Very informative for sellers like myself. I truly was scratching my head wondering how the new relavancy will affect us, and the examples you made certainly gave me a better idea. Thanks and keep em' coming!

Weeee ! I love relevancy tips ! and yes, we can.....put our arty fancy titles at the end of the new Mullet type of "Business in the Front, Party in the Back" etsy titles.

since Shop Stats only show the top 12 searches for the given time frame, it's probably better to look at Google Analytics Site Search to get the full range of successful keywords for your shop, both before & after the change. Most online shopping sites make most of their sales on the "longtail" traffic - less common keywords & longer search strings. So if you optimize for "baby blanket", you don't just want to see how many people search that alone; you want to see all the less common hits like "baby blanket pink & white" & "fluffy warm baby blanket" - then you will know that changes are working for you.

I am combing through shop stats, Google Analytics, SEO blogs & the like to get on top of this. Slow & steady wins the race is what I am shooting for!

Lots of great info! (& thanks so much for featuring our molecule model! :)

Thanks.

I have been trying my best to be a relevant shop with relevant items. I have read everything etsy has put out. I have reviewed the 80+ items in front of my first item to figure out the competitve edge. I have tweaked and I have tweaked some more. I'm tired and concerned. August was a good month for me last year. I have done the 4th of the business this year compared to last year. What happens when every shop & item is equally relevant? I have truly loved etsy and the whole community. I have spread the etsy love everywhere I go (work, shows, events...etc) - I'm trying to keep my chin up!

These tips are really helpful. I'm just starting my shop and there is so many new things to learn. At least I don't have too many listings to change:)

Great tips. Looking in your descriptions is a great one. I noticed I've been doing that more lately, for more varied keywords.

Wonderful tips!

i'm not sure i like the new ranking system of listed items. ebay did this a few years ago and it cluttered search results and gave some sellers an unfair advantage. maybe i just need to master my keywords.

ps. pamwares i completely agree with you. good luck with your september sales :)

paramountvintage - good luck to you as well!

Great info!

At times I find my head is about to explode trying to absorb all this information. Then I remember, I play a doctor on Etsy and I can patch myself up..... Boom!

Hmmm... definately will take this and have a good look at my shop.

Thanks for the tips. I keep coming back to read these posts over and over to absorb everything.

Makes sense. Thanks for the info.

man I would be LOST without these relevancy tips!!!! I'm absorbing them all in and slowly but surely getting all my listing switched over!!! Thank you so much!! I had always used the relevancy search before, but didn't realize that my own listings weren't working for it. Again thank you for helping us!

Thank you!!! I'm working on mine, any tips and tricks are great to hear!

Thank you for the tips!

I agree with "pamwares". She has said it in a nutshell. Trying to keep your chin up while exhausted from trying to scramble to change everything, at the same time it knocks your sales for a loop, is tough. I hear you. My questions are, what happens when shops finally figure out what keywords put you at the front of the "relevancy"? Won't they then all have the same keywords and labels, just trying to be seen? I've watched it happen already. Trying to figure out why something else, that doesn't really seem relevant, is listed before your item and seen first. I'm VERY supportive of Etsy, as they have given me great support. But this one has thrown many of us for a loop and really confused things. I think there are more kinks to work out in the relevancy search.

I am completly lost. Trying to make heads or tails of this relevancy tips. re-reading and getting some understanding. most is over my head. HELP!

My homework is to think like a buyer.

I have had a huge boost in sales this past week, however I haven't really changed many of my tags and titles... Don't know if it is a coincidence... But when I go to search results I see one of my items on the front page and then there are one or two shops that dominate the rest of the page... Is there a way to spread this more evenly? I think everyone has figured out the key words to use, but there is not enough room to display all of them first. It only seems fair that etsy could figure out a way to spread this evenly between sellers...

Thank you! Now I know why no-one ever finds me..!!

Thanks guys! It's actually starting to get a lot better!! Peace!

Thanks for the info! I appreciate not trying to wait till right before peak hours to post an item, so that's a blessing. But this didn't work so well for Ebay a while back and I worry sellers might take advantage of all the categories to broaden out, look what happens when you type in steampunk..

Thanks for the info!

why fix something that is not broken? i agree with all the sellers who are not happy with the change. people WILL abuse this system just like they do in google. this new system also encourages conformity rather than individuality! what if what someone creates does not fit into preconceived ideas, products or even words? what happens to a brand new idea, concept where words not necessarily suffice? how will they be found? my business is also down to nothing! to me, etsy is losing its luster! i'm thinking of parting ways!!

Thanks for helping us "tweak" our relevancy. I know I wouldn't have known where to begin making changes in my shop without all the helpful tips ...

Thanks for the tips but I also agree with pamware. I am finding that the relevant search is a bit stagnant. In trying to make my luggage tags matter to the search, I have seen almost all the same items for the last week. It barely ever changes, which I find could be a big problem later on when buyers get tired of seeing the same items and don't really want to take the time to look through endless pages. Also I can't figure out why my pet tags (which do have 'luggage tag' as a tag) are more relevant then my actual luggage tags :(

This is greatest compiled list we can learn from, clear and concise. Thanks so much for all the great tips. Things were slow for me for about four days, no activity. I changed a few titles and keywords. Now things/visits/activity are appearing again and even a few sales in there. Karen

Looks like I need to do some tweaking. Great info! I am for anything that will help increase traffic and sales.

love all the relevancy tips! there's always room for improvement during the listing process. and its great to explain to people who complain about there being 'just too much to sort though' on etsy--that now actually you can hone in on your dream item much faster. it helps everyone!

Thanks very helpful :)

Thank you for the great information. I'm always trying to improve my little shop - this will help! :)

Yeah for increase in traffic

Very overwhelming! Takes a lot to change everything around & then not sure if it even helped!

I've spent so much time trying to tweak my titles and tags I don't have time to make anything!! (said half in jest). If all my items are beachy, all have beach in the title and tags, shouldn't at least one show up on the first page with the search word "beach"? I also renew and relist constantly. I just typed in "beach" and a Mickey Mouse initial shows up second because they used beach as one of the last words in the title. Color me frustrated!

lots of great ideas - i just watched the video!

This has been really helpful, thanks for everything that make Etsy amazing! I have actually seen an increase in views since the change has been made :-)

Thanks for the info. I've been playing with searching with my items in mind. Some times it works and sometimes not. If I type in linen towels, I don't want to see cotton towels, but I guess because the word towel matches that it is a hit. I wouldn't want to be the programmer who has to figure all this out and try to keep everyone happy. Overall I think it is a good change.

read, now need to apply some critique on my shop

Dazed & confused !!

Switching titles around has already helped me a little with views. But, I also agree. I've searched with exact 3 words that I have as the first 3 words in my title and whole pages of listings were returned first without those 3 words first, or even in the title at all! So, it seems that tags play a heavier role in relevancy than titles?? Also, when I listed an item, it didn't show up in the first 4 recent listings at the top. I had to scroll that list to find it. The ones that did show up were listed hours or days before. So recency was not correct either. *shrugs*

Thanks for the helpful tips...

I read everything and keep trying...but views have fallen off! Most of my buyers are first time ETSY users.....I await the feature that will make a drill down easy for the first time uses!

Thanks for this! I SO want to be relevant. :)

So that is why my sales are down nearly 100%!!!

Wow, yes, this can all be overwhelming, sort of like running a business....! I understand the relevancy and even though I have been with Etsy since 2006, I did not really begin to sell until I started paying more attention to all these little helpful hints. I always find that making at least some of the suggested changes, and experimenting on a regular basis helps me grow a little in my shop and makes me feel more productive, even when my sales don't show it. I am now in the process of making changes to my shop and focusing on the way I present my work with better titles and tags. I don't always give shop stats the credit they deserve, so I intend to start paying more attention to that as well. Thanks again, linda lou

Thanks so much, this is really helpful! I've found that asking my friends for suggestions helps, too!

Thanks for all tips. Love that Etsy is always updating us with changes and how to maximize new oppotunities! Many thanks.

Great ideas! Small tweaks here and there...

I still don't get it,this is not a wedding shoe and appears first on the search for weddings: shoes on relevancy and this is not relevant! http://www.etsy.com/listing/78610719/set-of-2-white-organza-bridal-flowers?ref=sr_list_1&ga_search_query=shoes&ga_search_submit=&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_category=weddings&ga_facet=

I agree, this week has been AWFUL with sales......

thanks for the great tips! I love the direction you are taking etsy in. :) keep up the great work!

I agree with pamware, I am seeing a complete hault in traffic to my shop. I don't understand what makes someone's silver earrings more relevant than mine, does it come down to who listed it first in the search itself ?

Thank you! This helps me quite a bit. I will have to find time to make some changes. But I have new items to list so I will apply what I believe is correct and see if it works.

