Lessons

Lesson Info

How to List Titles Properly

We are going to move on to listing titles. So this is the last thing that stands out to a customer visiting your online storefront, and that's the listing titles. So, if we walk through so far what they've experienced, they got there, they checked out the brand, they trust the site, the product photography pulls them in, what happens next is they're going to start to read, they're now gonna- they're really invested in you at that point and they want more details. So I really cover this in depth in Copyrighting for Crafters a one day workshop I did for Creative Live, but a good rule of thumb is don't write it online, don't put it in your listing if you wouldn't say it to a potential customer in person. This leads me to stuffed titles, and this is exactly what I mean. This is a very common mistake, it's an epidemic on Etsy. People on Etsy stuff their product titles because they've been told that if they add more words to their listing, more people will find them in the Etsy marketplace. ...

So, like I just said, a rule of thumb, don't say it in your- don't write it in your listing, if you wouldn't say it in person. So this is like somebody walks into your store, loves your boutique, loves your little shop, and now you have an online storefront, and they pick your stuff and they say I love that, and they're looking at it, I'm behind the counter 'cause I'm the maker of that product and I say, Oh you love that, that's spiritual zen energy yoga bead stretch, Mother's day! And I just start rattling off all these words, (crowd laughing) to you, that customer would run, screaming because that's crazy. So you don't want to write it, if you wouldn't say it in person. Let's A B test the room, which do you prefer? Do you want a spiritual zen energy yoga bead stretch bracelet wrist malas for meditation Model J pink, opal, gold, brown coaster (laughing) or would you prefer, a pink opal energy bracelet? There's a huge difference in what you're saying right there, and I feel like this is disheartening to me, this discourages me on the way, this is desperate, it's confusing, and it makes me feel like don't you love your product, give your product a name, name that product! Let somebody bring that home, you worked hard, you worked hard, you created it, you took pictures of it, you talked about it, you wrote a listing online. I mean, take some time, take all the lecture words out, and give that product a name, respect that product, especially if you want customers to respect that also. So, you can- the reason people do this, and it's no fault to them, it makes the other people doing it so that they do it more, is that they're trying to get found in search in some way, shape, or form. Trying to get found in search but views are not currency, views don't pay the bills, we want sales. So views are great but if we're not getting sales, what do we have, we're not in business. We have people looking at a bunch of mismatched words, and kind of being confused at our product. So absolutely use key words, key words are really important we're going to be talking about them today, absolutely use them in your tags, absolutely use them in your titles, but you can also mix them throughout so as not to confuse the buyer. I love all of the words on the right, they're good key words for me, I just don't love them all in one listing. I can call the next bracelet aqua marine mala for meditation I can call this pink opal energy bracelet, I can call the next one yoga bead sun stone stretch- I did it, I did, that was it- take that back I can call the next one yoga sun stone bracelet, I can use all those words in different listings, but they just don't belong all together in one listing. It confuses the buyer, it smells desperate, and it's not gonna sell the product. In the next segment, we're really gonna be talking about key words and about how to gain traffic to your Etsy shop, some within Etsy, and some outside of Etsy. But the major takeaway here is just don't stuff, just don't stuff those titles, please, please, please. Love your product, give it a name, respect it so that you can expect the customer to respect it as well. We have some online audience who have a couple comments and questions, so let's scroll through it says, what she is saying is so great I should record myself describing the items. It's such- I mean if you don't think about it, we should write the way we speak. Yeah It's a great lesson. Um, they're a couple questions online, Dreamwork Handmade asks, should you title every same item the same title or different titles? I think it's a great place to mix some key words, I think that if, like I said- let me go back here, like I said if I called the next bracelet beside this one, aqua marine malas for meditation, that's not confusing the buyer, I'm just calling them- I'm calling, they see I sell energy bracelets, it all falls under the same umbrella. It's falling in line with my scene, it's my way of mixing in key words, without confusing anybody and keeping them interested and keeping them engaged. I think the finding thing is just gonna attract more people because if I call it an energy bracelet, but you don't call it that really, you call yours malas, then I've helped you, because I've helped you as a shopper because I've showed you these are all malas, this is everything that you're looking for, you belong here, and that's ultimately what your looking to do. It's to use the language that you know your customers are using to help them and make them understand that they belong here, come on in, take off your shoes and shop. We are made for each other. You can do that with