How To Get Noticed On Etsy 2021

Do you want to know how to increase sales on Etsy?

Perhaps you have set your Etsy store up, you have put your items up for sale, you have told all your friends and your cat and then …. Crickets.

Don't worry, if you want to get your Etsy sales popping and learn how to increase sales on Etsy , then I'm here to tell you all about it.

,Etsy is a popular platform. As such, there is going to be plenty of competition.

When you start on Etsy, you may find an influx of traffic and sales on your Etsy store. This is because Etsy does give prominence to new stores that are just starting out. Even if you have not experienced that initial surge in sales, his article will try to help with that too!

However, once you have been on the platform for a while, you may notice a dip in traffic to your Etsy store and subsequently, a reduction in the number of sales.

To avoid this, there are certain tips and tricks that you can implement to improve sales on Etsy.

Some of the most effective ways to improve sales on Etsy include:

Using Etsy SEO strategies
Using other social media platforms to promote your Etsy store
Using Pinterest for Etsy – this is a powerful one!
Creating a blog that is related to your Etsy shop and the products sold on it
Offering attractive shipping and return policies
Refreshing your Etsy listings regularly
Using the Etsy Ads feature
Using premium quality pictures on your Etsy store
Adding detailed descriptions to your Etsy listings
Researching your competitors
Rewarding returning customers
Starting an email subscriber list
Having a big sale
Getting reviews from your customers
Providing premium customer service
Offering discounts on older items on your Etsy store
Making your Etsy store user-friendly
Using the coupon code strategy
Refreshing your Etsy tags
Focusing on your target audience
Collaborating with influencers
Writing guest posts for other blogs
Getting on TikTok (read the details before you run away! It's worth it!)
Collaborating with other sellers
Making a recognizable Etsy shop brand
Joining the Etsy community
Using your Etsy stats
Hosting a giveaway
Adding cross links to your listings
Hosting an online Etsy store party

Related Posts:

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How To Increase Etsy Traffic (And Triple Your Sales!)
How To Use Pinterest For Etsy To Increase Your Etsy Sales!
How Etsy Tags Can Increase Traffic To Your Etsy Store
How To Sell Digital Downloads On Etsy (+Quick Tips To Succeed!)
The Best Etsy Printables Course On The Market
31 Best Digital Products To Sell On Etsy In 2021

Affiliate Link Disclosure

This article contains some affiliate links which means that I may earn a small commission when you click on them, at no additional cost to you. I do hope you find the information in this article helpful!

What Is Etsy Exactly?

As mentioned above, Etsy is an eCommerce platform. However, it is far from your run-of-the-mill wholesale marketplace.

Etsy is a unique community that specializes in handmade and vintage items. You will not find retailers who purchase products in bulk and repackage them for sale on this platform.

If you are crafty, creative, and love to channel this into handmade products, then Etsy is the perfect place for you to sell your wares.

Etsy's priority is maintaining the human connection among its community.

How Do You Increase Your Sales On Etsy?

Now, let's get to the most important aspect of selling on Etsy. How to get those sales in!

There is a misconception that when you start selling on Etsy, all you need to do is post pictures of your products, describe them and wait for people to find them.

Unfortunately, this is not a secondhand marketplace.

There is a fine art to selling on Etsy and to master that art, there are certain strategies you will need to be familiar with.

Let's deal with each of these in more detail and find out what they are all about.

1. Use Etsy SEO

Etsy SEO is probably the most important strategy that you can implement to increase sales on Etsy.

Etsy SEO here is essentially ensuring that the words and phrases (otherwise known as keywords) that you use in your Etsy listing accurately match what people are searching for when they come onto the Etsy platform as a buyer.

The more accurate these keywords are, the higher the chances of customers being directed to your store and your individual listings.

To find these keywords, you will need to do some keyword research. This can be done by using an Etsy keyword research tool.