Thanks for this article. It was very helpful!

Thanks for the tips.

my item views have almost stopped since this change...

Extremely unhappy with this change....

thanks for all the help. It has really boosted my sales.

I updated my titles and keywords to what I thought was relevant and it made my stats go up but my sales totally suck. So I started asking friends and family what type of words that they might search for to find my jewelry.... Needless to say, I'll be tweaking terms again!

Thank you kzannoart ! Great question! I hope it can be answered by someone as I am curious also. SeashellCollection also makes good points. Etsy support, we don't want to sound like whiners, but if changes are made, they need to work. Those of us who are used to being busy designing, creating and making items to fill orders, want to continue doing so. Not spend hours working at the computer trying to figure out what is relevant and not, because things are not consistent in how they show up in the searches. Please help!

Thank you for idea!

Thank you so much! Lots to do now!

At least with relisting daily, one of my mobiles had a chance to be seen by those interested in kinetic sculpture. Now.... Oh, I'm just not happy at all with this change at all.

Etsy has been wonderful for a long time, but this default to relevancy is not working. I hope they return to most recently listed, as we all pay listing fees for our items, only for them to not be "relevant enough." It's frustrating :( I've been tweaking things as much as possible, but only one or two of my recent listings are making the relevancy cut. Good luck to all of you hard working sellers out there who are passionate about our shops!!!

Thank you so much for the information! I will be checking out all my stats and see what is working! :)

I've been doing all of this and I'm still strugling to get my party items found. I have some cute stuff, but if no one ever sees is....nothing sells!!!!

OMGOMGOMGOMG!!!!! I've been away at a 10-day show and I didn't know you'd done this!!! I am so HAPPY!!!! I don't have to renew every ten seconds I'm so happy I could CRY!!!! THANK YOU, Etsy!!! The ratrace to stay at the top of the list was getting SO tiresome. i LOVE it!!!! THANK YOU!!!! now I'm gonna go finish my happy dance :D

My shop has TANKED since this whole change...even after I changed keywords, tags, titles... Then the "tag stuffing" thing...so I fixed my tags so they weren't "stuffed"...why not just give us more darn tags?? I hate to use the "A" word, but Artfire is looking a bit better to me now. They give you more tags...I have to look into this more. I'm frustrated. Things were going so well before this.

hate it!!

Thank you for this info. I have done better since all of this has taken place. I was about to give up after a year tomorrow of trying. Thanks again!

totally agree with Pamwares and treasureagain and others who have said similar things. Please etsy- don't fix what isn't broken!

I don't believe this change is working. So many sellers are frustrated, and I agree with all of their posts; the exact same things have happened to me. Etsy, please don't do this to us! We don't want this to be EBay, we're crafters and artists who want something beautiful. At this rate, it's like we may as well set up our own websites and try to get people to visit them. At least then we wouldn't have the listing fees. I think Etsy needs to look at the long run.

I agree with all those that say this all makes my head spin. I will say that the same thing occurs when you take your crafts to a craft fair. It is what people do or don't want that day. It is difficult to always run your mind on trying to read others' minds. My philosophy is work hard at what you do, pray about it and leave the mind reading alone...it will only make you crazy.

I sell paintings for baby rooms and I MOSTLY sell something I made up and copyrighted! I tag key words that are similar but my discription wioll NEVER be sought out unless a return buyer specifically looks for me. My most popular items are "My First Year Canvas" and some painted wooden panels. I have done well selling these and almost ALL of my customers have said they are so glad to find something unique and they are glad they "stumbled" upon my items. My work is what it is and the title needs to say that. I feel like this new way of listing this limits the creativity. Of course someone selling a blanket can always type in "blanket" instead of all the other fancy ways of saying it. But, I can't. I feel like this is going to hinder the creativity. I have NEVER gone this long without selling anything...it's been 8 days and I JUST told my husbamnd, I wonder if someone secretly blocked me or something (of course I was kidding). When I read this, I was like, DUH! Glad to know it might not be me but bummed to know I might not do as well as I havae been doing. This was my job and I might have to go somewhere else to try selling.

Sounds like I have some typing ahead of me!

Since the new changes were implemented, I have had a huge boost in sale!! Thanks easy for getting this right!!! So exciting!!!

Confused! My views have never been so low and I have tried hard to change tags, titles etc. What do you suggest we try next? :(

Now things are going to sell like hotcakes!

I regret that in order to be relevant, we are losing individuality. Our titles begin to look rather boring with many of the words all the same . . . It seems a choice between income and artistry. I would love to see the change back again, please.

Thank you for all this good info. I am loving the new search so far. My sales are up!

Don't forget that there has been a huge whack to the global economy over the last weeks. That may explain some of the drop in sales. It may not all be due to Etsy's changes! My views and hearts have increased, and I actually sold 2 drawings this week. That's a record for me, so I guess I am happy with the changes! The shop stats are a great help. I LOVE them. So much simpler than Google Analytics. And I find that using the key word helps me understand how people get to my shop. This helps me keep on track, and I suppose up in the relevancy viewing.

Having great titles has always been a help, and with relevancy now being the default, its working very well. Thanks for making it much easier for buyers to find us!

The new search and having to re-write all my titles is driving me crazy.

This all sounds like silo-type of categorization is the goal - and art isn't that easy! I am willing to try this, but it's not going to be as cut and dry as some people seem to think. I have tried this on some items, haven't noticed any big change in looks. How do the buyers like this new approach? Can we see some interviews with them?

I am a newbe to Etsy and used to sell on ebay. Please don't let Etsy become another ebay! The creativity of the sellers on Etsy is what attracted me here, not the fact that everything is the same. How many ways can you say Necklace or Knit Scarf. Tags are great but they can only take you so far.

This is all great in theory, but what I am not understanding is why when I type in a search based on my title, tags and description my item falls several places behind someone who doesn't use ANY of the exact search phrase in either their title, tags or description???

EXTREMELY unhappy with this change. My sales have been 1/8 of what the last 3 months have been for me. I really thought that I had finally figured things out and found my niche but since this change, my sales have dropped significantly and traffic to my shop is nowhere near what it was in May, June, and July. I expected August to be a little slower but this is ridiculous and can not just be blamed on the time of year. PLEASE change this feature back to how it was. Etsy users were still able to switch to relevancy search if they wanted to.

I have to say I've read forums, switched up titles and even searched like a shopper, after all I am one! I've kept my chin up but I find it confusing, clogged and random. My items come up often but my sales are down considerably as are others in my area. Etsy is what puts food on my table, it is my job so this is like the boss coming in and telling me I just got laid off only I pay that boss hundreds of dollars a month to work in his office. Remember Etsy did used to be about relevancy then recency, there was nothing wrong with that.

Thank you ! this article is helpful .

Thank you for the explanations and tips. I will keep working on my titles, descriptions and tags and hope that my sales pick up again soon!

My sales and views have fallen off sharply too! Tweeked till the cows came home and still seeing very little change in the relevancy listings for quilt patterns. I've used the phrase quilt pattern extensively in my listings. Used the keywords in my titles and descriptions too. I'm still relisting items in hopes of them being found in the newly listed items. It's so odd that the relevancy listings don't change much. Why do some items show up more relevant than others using more relevant tags?And they stay in the top position for several days!

Wonderful! thank - you so much for these helpful tips, greatly appreciated

Thank You - everything is relevant, everything helps!

I had a thriving business on Etsy which was supporting my family until now. I've just spent the last week reading all of the blogs and e-mails and tips and furiously tweeking everything in order to make all of my items relevant (instead of doing what I need to be doing which is making and listing new things) but business has not improved at all. Even with the economy being slow my sales have always been fairly dependable over the years, but now even my daily views and hearts have crashed. My shop stats have just fallen off a cliff - the line on the graph goes straight down in all categories! Now that's scary! Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of waiting until things improve - I have bills to pay and I'm a single mother. And after reading this, I realize I'm not the only one. I'm going to be forced to consider other options unless Etsy makes it right. :(

Very helpful! I have been tweeking my tags & I'm already seeing a different thanks so much :)

It seems to me that shops with past success are struggling and shops with low sales are loving the change. Is this about fairness? Or about etsy increasing it's revenue from a larger pool of sellers? I have made all the tagging and title changes. Actually I worked very hard on my listings before this became a infuriating unsolvable puzzle to be solved. If you have items in a category with a large number of items there is no way to end up on that coveted first page. The items that continue to remain there become less and less relevant each time you have to see them when you are going to see something new. I hope that there will be more changes, and this time that they will take into account the sellers who have worked very hard and paid for hundreds of listings in the past.

I think it is WAY better, I was tired of seeing irrelevant stuff come up in search categories. And the whole having to list every day to stay at the top to be seen ....stunk!! Now I feel it is a fair playing field. My views are way up, more favorites than before. Thanks ETSY! For those who think they need more tagging space I disagree!

