Not following Etsy's official best practices

If you don’t optimize your listings for Etsy’s algorithm, Etsy shoppers won’t be shown your products.

Unlike many marketplaces, Etsy actually tells sellers how its search works. Study The Ultimate Guide to Etsy Search. It’s a three-minute read!

Keywords aren't relevant

If Etsy shoppers aren’t using the words in your titles and tags to search, they can’t find your products.

Use eRank's Keyword Tool and Monthly Trends to find relevant keywords that Etsy shoppers are using to search.

Listings don't have all 13 tags

Etsy shoppers use a variety of terms to search for what they want to buy. If you don’t use every tag you can, you’ll miss getting every purchase you can.

Make sure your listings are using all 13 tags. Use eRank's Health Check report to spot those listings quickly.

Not including enough product photos

Product photos factor heavily into what shoppers decide to buy online. If you don't provide enough pictures, some people just move on. And when enough visitors view a listing without buying, its conversion rate goes down. This impacts your rank.

Include as many images in your listings as possible. Use eRank's Health Check report to spot those listings quickly.

Product photos are inferior

Why is it a problem? Shoppers won’t click. That will hurt your listing's conversion rate and its ranking.

Either pay a pro to take your pics or study product photography and image editing yourself. You can do it! Further reading: Five Tips for Better Etsy Photos. And Etsy’s own excellent guide on the topic, The Ultimate Guide to Product Photography.

Poorly-worded descriptions

Your listing description can be what converts shoppers to buyers. Or it can drive them off! Strike a balance: include the key details. But be concise. Long, rambling descriptions will hurt your conversion rate and your ranking.

If English is not your first language or writing is not your strength, AI can help! Our OpenAI-powered feature, AI Listing Helper, can assist you with getting your listings started. We have a blog post about using AI to help you write your listing copy. Also, Etsy has a useful article on keywords and SEO here (If you don't want to read the whole thing, just scroll down to the “Listing descriptions” section).

Spelling mistakes and typos

Yes, they look unprofessional. But did you know typos and spelling mistakes undermine online shoppers' trust? If a shopper doesn't think that you care enough to spell correctly, they won't buy your product. No one wants a "Best Dad of the Yeer" shirt.

The “Your Listings” section on your eRank dashboard will highlight any spelling issues detected. You can also use eRank's Spell Checker to quickly find those pesky typos!

Removing good keywords

Removing keywords that bring you traffic can result in your listing not being matched with potential buyers.

Before tweaking listings, review the Search Analytics section (found in the "Marketing" section withi your Etsy Shop Manager). This report is your best friend! Avoid removing words that are generating impressions and have a good conversion rate.

Tweaking bestsellers

It's tempting to tweak listings that are doing well in hopes they will perform even better. However, beware! Changes you make that impact SEO may impact how well it sells.

Confident you can do this? Just make sure you don't remove good keywords. The safest way? Use Listing Changes to activate tracking beforehand. Then, if changes hurt sales, you know which to undo.

Getting too many negative reviews

Bad reviews tell Etsy you did not make those buyers happy. Get too many in a short time? Your listing ranks will tank. Etsy assigns you a (hidden) “customer and market experience score.” It's a major factor in search rank.

Communicate with buyers to resolve their issues. If there are complaints about the same problem product, fix the product as soon as you can. Within reason, do what you can to avoid getting too many negative reviews.

Long processing times

Annually, eRank polls Etsy buyers. This year, 30.4% of those interviewed said that getting their item quickly would influence their decision to purchase from a shop again.

While some are willing to wait for handmade and custom products, don’t be too slow. Where practical, keep order-processing times short. But don't make them so short that you can't keep up!

Excessive shipping cost

Etsy tells us that customers prefer free shipping. And we know that savvy shoppers find padded shipping costs a big turnoff.

If your profit margins allow, consider building into your price all costs related to shipping. If you can’t, then charge a fair price for what shipping costs you.

Shipping late

Etsy may suppress your listings in search if it sees you are repeatedly not meeting your ship-by dates.

Don’t print your shipping label days ahead of when you hand your package off to a carrier. If your ship-by date is close, bring your package to a human and see that they scan it in.

Shop policies are incomplete or inflexible

Incomplete shop policies or having too many restrictions on returns and refunds can hurt your search ranking and conversion rate.

Complete your shop policies. Research what competitors in your niche offer in terms of returns and refunds. Can you match them?

Intellectual property (IP) violations

In its Seller Handbook, Etsy warns that IP infringement notices that result in listing removal may negatively impact your search ranking.

Don’t go by what you see other shops selling on Etsy. Look up copyrights and trademarks.