5 minute Etsy shop improvement - Improving your shop sections

Hello everyone,

I hope you are enjoying my 5 minute Etsy shop improvements series. So far I have covered everything from getting the craft fairs you are attending listed on Etsy to shortening your URL.

If you have missed my posts you can find them here:

Adding a location to your shop
Telling your Etsy customers about a market you are attending
Rearranging your shop
Making your shop URL neater (and shorter!)

Today I wanted to talk about Etsy shop sections. This is an easy way in which you can improve how likely you are to get found in search as well as helping your customers once they are in your shop.

What are shop sections?

They are sections in your shop. Your shop will still look exactly the same but you will now have a tool bar on the left which buyers will be able to click to see items that you have put into a section. For example I have a section for all my handmade tags and labels which is useful if a customer just wants to view these rather than all the other items I have in my shop. It is also useful to direct customers on social media to your shop section.

You can currently (at time of writing) have 10 shop sections on Etsy.


Why?

They help you get found in search as they contain keywords

They organise your shop

Buyers who are looking for something specific in your shop. For example if you sell a whole range of cards but your buyer is looking for birthday cards it would be useful to have a birthday card section.

How do I add shop sections?

1.  Login to your Etsy shop
2. On the top right hand side click 'Your shop' then 'Quick Links' and then 'Listing Manager'
3. On the left hand side there is a tool bar which says 'Shop Sections' click 'Manage'
4. You will now be able to add new shop sections, rename old shop sections and rearrange the sections
5. Once you have your shop section set up you can then begin adding items to that section. This can be done at the time of you listing a new item or you can search and select items from the listing manager page and then click 'More Actions' and then 'Change Section'

Please note shop sections have limited characters so use wisely!

What should I call my sections?

Use descriptive keywords for your shop sections as it helps you to get found in search.

Think what a customer might type into a search bar to find your product.

Don't use decorative characters unless you have extra space as it is better to put an extra keyword in. For example putting >>> Children 5-6 <<< with the decorative characters does not help you get found in search. It would be better to have Children Aged 5-6.

Although it looks rather pretty, do not space your wording as search engines will not be able to read it like a human does. For example writing b i r t h d a y  c a r d s will mean you won't show up when someone searches 'birthday cards' so stick to 'normal' text

Keep your shop section titles simple and what people would search. Avoid using 'pretty' titles, spelling incorrectly on purpose or colloquial terms unless they are widely used. For example, having sections called 'lovely rings' is less likely to get you found than 'gemstone rings' which is more descriptive. It would be much better to have 'Birthday Cards' rather than 'Birthday Cardz' and better to have 'Hair Accessories' rather than 'Hair bits 'n' bobs'

Extra Tips

If you are holding a sale consider creating a sale section. This means you can easily direct your customers to that section on your shop


Hope this helps, please let me know if there is anyone you would like covering in my 5 minute series by leaving a comment in the comments section below

The Dorothy Days Xx