How to Grow Your Etsy Shop in 2022

This is it…this is your year. This is the year you are going to learn how to grow your Etsy shop and take it to the next level…

“Shops sign” by HowardLake is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

How many times have you said those very words to yourself, only to find your business in the same place it was a year ago?

Why do you suppose that is? Do you think it’s because this internet business thing is too hard? Maybe it works for someone else, but it’ll never work for you?

Guess what?

None of those things are true…

Not even remotely true.

Building a business is hard, yes. There’s no way around that. But, building an Etsy shop is no harder than building a new business in your hometown.

In fact, it’s a whole lot easier…

IF you stop following the standard business advice out there.

Many business gurus out there will tell you there are only 3 real steps to building a business of any kind…

One: Have a product to sell.

Two: Find customers.

Three: Convince customers to buy.

Sounds crazy easy, right?

That’s why so many new Etsy businesses fail…

Including several of mine.

It is not that easy!

Yes, you need to have a product to sell and of course, you have to find customers and convince them to buy your product.

But, there is so much more involved in having an Etsy shop business!

So, let’s break down those steps to make them more actionable…

“an old grocery store” by liberalmind1012 is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Tips to Grow Your Etsy Shop in 2022

What is Your Product?

If you’re here, I’m guessing you already have a product that you are selling or want to sell.

Am I right?

So, what is it?

For example sake, we’re going to say your product is stationery because…well, I know a lot about stationery, having sold it for 16 years!

So, let’s say you design this gorgeous set of watercolor painted Christmas themed notepads. You know they’re beautiful and there are tons of people out there that would love to have them, but…

They’re NOT selling!

Is it because people don’t really like them as much as you think they do?

No, of course not! You know a good product when you see one. So, what is the problem?

The problem is…your titles, tags and descriptions are not telling the customer how they can use the notepad set. Instead, you’re likely just telling them what it is.

I’m guilty of this myself and I did it for years. But, you know what?

As soon as I started telling my customers how to use my stationery items, my sales skyrocketed!

Before doing this, the average customer would have a look, maybe mutter something to themselves, like “how cute” and then, LEAVE THE PAGE without buying anything.

An online sellers worst nightmare!

So, how do you show your customers “how to” use the items?

Let’s start with the title…

Writing Your Listing Title

Most new Etsy sellers will post a title that says something along the lines of…

Watercolor Painted Christmas Themed Notepads – Christmas Notepad Set

While that’s a solid, descriptive title, it doesn’t tell the customer what they can DO with the notepads. Sure, they’re pretty, but, we all have a million notepads at home…what makes yours so special?

Instead, try something like this…

Christmas Notepad Gift Set – Watercolor Painted Notepads – Christmas Gifts for Writers – Xmas Letter Stationery

Do you see what I did there?

Let’s break it down…

Christmas Notepad Gift Set – Here you are telling the buyer that your notepads are already in a gift set, making it easier for them to imagine giving it to someone they know.

Watercolor Painted Notepads – Descriptive, you are telling your buyer WHAT the notepads might look like.

Christmas Gifts for Writers – A suggestion of WHO to gift these beautiful notepads to for the holiday.

Xmas Letter Stationery – A suggestion of HOW to use the notepads, along with a variation on the word Christmas.

I know you just had a smack your head AHA moment because I did, too, when I first realized what I was doing wrong.

Let’s move onto the description…

Writing Your Description

Writing your descriptions can be tricky because while the Etsy search doesn’t really use it to determine search results…it is the very most important thing in a Google search, next to the title of course! And we all want to be found on the first page of Google, because that’s what you need to really grow your Etsy shop.

So, be selective in writing your description.

Simple and straight to the point without a lot of excess fluff.

Start with a sentence or two describing your item using the same terms used in your title. Then, add another sentence or two that tells your buyer how to use the item.

Be sure to include any basic shop policies below your describing information.

For example…

• Shipping information
• Personalization options
• Refund, exchange and/or return policies

And that’s really all there is to writing your listing descriptions.

Now, for the single most important part of your Etsy listing…

Choosing Your Tags

Oh, tags…we have a love/hate relationship. But, in the end, crafting the perfect keyword tags for your Etsy listing is truly the most important thing you can do to boost your sales and grow your Etsy shop.

So, how do you do it?

By carefully crafting your title and then breaking it down into simple two or three word phrases that are less than 20 characters each.

Back to our title we go…

Christmas Notepad Gift Set – Watercolor Painted Notepads – Christmas Gifts for Writers – Xmas Letter Stationery

We all have 13 tags available for each listing, so let’s break this down into 13, 20 character tags to use for this listing…

1. Christmas Notepad
2. Notepad Gift Set
3. Christmas Gift Set
4. Watercolor Notepads
5. Painted Notepads
6. Christmas Gifts
7. Gifts for Writers
8. Xmas Letter
9. Letter Stationery
10. Christmas Letter
11. Xmas Stationery
12. Xmas Notepads
13. Xmas Gift Set

Do you see how I broke those down into 2 or 3 word phrases using the exact words in the title?

This helps to describe your item to the search engines, including Etsy and each time a buyer types one of those phrases into a search bar, your item has the opportunity to appear in their search results.

Now that your listing is perfected and busily running through the great world wide web system, it’s time to start pushing in your own customers.

Because while Rome might have been built in a day, not everybody came to the grand opening…

Find Your Customers

Every single time you have the opportunity to mention your business, do it! At first, you might feel like you are being annoying or pushy, but, how else is word going to get out about your business?

Utilize your social media accounts to spread the word to your family and friends. Set up new social media accounts specifically for your business and post regularly.

Start blogging! You don’t need to be an exceptional writer to set up a blog to talk about your business. Just set it up and start sharing photos of your process, new products and inspiration posts.

Consider paid advertising for faster results. There are tons of paid ads out there from Google to Pinterest to Facebook, but honestly, I’ve always found Etsy Ads to provide the most bang for my buck.

And then, just sit back and sell…

Or so is the dream…actually, get to work, my friend, because you have a lot to do!

Let’s recap:

• Write Your Title – Be descriptive and tell the buyer WHAT the product is, HOW to use it and WHO to give it to for a gift.
• Describe Your Item – Write a crafty 3 to 5 sentence paragraph explaining exactly the same thing you explained in your title.
• Choose Your Tags – Break down your title into 2 or 3 word key phrases to describe your item.

And here we are again…back around to three simple steps to grow your Etsy shop! I hope these tips help give your sales a boost this year!

Have an Awesome Day!

~Vanessa