Perhaps one of the search gurus can answer this question. As an editor and "database guy," I'm constantly wondering if in the "extraction process" the algorithms will pull "handwoven," say, out of BOTH the following examples: Scarf: Baby alpaca and silk (handwoven) and ... Alpaca Scarf: Baby alpaca, bamboo, and silk--handwoven In brief, do we have to worry if we enclose words in parentheses or use an em dash (in this instance, two hyphens) right before the keyword we want the search engine to employ? (PS I LIKED the idea of using slightly different titles to capture various segments of the shopping audience with a several different keywords. One then has to assume that if you have their attention, so to speak, then a jump to your shop is just a click away--and, consequently, all the various items you have for sale. It's far better than what I was doing, which is using a boilerplate introductory phrase. Thanks!)

you are awesome. I just watched a video you guys emailed me about this yesterday too. Thanks for making it work for us. redid my whole shop last night in about 2 hours. Crossing my fingers it works. ;)

I have mixed feelings about the changes and my sales have been dramatically down also. I do think the Economy and Back to School shopping has played a factor on top of the search changes. I was searching some of my items and found stuff that I renewed days ago on the first page and the items that I had just renewed I couldn't find them. Still trying to figure it out.

I have to comment again and say that this change is getting more frustrating with every item I post. @ ETSY- If you are going to make this change permanent then you need to add more to the categories on the front page. A couple examples are "feather hair extensions" and "feather earrings". At this time, to get your feather hair extensions to show up under any of your categories you have to mark your feather extensions as hair "falls", and your feather earrings as "fiber". With the new relevancy search, it seems like these tags could possibly have a negative effect on how many people find my feather extensions and feather earrings when they type these words in the search engine. Both of these items have been an extreme trend in the fashion industry and should show in the category listings to help improve my relevant tagging. I hope Etsy at least considers adding "feather" as a category under "jewelry/earrings".

Thanks for the tips. I'm definitely going to try these.

Etsy please change it back! I am very happy to pay re-listing fees everyday to stay fresh in the search. I just deactivated a listing because for whatever reason that is what your search wanted to take from my store and put on the front page....not a choice I would have made for the 1st page! This is horrible! My views are off by a few hundred! RARRRRRRRRRRRRR

Unfortunately, this change is making Etsy look like ebay.... what first attracted me to Etsy was its appearance, and the fact that it offered a venue for cottage industry sellers to sell their wares. While I began that way, it proved more time efficient for me to sell supplies during a season where our family desperately required our income. Now this change has come about, my sales are down and Etsy doesn't look or function the same (which in some ways is good... there are lots of new features that are totally awesome). Kind of like installing the latest version of Firefox, only to find it slow and difficult to work with, these changes are affecting sellers across the board... I know the intent is to be found by more search engines, but with more sellers finding it difficult to stay "relevant", it may turn out to backfire... without making sales, sellers will be forced to look elsewhere in order to try and make a living, My fear is the cottage industry will loose its appeal at a time when the economy is at its worst, requiring so many wonderfully talented people to try and augment their incomes by creating something marketable. PLEASE do something about this... I hear customers who own Etsy shops complaining about it constantly, so it's not just me.....

I hope this all works out well!

Thanks for the tips!

Another important note: RECENCY does not seem to be playing a role in this new search. I have 3 items with the exact same wording except for 2 numbers, the length. One was posted 2 days ago, one was 4 days ago, and the other was 5. The item that was posted 4 days ago is on the first page when I search "feather hair extension" but the other two are nowhere to be found within the first 6 pages. How am I supposed to figure out what works and what doesn't when these 3 listings all have the same words and tags? Has Etsy also considered how much money they will be losing on renewed listings? If this change becomes permanent, I will never renew another listing until it expires. That should be at least $100 a month from my shop. They will also end up losing another $100-$200 per month from my drop in sales, and this is just my shop. From the comments above, it sounds like they will be loosing a lot of $ from other shops that are suffering as well.

I have seen positive changes with the new search method, I hope all will realize it's benefit soon. But, I have admit I was annoyed at first till I figured some of it out . :)

Thank you so much! Very informative!

I like the concept of the change to relevancy, but I've spent several hours tweaking and playing with my tags and titles and just can't figure out how the relevancy is being done. Like other people I have looked at listings above mine and cannot understand why they are more relevant, when my title and tags fit my search criteria exactly, and the more 'relevant' items do not. How exactly is the relevancy being done? Can we please have more precise details and some definite examples to show us. It is currently not clear at all. I am a newbie, have few sales and have noticed viewings dropping off completely. I am confused if I should still be re-listing or not, as the relevancy searches don't seem to be working correctly. I don't want to whinge as I love etsy, but until I can see that the relevancy is working as I expect it to, I am a bit down heartened.

My shop stats are awful despite having tried very hard to do it right. Is it the first three key words or 160 characters in the title and the description that are more relevant.?. One buyer said she found the new search drawn out and not as good as before.I have spent alot of time to no avail.

I try this it can't hurt me at this time.

pistachiolibby has a VERY GOOD point..... "It seems to me that shops with past success are struggling and shops with low sales are loving the change". Very TRUE! If you look at the shops that are liking the change, and then look at the shops that don't like the change, you will see what she said is true in a lot of cases! Hey, if you are a shop who has had previous success, you understand that we have done our time starting out, constantly relisting, redoing our tags, photos, listing information, new listings, etc...and most likely still do that today. That's all part of it, as far as starting out and selling on Etsy. But, have the rug pulled out from under you, when you have worked so hard, and you will be not happy either. If that is the point of all of this, to make things more "fair" then I would like to know that, so I quit trying to make my items "relevant" again. I'm tired of working and reworking tags, to try to figure out what Etsy has in mind here. I'd appreciate hearing from Etsy support on this matter. We've had changes in the past, I would take a deep breath and tell myself that things will improve, and go about working hard at the changes again. But, this one.....it's hard to see right now.

I have spent so much time reading, tweaking, and typing that I haven't sewn hardly at all this week! My views and activity are up, but I am new, so they were improving each day anyway. Sales are definitely off this week, though, so maybe it is bts, the economy, etc. I would rather pay each day to keep my listings fresh, than have to conform to some formula that isn't even given to us! I have to agree with everyone who mentioned the fact that how is one exact same item "more relevant" than another of the same exact item ... such as necklace-necklace? Or, in my case "Thanksgiving childrens clothing." All three words are in my title and tags and, I am sure, many others who sell childrens clothing, so how does Etsy decide which seller is listed first?

This latest change is killing my business!!! I've read all the blogs and tips as others have and they don't work. I even chatted live with an Etsy employee for help regarding becoming more relevant and trying to understand it. I was more frustrated when we were done than before our discussion. I was basically told this is the way it is going to be and good luck. My brother works for Google and even he says there is no rythme or reason to how the relevancy search pans out. What you are telling us and how you really have it set-up are obviously two different things. I was told one of the main reasons for the switch was so one shop didn't have 5 or 6 listings in a row when they renewed, that buyers want to see more of a variety... my background is in visual merchandising and actually it is more pleasing to the eye to focus on a string of similar than something completely different one after another, after another. I hope ETSY is really listening to their strong sellers and realizing the hit in views and sales we are feeling. I make the house payment every month with what I earn here on Etsy, but will be short this month. I don't see how anything is going to change since everytime I search my items since this has happened the same items keep coming up in the same order... now that seems more unfair than peoples items getting buried by renewals (at least then everyone had a fair shot at getting their items seen again by renewing.) Besides, renewing items always guaranteed me sales. I love Etsy and have been exclusively loyal but I have to say unless something is done, I may have to look elsewhere as most of the comments above state. Why can't we go back to the search default as recency and relevancy still as a choice?!? HELP!!!!!!

I agree with Butterflysue "Is it the first three key words or 160 characters in the title and the description that are more relevant.?. "

As a new seller with slow starting sales I miss the "old" way. The idea of making things fair is a hard one. While atm my shop is slow I believe with hard work and patience it will change. I dont like the idea of us all conforming. It's like when you go to the grocery store, the foods are grouped together by category then left to let their pictures and descriptions wow customers into giving them a go. It's odd to me to have a site that promotes handmade items be all about conformity ie mass market.

I recently started selling but how did people find them before if not with relevant keywords? Generics like 'Necklace' just isn't enough to get found. Stats shows what keywords people searched to get to my shop. I use them in my titles, tags etc. I hope relevancy is also tempered with recency but not clear. If it's number of sales associated with the keywords, I'm out of luck. If you've been selling for a while, seems like you would have followers that know and trust your shop. Could be the economy too. Good luck to everyone treading these new waters.

