I think it sounds promising, so I included it.
5. Don’t Let a Drop in Etsy Sales Get You Down
Ups and down are a part of business. And I’m going to have good weeks and bad weeks – with or without Etsy SEO (or other) blunders. Creating new listings and learning about Etsy and not changing your Etsy SEO across the board are all important. But, for me, most important piece – in all of this – is my faith.
I have always loved art and story telling – literally ever since I remember. And I began writing when I was very young too. So, as a person of faith, I believe that’s because these are the things God’s equipped me to do.
That doesn’t mean I’m the best, necessarily. But it does mean that it makes sense to use the talents and abilities God has given me.
As should we all.
- To check out my Etsy shop please visit CatholicBookAndCard.com or to check out the new listing only please click here
- Read my happy clueless post about how well my shop was doing here (also includes a few shop improvement ideas).
- If you want to learn more about Etsy shop updates, please check out the Etsy Seller Handbook article here.
- To see the full Etsy Seller Handbook, please click here.