One of the best Etsy keyword research tools that are available is Sale Samurai. It is affordable, easy to use, and gives you all the keywords you need to ensure that your Etsy store is optimized.

NOTE- As my reader, you get a discount coupon that has to be used in the sign up page. The code is outandbeyond (all in lowercase). This will give you 20% OFF for life.

You can find out more about Etsy keyword research here.

If you are ready to use an Etsy keyword tool, then this article breaks down and gives you a detailed comparison of the best Etsy keyword tools that are available on the market.

2. Use Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms are the best marketing tools for increasing sales on Etsy.

Instagram and Facebook are great places to start. You can always share specific listings and link them directly to your Etsy store.

If you have a substantial number of Instagram followers, you can share behind-the-scenes videos on your stories.

These days, packaging videos are extremely popular.

Customers regularly ask small businesses to film the packaging process of their orders and post them on social media.

This further creates a stronger and more personal relationship between you as a business owner and your customers.

3. Use Pinterest for Etsy

The best social media platform to use if you are looking into how to increase your sales on Etsy is Pinterest.

Pinterest allows you to link your business account directly to the Etsy store.

When you create pins of your products and listings and pin them to Pinterest boards, you can put in all the necessary details of the product you are selling, including the price of the same.

Additionally, when others pin your pins, your Etsy listings get the benefit of being exposed to a completely new audience! It truly is a domino effect when using Pinterest for Etsy.

To learn exactly how to use Pinterest for Etsy, check out this detailed guide!

If you are interested in learning how to create stunning pins that will increase your sales on Etsy, then you should check out this amazing course by Carly Campbell called Pinteresting Strategies.

4. Create A Related Blog

As much as running an Etsy business is already a lot of work, you can't really run away from the fact that you may need to start a blog in order if you are thinking about how to get more sales on Etsy.

A blog is an opportunity for you to share the stories behind your Etsy store.

Remember, that Etsy is a virtual shop. Visitors to your shop will only see the products on sale and the descriptions of products.

As a virtual store owner, you do not really have the chance to talk about your products or engage with your customers as you would be able to do in a physical store.

This is where blogging comes in.

When you have a blog, you can explain the background of each product to your heart's content! You can share anecdotes about how you came up with the idea for the product and even have a section on the various ways in which you can use or style your products.

If you are feeling a little overwhelmed by the idea of starting a blog, it is easy. I promise you! You can start a blog in under 15 minutes!

Check out my quick and easy guide on how to start a blog and you will be blogging and driving sales to your Etsy store in no time!

5. Customer-Friendly Shipping and Return Policies

Let's say you already have a customer on your listing. They have almost decided that they are going to make a purchase from your Etsy store.

BUT! They just want to look around one last time.

What can you do to give them that slight nudge to convince them that they should buy from your Etsy store?

Well, offer free shipping of course! Buyers LOVE free shipping.

Think about it. If you are shopping at an online store and you have all your products in your cart. You are about to check out but a notice pops up to say that you only need to spend $10 more to qualify for free shipping.

Let's say shipping fees $5. Chances are you will spend $10 more to qualify for free shipping instead of paying the $5 shipping fee!

And that's how your buyers think!

One more thing you can do if you are looking at how to increase the conversion rate on Etsy i.e. how to convince browsing customers to make a sale is to offer a seamless return and refund process.

You can do this by including a return envelope and label together with the package you send to them. Additionally, you can offer a refund within 3 days of the item being returned to you.

To further cement your reputation as one of the best stores on Etsy, you can give your customers the option of being refunded by way of cash or by way of credit at your store for any future purchases. The latter will encourage them to come back as returning customers!

6. Refresh Your Etsy Listings

, In line with supporting new sellers, Etsy does give a bit of a boost to new listings. As such, refreshing your Etsy listings is a good strategy to implement to increase your sales on Etsy.

This can be done by updating the keywords that are used in your Etsy tags and descriptions.