I hate the new default :( My hits are way down. If it doesn't change back I don't think I'd be found often enough to bother staying on etsy. It is so disappointing because I love selling on etsy. I just hope they go back to searching by most recent. Take care everyone, Julie :)

It's hard because you want to attract people looking for nursing covers; yet mine are so different, especially the GrabAcova, my invention. I tend to want to describe item fully instead of sticking to simple words. I offer quite a variety of ponchos or covers for moms, some are stretchy, others slinky and stretchy, others silky non stretchy.... Well I have sold three in the last ten days. The GrabAcova will catch on, I sold two today in my home. It's true that you have to keep on putting ads for the most recent will show up, but the fees are low. It's just that sometimes it's hard with 4 kids, work in the hospital and my sewing.

I hope to put these tips into action. I'm a very SMALL seller, with only a few sales, and my views are almost nonexistent now, with the new changes. I guess I should be glad there may be a logical explanation, but I am another seller who thinks pamware nailed it. Wish me luck!

The upside is I will save money on renewing. The down side is my shop is now lost among shops that had no activity for a very long time. I too have experienced a drop in August. Without my social networking, I fear my shop would have gone down in flames. I will spend a frightening amount of time trying read everything I can in hopes of figuring this out. I guess the up side is sales are down so I have the time.

Helpful, really! Thanks for taking the time to share this to everyone. I am working to improve my little shop. Crossing fingers for the high holidays!

Sales and views down....frustrated!

I have to agree with you all. Why change what works? Etsy you are not helping us sellers. eBay did the same thing and a lot of us including myself came over to Etsy. Guess what eBay figured out it didn't work and went back to the norm and so did I. My eBay sales are up and Etsy way down. Hopefully you can reach out to our comments and give us a listen:)

We all sellers have great items that buyer interest in but because of lack of knowledge on keyword research, we only gain less buyer's visits so end up less sales. One great about Etsy is we can write long title. Enough keywords can be written. Besides, they have tags. Thats really awesome..... Thanks Etsy.

my stats are way down, I have been trying to use your tips and nothing is working in a day I would get 20 views I barely have 2 views are newly listed items How is this fair to all???? I had a booming business now it is nada Thanks Etsy I can see what concerns you most....your dollar in your pocket

Frusrated! Sales and views are down......this happens everytime Etsy makes a change.

I cannot wait to use this advise.

Hello etsy? Are you hearing us?

I totally agree with pamwares and treasureagain. I don't think this works. My sales have tanked this week.

My shop traffic just dropped off to nothing this week. I posted some new items and waited to see the views...expecting interest---and all but nothing! Now I understand what is going on, now I do not have recency working for me. My items are ones that are very hard to pigeon hole. They do not fit in any of the listed categories well, they are not cookie cutter items. A lot of times buyers shop by just looking, just perusing until something catches their eye. Shops that sell unique items need this option, an option to be "discovered". Shopping is often impulsive, like at craft/art shows. At least the recency listings provided some opportunity for shoppers to see your things and get exicted about something they never had seen before. Shopping by relevancy suggests that all shoppers know exactly what they want and go right to it, this is certainly not always the case. Where is the fun of "window shopping"? I feel rather overwhelmed also, will try to figure out a different way to list. When I go through these lists of categories and tagging, none of them fit my products, very frustrating that I am suppose to fit into those limited stereotypes.

Always keeping us working, aren't you, Etsy?! I'll now go in and change all my titles...

Off to do some editing!

Does anyone know if the order of the tags makes a difference in relevancy?

Can't you guys see that this "IMPROVEMENT" is slowing views and sales....This is costing us time and money and IF WE LOSE SALES YOU LOSE MONEY!!! STOP THE MADNESS AND CHANGE IT BACK!! We will figure out marketing!! This is such a mess you are making!

First page of searching for "feather hair extensions" has been exactly the same for the past two hours. This has to be frustrating for buyers. @ ETSY... are you listening? Please comment and let us know you are going to research this change further before making it permanent. Let us know what buyers are saying. I WAS a very frequent seller with 3 shops, but like many others have stated, I may have to look into another way to sell my goodies and possibly revert back to the Craft Fair/Farmers Market days. I have been paying my rent with sales through Etsy for 2 years. I have praised and paid Etsy daily, but this month I am close to tears.

Hello ETSY do you care??? Please respond!

I relisted 4 items about 20 minutes ago and have 33 views already ... only 4 the hour before. So how do recency and relevancy relate? I didn't change anything when I relisted. Not selling anything but lots of viewing....

I am having trouble with Tags...the limit of 20 characters keeps me from including things that come up when I start to type in a search...such as vintage button jewelry...and as far as including size information, when i try to enter 4.25 x 5.5 it says that it is not a valid tag?

Off to check stats & play around with searching. Seems more people are finding my jewellery, but having to constantly tweak means I'm losing what profit I might make due to all the extra time involved.

Thank you for the great info!

I like the idea and have saved a lot already on not renewing all of the time. Unfortunately I have found it to be a bit stagnant, it seems like if you search for the same term an hour or two later (especially for a broad search term) a completely different list should come up.

This is really NOT an enjoyable experience. I barely knew my way around the "old" way of doing things and NOW I'm supposed to change everything again. I have Fibromyalgia and the only reason I mention this is it causes concentration, memory and can be at a loss for words I joined to try and sell items not be a computer programmer. Very frustrated!

My views went up with less advertising and pandering to my facebook fans. I am sorry for those who've figured out the old system, mastered it, and are now being forced to adjust. But I had been wondering all year when the rest of us would be able to shine without spending ridiculous amounts on renewing fees. Can't I have a moment???? *whimper*

Merci Your really give good advice. Let's put it to work!!

are you kidding etsy won't respond they are too busy counting their dollar bills

Ok, I just put one of my items in the vintage search with the exact words I have in my title. It didn't even show up. One hazel atlas mug showed up but it wasn't mine and this is how I have mine listed: http://www.etsy.com/listing/79338956/milk-glass-and-teal-hazel-altas-mug-from the one that showed starts with :vintage turquoise mug . . . . . Now why wouldn't my mug show up with the exact wording as the search? I'm very frustrated as well!

I want you to know I appreciate what you folks at Etsy are doing. I have wandered in and out of the ways to tweek titles, tags and descriptions and constantly improved sales. Often the little hints came from Etsy staff or newsletters that you guys put together. I have to say this, too, is an improvement, and not nearly as difficult as some folks make it out to be. I see relvancy as a perfectly natural step in a direction we were already going. I much prefer it to renewing before the listing is expired (which I never did, as it felt like cheating). Please don't be discouraged by the criticism I see is coming your way. Soon even those folks may see the wisdom of your ways. You certainly have my vote and support!

Wow..I have been working my butt off to get ready to join etsy as a seller...I have spent countless hours reading & re-reading everything on this site, scrutinizing how shops look, sell & maintain. I've never liked eBay for the same reasons I love etsy. Now, after reading all these comments, I am so hesitant to join. No doubt change can be difficult & running a business has stressful periods (BTDT) but this particular change, in this particular economy sounds positively backwards. As a result, I will continue to follow the conversation & hold off on joining here. Bummer. Good luck etsy sellers and thanks for your honesty in your posts!

This search by relevancy is just NOT working! Trouble is, I don't expect Etsy to listen to all the sellers who hate it... might be time to think of moving on...

Relevancy, okay. now after all the brainstorming to figure out Title: me too , getting tired of just what to state in title. Is it possible to have someone Very Clever look over ads and mention possible Tweak to Titles of ads............save me.

well I was about to open my Etsy shop............but I am very hesitant to do so, it looks like Etsy is not all I believed it to be. I shall wait and see what happens. When I convert what I would be paying Etsy into the currency I use this is probably not the place for me to sell. I am getting tired of the same ol' same ol' on the front page.....THOUGHT THIS WAS ABOUT HANDMADE...... but it would appear that I have been misled. I will continue to shop and buy from Shops that really do sell HANDMADE... we are all feeling the pinch financially, perhaps this is Etsy's way of weathering the storm at the expense of the people who keep them in business. I will have to think very carefully about opening a shop on this forum. :((

Thanks for the tips, jewellery is saturated which makes relevant tagging very difficult but at least I'm more in control now, previously I just got buried under big shops that spent a fortune on renewing.

thank you, indiecollective. i totally agree! all of a sudden "different" is "irrelevant"?

sorry, this has really got me thinking....Etsy used to = handmade, crafters, artist, etc........to me it's now 80% vintage, which I love BUT the handmade gets lost......perhaps crafters and artists and people on Etsy who really do spend hours MAKING their beautiful items should OPEN A NEW HANDMADE SHOP.

And What can I do to stay on the 1st page for longer?

Time will show. Hopes for the better with relevancy.

