5 simple ways to increase traffic to your Etsy store

There are about 90 million reasons to set up shop on Etsy: the 90 million Etsy customers who typically make at least one purchase each year. If only a fraction of them purchase the products you sell, you’ll be on your way to success. 

But with more than 5 million active sellers, competition on Etsy is fierce. No matter how unique and well-crafted your products, they won’t be bought if they can’t be found.

Here are five tactics that can help you drive more traffic to your Etsy store.

The Etsy search engine is designed to help buyers find what they’re looking for, which is good for buyers. It’s less optimal for sellers.

You may be the only one selling the lamps you create, but you’re not the only one selling lamps. There are more than 5,000 lamps listed on Etsy today. How do you ensure prospective buyers find your lamps and not someone else’s when they type “lamps” into the search bar on Etsy? How do you move from Page 58 of the search results to Page 1?

The higher your products show up in searches, the more people get to your store and actually make a purchase.

Learning how Etsy search works can help you rise in the rankings. The better you understand what Etsy looks for in a tag, title, listing description, category, or attribute, and how it responds to what it finds, the better your chances of rising above your competitors. Just be sure your tags, titles, listing descriptions, categories, and attributes are accurate. Etsy sellers can be penalized for uploading content that’s “false, deceptive, or misleading.”

The Etsy Help Center and Etsy Seller Handbook offer helpful SEO tips to help sellers get started. But bear in mind that best practices for search engine optimization (SEO) evolve constantly. If you’re not seeing the results you want, you may want to consider working with an SEO consultant.

With more than 5 million active sellers, it can be hard to stand out on Etsy. Having a detailed, thorough, and visually appealing shop will help draw more traffic to your site and also keep visitors coming back.

Photos are the lifeline of online shops like Etsy. Buyers love photos that show off a product’s best feature. If it’s something that can be worn, make sure you have a photograph of a model wearing it. Develop a style that showcases your products and stick with it until you decide to make a deliberate change. The more consistent the look, the easier it will be for returning customers to spot you. 

Don’t overlook seemingly small details like your shop’s "About" page and your store's policies. Your policies should be clearly explained and reasonable, especially your returns and exchange rules. Edit for typos and grammar, and remember, the “fine print” doesn’t have to be bland.

Develop a social media strategy and stick to it. Sharing your story on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Meta (formerly Facebook), TikTik, or the next big social media site can be an effective marketing tool, but only if used deliberately and effectively.  

Once you’ve determined which platforms are right for you and your craft, create a profile and tell your story. Use beautiful photos of your products and your creative process. Online buyers love seeing how products are made and what they’re made of. Feature raw materials and other components of your works in progress.

It’s good to establish a standard — and balanced — routine that you’ll be comfortable maintaining. One strategy is the 5:3:2 rule, which holds that for every ten posts, five should be curated content from other sources, three should be original posts, and two should be personal to add “a human touch” to your brand. Remember that while most consumers are willing to engage, most don’t want to be inundated.  

Using hashtags can help your audience find you easily. A good one to use for Instagram is #etsyseller, and #handmade is good for process photos. Research your competitors and the most popular profiles in your niche for the most effective hashtags.

Don’t be afraid to get self-promotional. A blog allows you to share your story and your creative process, and to link to your product listings. Having relevant links pointing to your Etsy store improves your chances of getting found on Etsy. 

It’s important to set up a maintainable cadence and communicate in a way that works for you. If you don’t like to write, maybe keep words to a minimum and focus on sharing photography or art. No matter what, always get another set of eyes on a post before you hit “publish” to help ensure your i’s are dotted and your words spelled write right.

Aside from marketing to your direct audience, there’s a lot to gain from networking with other creators and brands in your niche.

Look up sites that welcome guest posts. There’s also no harm in asking websites if they’d be open for a guest author to write an article for their site. Just be sure you have something of value to share with your prospective audiences. 

For example, if you’re selling hats, maybe you can pitch a step-by-step guide on hat-making. Make it pretty and full of photos. You can include a link to your store, and share that you have handmade products in case the readers are all thumbs.

Never buy a link or engage in spammy and black hat techniques. It will likely be a waste of money, and you could be penalized for it.

Selling on Etsy is a marathon, not a sprint. Be diligent in marketing and improving your store over time. Dedicated Etsy sellers who are open to learning and applying those lessons usually end up getting more traffic to their store.

Learn how Avalara integrates with Etsy to help streamline sales tax compliance for Etsy sellers.

This post has been updated; it originally published July 2016.