Saturday, March 29, 2014

Teammate Tips: Tagging Your Items

One of the best things about belonging to an Etsy team is the benefit of learning from each other's experiences. Whether you are new to Etsy or have been around awhile, other sellers can provide some helpful ideas.

A task that many Etsy sellers struggle with is how to tag their items so they will be found by as many potential customers as possible. But where to begin? I opened a discussion thread to see how other Strategic Promotion for Success team members tackle this task. 

"I think when you tag an item you are going to list, you need to step back, take a look at your item, and ask yourself if you were the buyer, what would you look for. What is unique about this item? What is it made of? Is it for a special season or occasion? What does it remind you of?"
-Meirah from Home for Glass Lovers


But how do you narrow it down to just 13 words or phrases?

Cherry Berry Bracelet
"I think the best way to tag your item is how you would search for it."
-Michelle from Donkey and the Unicorn

Tags: rave edm dance party, spring summer, easter basket, lightweight, ooak unique, one size fits, hot neon pink berry, teen tween girl, woman wife mother, stretch bracelet, beaded jewelry, eps team,cherry berry bead






It's a good idea to always use words related to:
  • colors
  • relevant occasions, seasons or holidays
  • keywords from the item title
  • material the item is made of 

Knit Baby Booties
"I try to think like a buyer.That is when I added tags like 'baby shower gift' and 'newborn gift set.' These don't describe my items, but do describe what they might be used for..." 
-Barbara from Babywear by Babs

Tags: etsykids team, knit baby booties, baby girl gift, baby newborn set, new baby gift, baby shower gift, baby girl clothes, yellow baby booties, purple flower bootie, Easter gift, spsteam, easter baby shoes




Chicken Bracelet
"I do try to tag colors and anything that seems unique. Right now I have a bracelet that reminds me of barbed wire, so 2 tags are quirky bracelet and odd bracelet." 

Tags:southern illinois, feminine, spsteam, boho, country, sophisticate, colorful fowl, gift for her, whimsical hen, rooster jewelry, earthy barnyard fowl, multi strand jewelry, collectable bracelet






 Although you may not use them as tags for all of your items you could occasionally use:
  • team tags
  • shop name

Still stumped?

"You can try search on Etsy too. Start typing a word to the 'Search for items and shop'' and the most popular words are coming up automatically. "
-Ildi from Ceraminic

Like a search on Etsy, you could also try a search in Google to see what type of keywords come up automatically that may be relevant to your item. There are also a number of websites like jaaxy and wordstream whose entire purpose is to help people find popular and appropriate keywords. In addition to paid subscriptions, these types of sites usually offer a free trial or a set number (usually 30) of free searches you can perform. Another helpful free tool is TagWars

Still looking for more ideas about tagging? There are actually a number of Etsy teams such as Etsy Relevancy SEO and Stats that are devoted to SEO and they have some very helpful discussion boards.

Many thanks to the following shops for participating in the tagging discussion and sharing their tips and ideas:

BabywearbyBabs
HanjiNaty
Ceraminic 
Serendipitini
CharmedBaublesNBeads 
amydscrochet
AhimsaOils
GumpasteGarden
DonkeyandTheUnicorn
Homeforglasslovers


If you'd like to contribute your expertise in an upcoming "Teammate Tips" post on the SPS blog, stop by the SPS Team discussion board and search for "SPS Blog" to find future post topics.



PRESENTED TO YOU BY OUR LEADER :

My name is Ellen and I LOVE to design and create things. I find it deeply satisfying to start with nothing more than an idea and finish with a tangible, beautiful, functional piece of work. I enjoy learning new techniques that I can incorporate into my creations. I practice a variety of different art forms, but find I always have at least one knit, crochet or sewing project in progress.


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