I have just opened my Etsy Shop and welcome all new and old tips - thankyou

Thanks for the helpful tips !!!

I agree with the many out there saying I don't like this move. When I search for something like,"wedding dress", I get wedding hair flowers, belts, hangers, etc. If I wanted to see listings for hangers, I would have searched for them. The new way did not get rid of the "block" of the same seller having multiple listings next to each other. I find it worse than it was. I honestly didn't mind it at all the way it was before. I think the new way is getting rid of our creativity,and making our work (that we have spent hours on) have to be the same drab title to be seen. I never re-listed items to be seen. I counted on what the customer's search term was, and they found me just fine(creative title and all). I am getting ready to re-launch my Etsy store, but I am really concerned. I don't want to spend hours learning what is going to make me be found. I want to CREATE! Hopefully, the voice of the sellers, and buyers who have spent hours crafting, spent countless dollars to making their shop work, and countless hours reading tips will be heard.

I've tried to change my keywords and then checked it in the relevancy search - although my items were just renewed, some of my listings didn't appear in the first pages but rather than very far ahead....so what i'm saying - the relevancy search didn't work out for me....i'm reading all the info and try to make the adjustments, though I might be doing something wrong??? should I give it another try...in any case this is a bit frustrating...:(

Very Informative tips are shared, Thanks for this

what I find very concerning was the fact that in the relevancy search I put the exact words I put in my listing - but it didn't appear in the first results although i've just renewed it.

Great thanks :)

Thanks for this post!

Hmmm! I needed that - I think I'm getting into a rut. Thanks!

Do I came here to sell? YES! Who said it will be easy? NONE! So, please, just try to keep up with the changes and stop be so dissatisfied about everything. I'm grateful for the relevancy, because this is how the search must work. I know, I have so much to do now. And, yes, my head is spinning around, but i deal with it. I want to sell and it doesn't matter how and what I have to do.

Its a big world in etsy with a maze of roads and possibilties. Thank you for your clarityand regular input- it helps to make it all less daunting and much more social and fun!!

Thince the relevancy is up I have less views :) But I guess it has to do, that I make my changes slow, looking at my stats and working on my titles and tags. And also the strong Swiss Franc dos not help this Days....

thank you! I still have so much to learn to improve my shop! : )

LOTS of work to do, thanks!

To some extent those experiencing poor sales are probably just experiencing the current economy and not something Etsy-specific. But relevancy is a conformist rut, no fun, all steak and no sizzle. If things are getting out of hand for Etsy, maybe it's time for Etsies. Like, jewelry-etsy, baby-etsy, hobby-etsy, I don't know exactly, just a thought. Hoping it is a Relevant thought! I mean, you wanna be the Walmart of neat stuff, or what?

I AM NOT HAPPY AT ALL!!!!!!! Previously my sales were excellent (1466 in 9 months), I paid for these sales by relisting each day to stay at the top and punting evrywhere to get my shop known. This is my only source of income and suddenly there are barely any sales. How the hell can you say that this is better for us??????? I spent most of yesterday trying to work out which tags etc worked best but it is now a total cock up. It would be wise for the ETSY team take a serious look at all the damage being done. Yes, great news for the few people who see a bit of improvement (emphasis on the few) but there are way to many people like myself who are in shock with the results. I too thought that someone had it in for me. Relevancy? What relevancy?????

Just exactly which words are relevant Etsy because it most certainly is not the ones in my titles which I spend God knows how many hours changing yesterday. I have enjoyed fantastic sales (1446 in 9 months) in the past and it now feels like I am being punished for the countless hours spent re-listing, marketing and putting on sales as I am not being found anymore other than by my wonderful existing customers! THIS WAS NOT A WELL THOUGHT OUT PLAN!!!

Oh and seeing as you are changing things, how about you adding in the "What is it" section, another option for people who sell patterns (beading or otherwise) other than supplies and tools to make things or a finished product? Tutorials! Surely that can be added?????

Okay, whats going on? What changes do I have to do to make my shop more viable and searchable? Im confused!!!!

I am so totally confused by all of this. I wish it were simpler.

sheer nonsense. Your suggesting we use the most important words to describe an item, BUT think like a buyer and tag them all different ways. Come on ETSY! this is a waste of time. I was selling actively and my regular customers were finding me using your search engine. Now I'm burried on page 160, despite a recent relisting or 2. PLUS there are 13000 items in my category so many of my items are not even in the first 250 pages...which is only about 4000 listings. This is frustrating and a waste of my time. I think I'll have to look at Ebay or some other reliable tool that doesn't make me waste my time trying to guess what my customers are thinking. Even if my tags are IDENTICAL to another item on page 1 of the search, they don't reliably show up anywhere in the first 20 pages of relevancy. And, yes my first 2 words in my title match the search terms. This is very frustrating. Never mind the seach results end up being stagnant. With the same listings being on the first page of search for hours. I'm getting way more results from direct sales than from ETSY search. Do you really want me paying for outside advertizing rather than renewing my listings? Frustrated. Give buyers a clear option: recency or relevancy....not just a little icon that no one will look for (or even know what it means) above the right hand column.

I'm spending more time "fixing" my shop and worrying about it then I am creating items to sell!

This is all going to take some time to get used to but I'm hopeful the end result will be more sales for everyone....

I listed items and used the tag "funny kids Tees" then went to go look for them using that phrase and none of my shirts show up. What's up with that?

I'm trying to be optimistic about this. But, it seems that it's become a game of guessing and a whole lot of work. All these tips being offered on how to get your tags and titles just right so the customer will find you. If you make a mistake, then you get buried in the listings. Why do these tags and titles have to be an exact science for relevancy. Seems it should be an easier process and not so hard to figure out what a customer wants. But it has become a difficult game of guessing for me. I hope it gets better and I haven't given up just yet :)

Great suggestions. Sellers need to give relevancy changes a chance. Also, we need to consider the economy and that what is happening out there affects every business, every seller. You can't blame the search change to relevancy entirely for lower sales. Time will be the test. Patience.

In the latest Etsy success e-mail, you will notice on the right hand side of the screen a Surprise they will be revealing soon. It says something like, "we are cranking up our letterpresses..." looking further into it reveals that they are going to be adding an affordable way to promote your listings on Etsy search engines. Sounds to me like what Google does, paying to be at the top. Thoughts, anyone? That's my gut since their new IT guru came from Google. So all the work I have done, and others like me, to redo my shop tags and titles to be more relevant, might change or become a moot point when they reveal the big surprise. It would be nice to have been given the information all at once so we are not chasing our tails constantly, which can and often does lead to disenchantment.

I hope the new relevancy aspect of the search will help our customers to find what they are really looking for when they search instead of things which are not related at all.

It seems like some people that are mad about the change didn't read the article. I went to a few shops and the titles of the items do not have the word that 'describes' the item in front. Pretty adjectives are nice, but probably not for the first words in the title of your item. I respect the artistry of words, and what some of you are doing with descriptors is great, but that is what the description is for. I love the changes. It allows people who actually make the item the buyer searches for to come up on top. I also don't understand why so many of you are willing to pay relisting fees to get views! We should not have to pay to have our items seen by people who are trying to find them! I understand the complexity of changing your shop around and learning new strategies- as you can see I haven't found time to do it yet either. However, I think etsy is taking a step in the right direction. I think relevancy changes are great.

Great information! Even as a seller I often time have a hard time finding an item I may be looking for so this is super helpful!

This is all really helpful. A lot of information to absorb and then different strategies to experiment with!

Yes I change some tags and some of my items are on first or second page! Others are completely lost. So I will have some work to do. Hopefully, I will get to list my abstract coatrack Saturday as new items help.

Also, a Google tip: my brother (genius) just told me it takes about two weeks to see a change in description and titles show up as an increase in Google traffic. This is because Google doesn't 'notice' you made any changes until you page is 'crawled' again, and this process may take that long. Once Google sees your updates, they can provide your page as a search result when the relevant terms are searched. Doesn't make sense? Just wait a few weeks before making more changes if you are waiting to see a bump in traffic from Google.

P.s. I think I am going to favorite the molecular model

so, if I search for baby hat, how one item can be more relevant than another when they both have baby hat in the title and in the tags? Can someone tell me??????? The most recent search worked well for many of us here so why to change it?

I'm almost scared to post this opinion after seeing so many unhappy comments, but as a shop that started and has been trying to get noticed, I would spend money on renewal fees and watch as it went to waste. My items would sink so fast the old way. I felt like it was impossible to get noticed or found. Now I'm seeing more traffic to my shop, and when you search simple terms I am finding some of my items are coming up within a reasonable number of pages. I feel like this new system might be worth it, I'm getting more views too. I will say I have been reading about keywords and reworked my listings, so maybe that helped too. Wishing everyone success... :)

It seems with the age of information, the constant changing ways to update that flow of information, all we can do is try to keep up & keep learning. :) Never in the history of the world has information flowed as fast as it is now, it is no wonder that people are frazzled and frustrated by it all..Many sales to you all!