It must be noted however that you have to pay for each refresh. As such, it may not be wise to use this strategy too often.

A good rule of thumb would be to refresh your Etsy listings every 3 to 4 months so that your listings are in line with the Etsy search algorithm.

7. Try Etsy Ads

The Etsy platform has its own internal advertising system.

While it can certainly boost sales on your Etsy store, it is important to understand how exactly it works before you decide to invest in it.

Etsy advertisements are purchased via an auction system. Once you are successful in your bid, Etsy will display your listings as promoted listings on the first page of the Etsy search results.

This does mean that you will have to compete with other similar products that may appear on the same page.

The benefit of this though is that you are likely to reach a wider audience who may click on the ad and visit your Etsy store.

Generally, it is advisable not to spend too much on Etsy ads. This is because each time someone clicks on the ad, you will need to pay for the click regardless of whether they make a purchase from the ad or not.

You can read more about the Etsy ad s system here in deciding whether it is a

suitable strategy for you to implement to increase sales on your Etsy store.

8. Use High-Quality Images

It cannot be denied that buyers are attracted to items that are visually appealing. We buy with our eyes after all!

As such, it is important to ensure that the quality of the pictures that you use on your Etsy store is high.

You can even style your pictures to make them more aesthetically pleasing. For example, if you are selling polymer clay jewelry, you can take pictures of how they look on someone who is wearing them.

This will also give your customers a better idea as to the dimensions of the product and it will give them more detailed information so that they can make an informed purchase.

Some tricks to creating beautiful photos for your Etsy store can include:

Using natural lighting as much as possible to bring out the true colors of your product.

Take a picture of every angle. This will help your potential customer to get a better idea of what your product looks like as a whole.

If you are selling a wearable product, show pictures of it being worn. This will show the scale of the product as well as what it looks like when it is being used.

Use a lightbox for consistent lighting for all your product pictures. This portable photo studio lightbox is great if you do your product photography in multiple places.

9. Add Detailed Descriptions

When you post your Etsy listings, one of the things you will need to fill out is a description of your product. This is where you can really sell the product to a potential customer. Be as detailed as possible.

Among other things, you can set out:

The colors that your item comes in
How it can be used
How the product is made
The materials used

Take a look at the following description from Etsy seller Silkooze on their silk scrunchies.

Do keep in mind however that when a customer clicks on your listing, they may only see the first few lines of the description as they have to click on a dropdown box to view the rest of the details.

So, use your keywords here, make it pop, and make them want to learn more about your product!

10. Research Your Competitors

This does not mean you have to do exactly what they are doing. Rather, see how your competitors are marketing and listing their products.

This includes checking out what kind of keywords they are using and where these words are being placed in the tags and description of the listing.

Additionally, you can also analyze what you can do better in terms of quality of products, packaging, and shipping and return policies. These little things will help you stand out from your competitors.

11. Reward Returning Customers

Getting a customer to come back and purchase from you again is in itself one of the most rewarding things for any small business owner. This means your customer loves your product and trusts its quality.

More importantly, they trust you.

As such, you can show them your appreciation by adding freebies to their order. Some common freebies include stickers, luxury tea bags, or sample sizes of another product that you sell. If they like that, they will come back for more!

If you can afford it and it won't eat too much into your profits, you can even offer them a discount on their subsequent purchases.

Rewarding loyalty is one of the best ways to maintain your customer base and make sure they keep coming back for more!

12. Start An Email List

This is one of the most common ways of increasing sales on Etsy.

Ask your customers if they would like to be notified of new promotions or be in the running for lucky draws or special discounts. If they are interested, ask them to sign up for your email list on your blog.

This is a great way to keep in touch with your existing and potential customers. Send out an email blast or a newsletter once a week or once in two weeks, depending on your schedule.

You can tell them what your Etsy store has been up to, if there are any new launches coming up, or even share some behind-the-scenes stories about your products!