different titles, to reach more people, Yeah who might have an affinity for a certain item or different way. Yes, this is going to come up again, because I used to call my bracelets something nobody else was calling them and I called them that consistently across the page, you don't want to do that because what you want to do is mix it up to find what the customer is searching, what they're looking for. If you are consistent with one name, and there's a variation, then you might lose them that way. And one other question from the Ruthless Crafter, (laughter) I bet, um, should we duplicate listings that have different key words in the titles to attract different viewers and show up on different search results? I would feel like I want to see that in action before understanding, I have an Etsy shop for my blog products that is very slim, there's not that many- there's like four products and so, I duplicate the listings to fill the store front a little bit and for that same reason I'm on Etsy and I'm selling to Etsy sellers. However, I've gotten- people don't like to see a duplicate listing and if it's that noticeable, then I've decided to stop doing that. If you have a big storefront and you're trying to fill in, make a- maybe it's just me, maybe I'm like OCD about it, but I like all the rows to be complete. Like I don't like- okay so if a row is four listings, I don't like six, because then you're just like what happened to the consistency there? So if I'm trying to- if I were trying to fill in page three to make sure all of the rows were nice and neat, I would do it, but I wouldn't do it as a strategy, I don't see the value in it, of a strategy. I would prefer the strategy focus be about getting people to the storefront and getting them to shop inside the storefront, versus getting people to this listing and getting people to that listing. No, this is a one business, this is a cohesive thing, this is a brand storefront so we want to get people there versus the product listing so, good idea, maybe just shift the focus to getting them to the storefront. Okay a few more questions came in, Okay. I'll have you answer next. Petite Photo asks, with shorter titles I'm concerned my product won't be found in search, with Etsy's search algorithm how do we optimize for the shorter titles? My thing with with the Etsy search algorithm is that nobody can claim to know what the Etsy search algorithm is, it's frightening to me that people do or try, Etsy has a huge- Etsy can change code at anytime on the website. They're changing things all the time. So, to go with the idea that those key words are helping you get found on search, if that's working, if the views- if you're getting views how are they converting? That would be my next question, because it's not always gonna be working, Etsy is always going to change it's search, they are like any other tool we use online. If we get to know them too well, they mix it up on us, and if anybody is like dominating it, they're going to mix it up on us. So I'm always thinking from the buyer's perspective, I'm not worried about getting found in Etsy search, I pay no attention to Etsy search algorithms, and the reason is, is because I don't see myself as one in a million in a marketplace, I see myself with a product that millions have yet to see yet. So I want to always think the furthest outside of Etsy, and what Etsy's doing, and always look outside to the world to the broader market. So do you mean like Google search and concentrating on that search optimization or- Um, no, I don't see how stuffing key words would help you on Google, if anything it's gonna confuse Google it's gonna hurt how you show up in Google, when I have a listing that's popular, this- I don't think this is active in my shop but if you search pink opal energy bracelet, mine would be the number one result. Because I have built a shop about getting found online, and getting a lot of clicks from outside Etsy to my storefront, so I- that would be my test of how well your theory is working, I would take the stuffed title and see what comes up on Google and it's not pretty. It's just not pretty, so the strategy is to go bigger, it's to go broader, I didn't sell out on Etsy, from focusing on Etsy. Again, I sold out by focusing on the millions of people that have yet to see my product, using Etsy as a tool that would help me brand, and assure the customer that shopping with me is a good idea. See, there is a difference. Right, and then Jule Simon her question is, how would you recommend that we help people looking for event specific items, like if I name my product just what they are, I know no one will ever search for that. Oh, okay, so she's saying if you're- and I don't not like that idea, I shouted "Mother's Day" because mother's day is like- sometimes shot like in the middle of a stuffed title and not meaning anything else. Sometimes, like I have a client who is- has a product that's beautiful for first communion, she should absolutely put first communion bracelet, cause she makes gorgeous pearl bracelets. She actually came up to a little girl's pearl and her name's Julie and she should use first communion, because it's the event and it's what her product is basically made for, where it sells the best. So that isn't a terrible idea, or Mother's Day basket, I would never ask you to take Mother's Day out of the fact that you making a gift for that special occasion. It just doesn't belong, so if I'm saying I have a gift here, and I'm just typing in Christmas into the search 'cause I think that's part of the stuffing and I think people are gonna be looking for Christmas that day, it's all relevant, just keep it relevant.