Per Etsy email - "In the coming weeks, we’re launching an easy and affordable new way for you to promote your listings on Etsy search pages. Be the first to know." I'm going to stop wasting my time on tweaking everything for now and wait to see what this is all about.

I am a new seller this year. This is very confusing. I thought we were supposed to put catchy words in our titles and now it all seems so generic. Vintage plate blue, paper mache bear brown. Now that is exciting! Being sarcastic, sorry. It seems our tags and the body of our listing is where to put all the fun stuff now. SeashellCollection, I guess I didn't get that email. But I am with you, wait and see.

Things change in a nano second on the internet and I appreciate any help that shows me how to improve my shop. Bravo Etsy for always giving the best help and advise. Every time the SEO's change their methods Etsy is right there helping the shops improve their stats. Maybe it is more work for us (shop owners) but I think well worth it. On the positive side any change gives you an opportunity to see your product in a different light and that is good.

I agree with everyone. This change to relevancy is causing a disaster with my sales. I've wondered whether it was the economy, people on vacations, kids home for the summer so no time for moms to shop....but now I'm thinking it is the relevancy change. I have 13 pages of items and really don't have the time to go in and change everything again. We just had the last change you put in and now this. I haven't even finished the last one and am only on page 3 for the relevancy change. When do I have time to list anything new, take pictures, do research. You guys are making it very difficult for sellers. I love Etsy....please stop makiing these ridiculous changes. I know change is good....but this is not. Listen to us. We are your livelihood, too.

Thanks so much for the tips. ~KK~

Wow, more good info. I'll be making a few more little changes. Happy Friday everyone! :)

This change makes a huge difference for me--thank you!! Relevant titles & key words are extremely important for productive selling :)

I believe that the relevancy search works more similarly to an internet search and THAT is bringing Etsy into the real world. So, thank you! It is a boatload of work to hone our titles and tags, but it will pay off. NOW... once you are *found*, guess what sells your item. It is not your text and cutesy title but you PHOTOGRAPHY. Please, in all of this reshuffling, look at your thumbnail which comes up. Does it grab attention? If not, no one will click on it no matter high up you are in the list. Tehe. Like we didn't already spend all our time on the computer. HAHAHA. At least make it time well spent.

This helped so much, like always. Tips tips tips keep them coming.

whoa!!!!!! what is this????? and please define "affordable" SeashellCollection says: Per Etsy email - "In the coming weeks, we’re launching an easy and affordable new way for you to promote your listings on Etsy search pages. Be the first to know." I'm going to stop wasting my time on tweaking everything for now and wait to see what this is all about.

I was wondering why my new listing were getting zero views the last two days! And this is after I'd already been trying to make my titles and tags very relevant to what I'm selling. Guess I'll be spending even more time trying to figure out what words will pull my items up on the list. :( It doesn't make a lot of sense to me; seemed like things were working before.

Etsy, are you listening? I am new to Etsy, having set up my shop but haven't listed anything yet. What I have done is studied the listings under "Quilts" carefully to see what is selling and what words are used. I gotta tell you, I am concerned. I'm seeing many items that are not quilts in the first pages, and on the first page right now there are 20 items side by side from the same seller. Is this relevency? Obviously you have implemented this system without enough testing. In my opinion, from what I am seeing, it is NOT WORKING. No matter how may explanations and suggestions and critiques you give, what you say and what I am observing are not consistent. Again, are you listening, because most of the comments you are getting from sellers say that this change isn't working for them. It makes me worry that I have chosen the wrong site to sell my items,

I have similar tags and titles for everything, but not everything is "relevant". The newer and more exciting listings that I am putting up are not getting exposed even though I am trying to be relevant. I guess I just don't get it. Time to start a different marketing strategy I suppose...or perhaps a different venue of selling. Also, as a shopper, I am already bored. I keep changing back to most recent because I see the same stuff every day in my shopping searches.

my item views have almost stoped since the change.....

I, too, have just started in July and thought I was doing pretty well in getting views, but this week has been awful. I tweaked the titles and tags and then went to search for my items under my tags and either couldn't find them or they were tucked into the 28th page or so under a certain tag. So, I guess I'm a bit confused as well.

carlajean4u.....I just tried your example..(.http://www.etsy.com/listing/79338956/milk-glass-and-teal-hazel-altas-mug-) and searched your item and 11 hours later I came up with the same results you did. The turquoise mug of another seller not your item. I did notice their tags include -teal cup-hazel atlas-milk glass. I thought the point of changing all the titles was to pull up the Relevant Item! How much more relevant do you have to be. I have had similar issues with my listings. If these changes actually worked I think we would have a little more confidence in the whole system. Can anyone in admin explain this? Or anyone else? We are not trying to be negative here, we are just trying to make sense of this.

Hello Etsy - from someone with over 3000 sales I have to tell you this change has been a disaster. My sales have come to a screeching halt in the last week and a half. I just did a search for "Vintage Fabric" which is in my titles and is the second most search phrase for my shop (according to my sales stats). I use the phrase in all of my titles. Results? The first of my listings came up on page three. I was below a string of about 10 listings from one seller - some of her titles had less relevance than mine. I used to make the effort to list and re-list daily which is what I feel has made my shop successful. If things don't change I will give up because you have taken the fun out of this for me. Good luck. I believe you will be making less money from listing fees in the future as there is no point for sellers to be aggressive about it anymore. I have never before been down about Etsy. As a matter of fact I have been a raving fan. This is too bad.

Ok, I NEEEEED help here. And hoping some one from Etsy admins will be able to help me. Out of 356 items in my store 159 are hats. Those 159 have "baby hat" in their titles, plus in the first 3 tags there is "baby" and "hat". When I do search for "baby hat" I cannot find any of my hats. Some of my recent items I "tweaked" as it was advised, and I dont see them either. What shall I do? I am starting to PANIC!!!!

Very informative. I'm sure I can do a lot of work in this area.

thank you! :)

"Selvedgeshop" I hear your pain. I'm sorry for you and the rest of us, that have felt the grief this has caused. No, we are not whining or complaining. ANYONE on here would if they were used to having sales and they stopped. Established shops like Sevedgeshop has worked hard and that is what has brought her success in the past. I have been working at changing tags and re-trying different combinations, and I see little difference (whenever Etsy changes things, I try to go about the changes with a positive attitude. But, when you see no difference, no matter what you try, what are you supposed to do?). Heck, I think the relevancy is really just a luck of the draw. I see the same things everyday on the first page of my search. Etsy, we would all like to hear from you. Please, if this is not ever going to change, then someone just say, "We have no plans of changing this back to the way it was, so just get used to it." Then we know. Please don't leave us hanging. Goodness, I rave about Etsy and have been very appreciative and thankful for the help. But, you have to realize that this is affecting MANY of us. Please respond. Thanks!

Thanks for the tips. You are so right about what's the use of having a lot of traffic if they are not the right kind or buy any thing from your shop. Every bit of info helps. We are all working darn hard!

I see the that my shop views have plummeted hard, even after taking the tips, hopefully i can crack this nut and figure out how to become more relevant

etsy this is not work i get about 500-600 views a day and 10-50 likes, and i've gotten 1 today just 1

Me again. After responding this morning, I again went in and re-did my titles and tags hoping to see a response, but I have to say that all I can think of now while I'm sitting and crafting is whether or not I did it right. I can't concentrate on what I'm doing and now I'm worried! I want to keep my shop because I truly like it, but I don't want to keep feeling anxious.

Thanks for great tips. I like search by relevancy method. Traffic to my shop has definitely increased, not the sales. I hope it will increase as well with more Potential buyers coming in.

While I think change can be good, this for me, is not. I've noticed my sales are down and a majority of the large sales I have are from my wonderful, repeat customers who were waiting for specific items to come in. In 5 months this is the first time I had a day were I had no sales. I did some searches for items I have in stock and noticed that items that don't even have the words (not in their title, description or tags) I am searching for appear before mine. How is that possible? I think there needs to be a bit more programming to make sure that if Etsy is going to continue to use relevancy as the default, that it be correct. I'm all for change and I love, love, love Etsy, lets just make sure this change works right.

I'm an older generation with a young at heart approach. Everything's still new and confusing. I appreciate all the help I can get! Hoping to expand my shop contents to include paintings, smaller arts and crafts items, jewelry, and fancy crochet arts as well as my original paperclay sculptures. I'm hoping to maintain balance with relevancy. I'm open to suggestions.

This all throws me for a loop. I thought I had an edge with my descriptive copy, titles and tags. Now I learn my work will be lumped together with untold numbers of other potters making stoneware bowls. What to do? I'll make the changes, but feel my creative marketing edge just went into the dumpster. Good luck to us all.

