Our latest series of Marketing Magic articles discusses how to analyze your Etsy Shop Stats to help increase your views and boost sales. Read the intro to the series here to get started.

Let’s move on now to a few quick and simple tests or processes you can perform every so often while checking out your shop stats. I try to give you some procedures to perform and things to think about that might not be as blatantly obvious as just glancing at your stats chart every few weeks.

#1. Review Your Most Popular Keywords

The Thought Process 

Most of your listings are probably found via search, whether on Etsy or another search engine like Google. Using smart keywords, tags, titles, and descriptions and making your shop SEO-friendly will go a long way in boosting your search page rank and thus your views. A thorough review of the keywords section of your stats will help you spot weaknesses and opportunites in your listings’ tags.

The Testing Procedure 

To make things more manageable and effective, I suggest looking at your stats in chunks of at least 1 month’s time (like “last month”’s view for example) for this analysis. Take a look at your top 10 or so keywords in the “Keywords” box in your shop stats. It might even be helpful to start a spreadsheet or Word file where you make note of which keywords seem to be drawing in the most traffic over time.

Questions to Ask Yourself

• What are my most effective keywords? Which keywords are showing up time after time?
• Can I apply these popular keywords to more of my listings?
• Do I have any keywords or phrases showing up here that I’m not already using as listing tags?
• Do I have any keywords or phrases showing up that I’m not using in my titles or the beginning paragraph of my descriptions?
• Are there any tags I’m using a lot in my listings that are rarely showing up here?

Lessons Learned

First, make sure that all applicable listings have your most popular keywords and phrases as a tag, part of the title, and somewhere in the first few sentences of your description. This ensures max SEO-ability. When I talk about tags, I mean those 13 special words you enter in the tag section when you create a listing. Tags influence where and how your items show up in an Etsy search. Good keyword usage in your title and description helps you for offsite searches, like on Google.

Second, see what keywords might be listed in your top 10 that you aren’t already using as a tag. Start using these more often in your tags, titles, and descriptions.

Finally, look at this as a sort of round-about way to figure out what tags and keywords are not working. Sometimes, using keywords that are too “generic” can be a waste of important tag space. You will likely show up on results page 100 for the keyword “purse”, but you might show up on page 2 of “leather crossbody purse”. Being more specific will also bring you viewers that are more likely to buy your product, since it’s exactly what they are looking for.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with your tags and keyword usage, especially if you are just starting out. If you have two similar listings and you’re debating how to tag them, you can use them as a testing ground. For example, if I have two pairs of crystal earrings, I might use “estate sale” type tags on one, and bridal & wedding-related tags on the other, to see which type of keywords are being searched more often.

Paying attention to your keyword stats will help you improve your listings and boost your views. Tune in for our next Marketing Magic segment for test #2 on how to effectively analyze your Etsy shop stats.