Customers love this personal touch. If you are using this strategy, do make sure that your emails don't just contain advertisements for your products. This is rather off-putting to potential customers. On top of any promotions, send them some useful information as well.

For example, if you are selling handmade jewelry, you can give them tips on how to style them or how to properly take care of them so that they last.

13. Have A Big Sale

A limited-time sale is a quick and easy way to increase your revenue on Etsy. You can run it anyway from one week to an entire month, depending on the type of product you sell and your profit margins!

A popular sale strategy to encourage customers to buy multiple items from your Etsy store is to give a higher discount when more items are purchased by the same customer.

For example:

1 item for $30

2 items for $28

3 items for $25

This will most certainly increase the number of products that you can sell on your Etsy store at any one time.

14. Ask (Nicely!) For Customer Reviews

It is a harsh fact that once customers receive their purchase, it may be difficult to get them to return to your Etsy store to leave reviews of the product that they purchased.

However, it is worth it to make the effort to ask them nicely or even entice them with a discount on their next purchase if they leave a review on your Etsy store.

Reviews play a crucial role in getting sales on your Etsy store.

This is because the more reviews you have on your Etsy store, the more likely it is that your store will be featured on a buyer's search results page.

The more detailed the reviews are, the better. You can also ask your customers if they would be willing to share pictures of them using your product as a part of their review.

More importantly, customer reviews provide feedback and value to potential customers as well. If they see that your products have good reviews, they are more likely to make a purchase from your Etsy shop. Happy buyers are the best marketing tool you can ask for!

15. Provide Premium Customer Service

With any business, particularly with small independent sellers, customer service is everything.

Some ways that you can give your customers the best experience would be to:

Communicate with them clearly and efficiently.
Reply to any queries or messages as soon as you can
Build a relationship by trying to accommodate any special requests that they may have as long as it is within reason
Always be polite, no matter how difficult a customer gets. All it takes is one bad review for your reputation to take a dip.
Be honest at all times and manage your customer's expectations as realistically as possible
If you aren't able to respond on time due to time constraints, set up an auto-reply telling your customer that you will get back to them as soon as you can.

While these customer service tips are not exhaustive, they are just some ways in which you can build trust and eventually, a solid relationship with your customers.

Also, if you have the budget, why not consider hiring a customer service virtual assistant? It can save you time to focus on the tasks you want to do! Want to know how to hire one? Check my article The Beginner's Guide To Hiring A Customer Service Virtual Assistant.

16. Offer Discounts On Items That Have Been Listed For A While

I understand that this may not be your ideal plan when it comes to selling your products on Etsy. But it is a good strategy to get your products moving, especially if you find your sales at a point where it is particularly stuck.

This movement of products will also give you the opportunity to update your Etsy store with new products and launches.

17. Make Your Etsy Store User-Friendly

Your Etsy store is your virtual store. And people don't really like shopping in a store that is messy with items all over the place.

As such, ensure that your Etsy store is well-organized. Make it easy for customers to find your products and navigate throughout your store.

Check out this video from Fuzzy & Birch on how to organize your Etsy shop for more traffic!

18. Use The Coupon Code Strategy

This is when you promote your products and encourage people to purchase from your Etsy store by providing them with a discount if they enter a particular coupon code at checkout.

For example, you can tell them to enter the code 'TIMMYTAGS' at checkout for a 20% discount on all cat tags.

Alternatively, get your customers to promote your Etsy store for you!

You can do this by first giving them perhaps a 15% discount. Once they have made a purchase, you can then give them a personalized coupon code that they can use to share with their friends if they enjoyed using your product.

For example: Give them the code 'AISHA10' and ask them to share it with their friends so that their friends get a 10% discount on their purchase when they enter 'AISHA10' at checkout.

19. Refresh Your Etsy Tags

We've talked about refreshing your listings. But it is also important to refresh the tags that you use in your product listings.