My sales and traffic are way down since the change. It seems we're really not getting anything done on these blogs except venting our DISSAPOINTMENT in the new "RELEVANY SEARCH", myself included. I don't see any posts from any Etsy reps here. So why don't we all send them emails voicing our concerns, maybe then we'll get somewhere....I've already sent mine. Here is the Etsy support email address support@etsy.com

I'm sorry, I'm more confused now then before. It is very frustrating to list something and then later check to see if it is there and it's not! I just don't get it I guess. I don't have fast internet and don't have the priveledge of watching videos, but I am so confused now I don't know how to list anything. This is getting harder and harder every day.

Great! Thank you.

UniqueCreations111 - Thanks for posting the email address - I will send an email this afternoon. I had been thinking of calling... is that even possible?

OVERWHELMING!

I don't like the new revelancy search. I have dial up computer, I am unable to get high speed. I want to make things not spend the day on the computer. I thought Etsy was a place to sell hand made items. Every post you read says post new items every day, I am a fiber artist. I can't complete a weaving or knit a shawl every day, and especially I can't work with fiber and sell something if its never seen or if I have to spend half a day trying to figure out how to get it seen with huge complicated word puzzles.

IF ITS NOT BROKEN DONT FIX IT! we are selling on etsy six months and have been very please with things till now!! we try to list items every day, but this is impossible if the sales are not there, views in our shop have dropped OVER 50% this month??????????? :-(

Sellers, instead of complaining about the change just adjust your titles & you'll do so much better...the way it needs to be. Everyone will have a fair chance to succeed. Thank goodness for relevancy!!!!

Great advice...

YIKES! I know we are all trying to stay ahead of this economy crunch and make sales, but for me personally, all this new fangled stuff is a bit over my head! I think Ill just keep my shop the way it has been - the good old fashioned way and just pray for sales! Good luck to all!

JudisLamps, we aren't sitting here "complaining" sitting back and waiting for sales to come drop in our laps. Goodness sakes! Work your head off for a year, and then have it all stop, and then you might be singing a different tune. It might be a nice change when you are a shop starting out or have lower sales. Sure, I MIGHT have liked it when I started out.....it would have depended on the amount of sales. JudisLamps, have you had been overloaded with sales since this started? Be a little sympathetic and don't think we are voicing our opinions and concerns because we are complaining. Yes, if you are getting sales, then you WILL be thankful for relevancy.

I have adjusted and readjusted my titles and I am still frustrated. I see my titles are exactly the same as others at the first of the title and I am still not as relevant. I see many that are the same and some were listed months ago and others 1 day ago. What makes one more relevant than another when the titles are the same? Some shops dominate one page and their listings were not listed on the same day. I hope it doesn't end up like ebay as others have stated. If so, I think etsy will lose alot of great artists! I just don't understand the titles and the tags and what makes one item more relevant than another when it's basically the same title? Please help! I am totally frustrated and tired of sitting at the computer for hours instead of creating. I am trying to be positive, but it is frustrating! Keep Smiling through it all!

Yes, ditto to treasureagain! Thank you!

If you use a particular term in your item title is there any point in using the same term as a tag as well? Does the extra reinforcement benefit you, or are you better off freeing up your tag space with something different? If anybody knows the answer and would kindly message me, I'd be most appreciative!

I've read most of the posts and I'm almost surprised that I feel the same way! I'm trying and crying!

My sister and I have both made zero sales in our stores since the change. I have changed, analysed, changed again and combed through posts, forums, friends and everything I can think of and my goods don not come up anywhere near the front of searches. There are only so any relevant words that can be used with my niche product, and search results are dominated by a handful of the same sellers everytime, even when I use exactly the same titles and tags. I would love to make more sales and will do whatever it takes, but this seems a fairly hopeless situation considering how much work and time is required to list anything now. My views and sales on other sites remain the same, it is only Etsy that has dropped off completely. I'm crying too!

Not sure what to say about the recent search change. I've had a good August so far, but to my mind it will actually make things more difficult for buyers. Searching by recently listed first gave me an idea of which owners were actively looking after their shops and who I could rely upon to give me better service. However, it also explains why the people who have looked at my stuff have really liked it. I guess the true test will be the Christmas season. I wonder whether Etsy could become a little more democratic and poll its sellers before making such radical changes. Whilst Etsy survives due its role as a marketplace for buyers, it also only survives because sellers are willing to list. Looking at the comments above, I wonder how long this situation will last.

This DOES NOT WORK. My sales are down to 1 in 3 months, i was close to quitting other forms of work. I have complained and they just dont care, ive done all they said, still stuff that dosent match is ahed of me. Recency ment fairness coss you qued in the line like everyone else, got seen and relisted to be seen again PLEASE TURN IT BACK, or i may as well stop adding items and save my money, and stop selling all together.

Thanks for the article & videos! Looking forward to changing things up!

Etsy, and sellers, I have to complain as a buyer. I'm a seller myself, but the past few months I've been planning my wedding, and I've found my shoes, my cake topper, beautiful wish tags for my guest to fill out, some pretty vintage outfits for my honeymoon, countless brooches for a bouquet I was making all here on Etsy, and every search gave me a lot of variety to choose from and was a lot of fun! Then a day or two ago we tried finding some thank you notes for gifts. Boy howdy, I thought there was a glitch in the servers! Whatever we did yielded...how can I say 'weird results'? Stuff was either just not on target or kinda not what we had in mind--THE VARIETY HAD DRIED UP! (Which finding out now this is due to relevancy, I gotta say is ironic!) Where I had before been able to find 12 very different items, now it seemed I was looking at 5 from one shop and 7 from another. Like I said, I thought the site was having a glitch, so I dropped the search for that night. As you can all see my shop's on vacation right now (for the wedding, can I confess I'm up reading this article because I'm so excited I can't sleep? I get married in 9 hours!). When this rolled out I was already on vacation, I have been reading up on it, but I don't have a way to check my stats just yet! However, having seen this only from the buyer's view--I'm a little worried how buyers are going to stick around when they encounter 5 tags or 7 from the same seller (we're all thinking it-- "the ebay thing") and lose that colorful page of the latest wares from a wide assortment of creative folks. This relevancy default change could even help my shop, like I said, I've been on vacation: I don't know. However, I'm 100% concerned that a lackluster search experience for an online buyer in an already difficult economy is going to hurt us all. Okay...now I need to try and fall back asleep at least for another hour! I hope my feedback helps!

I'm in agreement with several comments here about the relevency of "relevency." More important, I'm concerned about the issue of "recency.' It seems to me this is more an advantage for Etsy than us. To be "relevent" in "recency" we have to add or renew listings more often and I believe the main advantage in that is to Etsy's income level more than mine. My "views" have plumeted to a point where Etsy's "relevancy" to my income is becoming less. Sorry to see this developement.

I'm taking a "wait and see" attitude. My views have gone steadily down over the last week but I'm not sure if it's the change to "relevancy" or the time of year or the recent shaky economic news....

P.S. I've changed about 50 of my listing titles, the rest comply with the change to Relevancy.

My sales dropped to zero since the change. Views are down as well. Very unhappy and frustrated.

I've worked the last 3 days at redoing my tags and stopped at 4 AM this morning. Back at it again today. My tags were very good before, as I spend hours getting them set so that my items show up. I see my items showing up as others change their tags too, but it just comes down to everyone fighting to get on the first couple of pages of the searches, so that anyone even sees you exist. It's not the economy. How much more proof do we need than if you had sales before the change and then little to none after. It's very obvious. You'll see positive comments from shops that their items are getting noticed and I am happy for them. But, I see though too that as more shops change their tags, those shops that were on the first page of the search, are now moving farther back again in the search. We may be hearing more changing their opinions as their items disappear farther back in the searches...??? I hope that my non stop work on changing tags will be helpful. But, really it's a luck of the draw when it comes to where you end up on the first couple of pages. Not being negative here, just expressing what I have experienced. I want to get back to creating and quit messing with my tags. Sure, change is usually good, but for those of us that sales have stopped, it's hard to adjust to. Right now it's hard to see what things will be like a month from now, I'm really hoping for BETTER.

Also, I am glad to hear the comments from "Pseudooctopus". It's nice to hear what the buyers think of the change. I know I had a customer contact me the other day, asking me to help them find a Mason Jar light that they had purchased, that wasn't one from me. They couldn't find it in the searches. Strange to help a customer find another shop's item, but I did it. That is a clue to me that buyers are having issues also. I'm not going to beat this like a dead horse, because I can see that there is no chance of their changing back to the search being by "most recent". Lots of work to do again, in the change.....which I am willing to do, if there is hope it will get better.