For example, if one of the tags that you've used is "gifts for women", during Christmas time, you may want to update it to "Christmas gifts for women". This will be super helpful during the season when people may be on the hunt for last-minute gifts!

Here is everything you need to know about Etsy Tags

20. Focus On Your Target Audience

This is probably a no-brainer, but it is definitely worth thinking about. In your quest to get as many sales as possible, it is tempting to cater to a wide audience and make something for everyone.

This may make you lose focus on your original target audience.

If your target audience members are professional women in their 30s-40s, then you wouldn't use cartoonish pictures in your product photography. Nor will you make your products out of colorful plastic beads if you were selling handmade jewelry.

Such women will probably purchase fine jewelry that is promoted in a sophisticated manner.

Once you tailor-make your Etsy marketing strategy in accordance with what your target audience is looking for, you are sure to see your sales skyrocket. As such, it is of vital importance for you to research your target audience and focus your sales strategy on what they would want.

21. Collaborate With Influencers

I know this may not be something you want to hear. But it is an effective and modern way to increase sales on your Etsy shop.

While the whole "influencer" market may have a bad reputation in some industries, there are also genuine influencers with a substantial number of followers that can make a difference to the volume of your Etsy sales.

This strategy will usually involve you sending over a few selected products to your influencer of choice so that they can do a genuine review of your products on their social media pages.

This will give your business exposure to a brand new audience and may very well boost your Etsy sales.

To be on the safe side, do ensure that you research any potential collaborations carefully to ensure that they would cheat you just to get some free products from you.

Undoubtedly, it is an exercise in trust and as such, you must assess whether it is a risk you are willing to take.

22. Write Guest Posts For Other Blogs

Now that you have had experience in writing on your own blog, reach out to other related blogs and offer to write a guest post.

This article can be about your product in particular or how you go about making your product or sourcing materials for the same.

Alternatively, if you have mastered some Etsy sales tips, you can write about those and how well they have worked for you. You can then reach out to a well-known Etsy marketing blog and offer to write a post for them.

This is another way to get onto the radar of a brand new audience i.e. the regular readers of that blog. If they enjoy your article enough, they will probably be curious about you and visit your Etsy store and make purchases from it!

23. Get On TikTok

Now, now, before you close this page, hear me out!

I know TikTok may not be everyone's cup of tea. But it is currently one of the fastest ways to promote your Etsy shop to a generation of buyers who are keen to support small businesses.

No, you don't have to do those TikTok dances, I promise.

The TikTok audience loves watching handmade products being made. They also love watching packaging videos and listening to stories about your products.

You don't even have to show your face if you don't want to. Nor do you need any fancy equipment. You can shoot your videos with your phone using one of these phone tripods.

Don't come at me if you find yourself addicted to the app though!

24. Collaborate With Other Etsy Sellers

Now, this is a win-win situation. This kind of collaboration will probably entail you tying up with another Etsy seller who sells products that are related to yours.

For example, if you sell handmade soap, then you can tie up with an Etsy seller who sells handmade soap dishes.

Both of you can list special packages on your respective Etsy stores, featuring each other's product and store details. This will automatically expose your Etsy store to the regular buyers on the other Etsy seller's store and they can find their way to yours to find out more about your products!

25. Make Your Etsy Shop Brand Recognizable

It cannot be denied that branding is one of the most crucial aspects of any business. No matter how big or small.

Your brand is the identity of your business. As such, make it as prominent as possible.

Make your logo unique and easily recognizable. Place it wherever you can. Use it as your Etsy shop profile picture and on your Etsy shop banner. You can also place it on all your social media posts.

The more people recognize your brand and what it stands for, the higher the chances of them visiting your Etsy store and those visits being converted to sales.

Good branding builds trust. And when the trust is there, you can be guaranteed that loyal customers will be too.

26. Join The Etsy Community

The whole point of Etsy is to build up a community of small businesses. So take advantage of that and pick up some tips and tricks from experienced Etsy sellers on the Etsy forums.

Here you will see a range of questions that are answered by those who may have experienced similar issues as you when trying to increase their sales on Etsy.

On the Etsy Community, you will also find helpful resources such as articles and guidelines as to how best to increase sales and traffic to your Etsy store.

27. Use Your Etsy Stats

As an Etsy seller, you will find detailed stats on your shop and how it is performing, and where your sales and traffic are coming from.

More importantly, you will be able to see what search terms people are using to find your Etsy shop. Your stats will also show you whether your listings were found on Etsy itself or organically on Google.

With these details, you will be able to identify what keywords are working for you and which ones are not.

This way, you can adjust the keywords that you are using your Etsy titles and tags accordingly for your other listings.

28. Host A Giveaway

If you are using Instagram as one of your social media platforms to market your Etsy shop, you can host a giveaway that consists of one or some of your products.

This can be done by asking a simple question for your followers to answer and using a random name picker tool to pick 5 winners.

The point of this is to attract more followers who will in turn visit your Etsy shop and browse your other products. The more people are aware of your Etsy store and of the products that you sell, the higher your chances of increasing sales on your Etsy store.

29. Add Cross Links To Your Listings

Don't worry. This is not as complex as it sounds.

What it essentially means is that you can add links to your other listings within the description of one of your listings.

This way, when a customer clicks on the description of the listing that shows up on the search results page, they will also automatically see other listings and products that your Etsy store sells.

You can see how this is done by F e athers and Fancy, an Etsy shop that sells headbands.

30. Host An Online Etsy Store Party

These days, there are so many platforms with which you can host online parties! Whether it is Zoom or Instagram Live, these are all great ways to keep in touch with your customers.

You can use your email subscriber list to tell your customers about your Etsy store party and invite them to join you.

With this strategy, you can organize a pre-launch event where you preview all the items that you plan to sell in your next batch of listings. You can also show your customers then and there how the products are made or the various ways in which they can be used.

When customers know more about the products that you are selling, and perhaps even the stories behind them, then the more likely they are to buy from your store.

How To Get Noticed On Etsy To Increase Your Sales?

Among all the strategies that have been discussed above, if you were to only use one of them to get noticed on Etsy to increase your sales, it would be to implement the SEO strategies.

The importance of Etsy SEO cannot and should not be underestimated. It is one of the key driving forces to getting and boosting sales on Etsy.

If you are keen to dive into the depths of Etsy SEO, you can check out this detailed set of Etsy SEO tips to get you started.

How Does Selling On Etsy Work?

Generally speaking, selling on Etsy is relatively straightforward.

All you need to do is sign up for an Etsy account and select the option to become a seller. Once you have done this, you will need to fill in all the details of your Etsy shop.

This will include things like:

Your shop preferences
The name of your shop
The products that you are selling
Payment and billing options.

Once those details are completed, you are ready to launch your Etsy shop.

There are a couple of things to keep in mind when selling on Etsy though.

Firstly, there is a charge of USD 0.20 for every listing that you post. Each listing is valid for 4 months, after which it will be renewed at the same price.

Additionally, there is a 5% transaction fee for all successful purchases on your Etsy store.

This is on the total purchase price of the product including any shipping charges or additional charges that you may charge your customers for add-ons, personalization, or customization options.

You can check out Etsy's detailed Fees and Payments Policy for more information.

It is evident that there are some technicalities that go into running an Etsy store. While there are plenty of ways on how to increase sales on Etsy, the tips discussed here are the most crucial ones.

Once you do implement them, however, you are likely to see a boost in your Etsy sales. The important thing here is to be consistent with your sales techniques. Etsy is not a do-it-and leave-it platform. Your Etsy store needs plenty of tender loving care!

Implement these strategies on how to increase sales on Etsy and watch your Etsy sales skyrocket!

Good luck!

How To Increase Sales On Etsy: 30 Tips To Implement In 2021