Working on it.... :-) Trying hard to get more traffic and to make sales..... Hope it's going to work out soon! Thanks for the info!

Well I just sold a bunch of things on ebay in the last few months and only 3 things on etsy????? Im not a pro, but I get found on ebay. I don't have time to read ALL this stuff, I am struggling to make it in this economy too, Etsy should make it easy to sell, thats thier job, my job is to create find fix picture list etc etc etc, this is supposed to be a partnership. I am taking care of elderly parents running Etsy Ebay4 booths in one antique mall and 2 booths in another... Make it easy sell not HARD!!!

I'm pondering ebay again.....views have plummeted.

I don't want to sound nasty about Etsy, because I have been one of their biggest fans and at this point still am!!!!! This has been a good spot though to see what others are experiencing in the change. Guess it's a good thing sales are down because of the change, because we need ALL of the time to make the changes to titles, tags, etc...I'm trying to hang in there! I hope we all can! Best wishes!

I mentioned yesterday that I have 3 listings with the exact same wording and one of them, not the most recent, made it to the 1st page of searching "feather hair extension", and the other two were nowhere to be found (at least within the first 6-10 pages). I asked Etsy how I'm going to figure out what tags and key words are helping after noticing this. Etsy explained to me that it may be the search engine trying to give the buyer variety. So I ask now why I'm not finding any of my extensions until page 6 when searching "feather hair extension", but pages 2, 3, 4, & 5 have four or more items in a row from 'Feather Nation', all the same pictures even?

I should also mention that the only extension listings I've seen make it within the first few pages of searching "feather hair extension" are listings that I have not edited in any way. I have not changed any words or tags in these listings but ones that I have made more 'direct' in tagging and title are getting very little attention.

Thanks for the information.

Great tips and info! I'm excited about the new relevancy search and have been slowly editing my jewelry shop. My stats show my shop views are steady and I hope the new search will bring more people to my shop. Thanks for the great advice and helpful tips!

I started my Etsy shop in July and it was going great, now sales have tanked with very low views and sales. I search certain items everyday to see what's new now the same items are in the same slots everyday, is this fair? Search for "jadite" and you will get the same bare bottomed lady shot glass! Please go back to the way it was it wasn't broken why did you "fix" it?

Great information to help with the new search and how to be found.

so much to learn!

Thanks for the help! Being new to Etsy, it's been a challenge getting my jewelry noticed. Hopefully by applying these tips I'll be able to increase my shop views.

I have noticed a severe decrease in sales since the change. I am trying to edit & tweak my listings. I hope I can get things figured out soon :) I love Etsy & don't want to have to try to find other venues to sell my items.

I've been making changes as Etsy has suggested also. I keep trying to fine tune what I am relisting....I love Etsy but I have to admit...my sales are way, way down since Etsy made this new search change. Not sure why...it seems like what Etsy is suggesting to do would make shops easier to be found...but I don't seem to be found easier and it seems that I'm reading a lot of others are saying the same thing....the bottom line is...I'm losing sales trying to figure this out...sales that I can not afford to lose right now since my day job just laid me off. Bad timing to experiment, Etsy. :-(

Umm...big DUH! Give searchers the option of preferring recency or relevancy. I have programmed. It's not hard to give options. Everybody likes options. Some shoppers want to be surprised or inspired, and some are looking for a very specific item. Why not please them all? This would probably please your vendors also, considering some of the comments which I have been reading.

Perhaps the programmers could limit results to one per shop. That would make things easier for buyers and sellers alike.

I hope etsy is listening to all the frustrations of their sellers. My sales and views have been very bad ! Why not as a default setting have the viewers choose how they want to shop? Have them choose recent or relevant in the search before they see anything! If sellers are not relisting items because it doesn't help, won't Etsy be loosing money? The relevancy listings need to change more frequently and not have the same item on top all the time. What happens when all the items have the same amount of relevancy? Who wants to sift through thousands of items in a relevancy search that does not change? If a potential customer keeps coming back to those listings and sees no change they will stop coming back! Just like when I had my brick and mortar shop, customers want to see the latest and the greatest! My customers would come in and always ask what's new! It's been enough of a struggle to get my etsy shop to the point where I thought it was starting to take off and now the rug has been pulled out from under me! Etsy, change this!

I just went in and did a relevancy search on "Quilt Pattrns" and found 10,091 results. The results included several listings for fabric! Why do these items show up in this search. None of them contained the phrase "Quilt Patterns" Why should potential buyers have to sift through that!

littlelouisequilts makes a very good point...for the past week or so, the same things appear on the first page in relevancy under "beach decor". While I'm glad that a couple of my things are there, buyers will get tired of seeing the same things all the time. Also, for what it's worth, my shop views have gone steadily down over the last 7 days and I haven't had a sale since Wednesday, Aug. 17. Would love to hear some feedback from Admin. Thanks.

YIKES! As a brand new shop I've been working on setting things up, but I haven't posted anything yet, and wondering if this will be worth the effort-I may check Artfire afterall...Hopefully the folks at Etsy will take heed to their sellers who've had good sales up till now!! Some of these comments are extremely relevant, now maybe Etsy needs to take some of this good advice.

DEAREST ESTSY, It would have been nice if you could have waited to change the default until you were ready to sell us your new "brilliant" way for us to advertise our items. I predict you will lose many sellers because they will not be able to survive the next few weeks waiting for you to unveil the "SURPRISE"! Way to bend us over!

This isn't working!!! Search "Feather Eyelashes". If relevancy worked then all of the feather eyelashes would show up before scarves and hats that were made with eyelash yarn. Most of these other items don't even have the word "feather" in their title or tags but they are showing up before actual feather eyelashes that use both "feather" and "eyelashes" in their titles and tags.

Any one who would like to look at my shop and give me some suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I don't seem to have any shoppers viewing and I am not sure why. LIke many others I am not a computer person so any help I can get would be great.

Again, 'FeatherNation' is dominating the search for the terms "feather hair extension". This system is obviously not working. FeatherNation only has 2 pages of items and they all seem to be listed within the first 5 pages when using the search terms "feather hair extension". Most of their listings begin with the word 'reserved' so relevancy should be able to place them further back in the search, or at least break them up a bit. I have a whole page of feather extensions but I'm only finding two within the first 6 pages and I am using similar tags and more direct titles. @ Etsy - please let us know that you are trying to fix this and the stagnancy issue with the new change My listings that have made it into the first few pages of searching "feather hair extensions" are ones that I haven't even edited in any way. So, for now, I do not see any point in editing anymore of my listings for fear of them becoming less "relevant". Please help. Relevancy seems like a logical step but it is NOT working. Maybe if you try making recency more important in your algorithm, it might help keep things moving and add the variety back into buyers search results.

This is a TON of complaints!!! So I take it everyone's depending on search to be found? Even with the system that was in place before, I knew that it would be too easy to get lost in the shuffle and/or go broke on renewing fees. So I've ordered a Million business cards to lead people directly to MY shop. and that's the whole point of the facebook fanpage, too. Would investing the funds you all used to use in renewing fees into advertising be an option for some of you? jus sayin'...

I have a product that does not fit exactly into any of the category options, people were finding it before when I would relist or renew an item. Now it is lost out there and no one is viewing it. Thinking I might have to find another option for selling them.

I have been re arranging my tags, titles, and descriptions. Racking my brain trying to get my shop noticed. I am usually a fan of the changes Etsy makes to the site, and rarely a complainer, but this has severely affected my business. I quit my job in April to pursue my dream of making jewelry, and sales have been amazing as a result of the time and effort I spend making my jewelry, and relisting items. Someone way up in the comments made a great point: "How many ways can you say pearl necklace, or knit scarf?" So true. I know that when I search for items, I don't like to see the same things on the front pages every time- it is boring! This change is great for a few, but detrimental to many. It feels like a lottery or a slot machine. In the post, etsy said that in their studies people were 4.4% more likely to click on items sorted by relevancy, and saw 5.5% more listings in search pages. It did not say anything about sales being higher- they just drew the conclusion that sales would be higher with more clicks. I understand that concept, but what happens when over time, people stop coming back because they have seen the same first 5 pages of a search, with the same items over and over? This is the exact same reason I stopped shopping on Ebay- its the same stuff over and over, so I can say from a buyer's perspective, this really isn't good.

I don't like this change at all. Now I know why my sales have gone to almost zero. I am seriously considering expanding my own website. This was not a good idea.

It seems like a lot of people are having the same problems as us. We've tried tweaking our tags etc., but views have certainly dropped off. We renewed about six items last night and this morning they are not found until page 8. and that was only a couple of them. We didn't both to look any further. If we can't be bothered searching for them, maybe buyers won't either? We're starting to wonder if it's worth renewing things at all if this is the case.

Well, this is the 3rd time I've "complained" in the past couple of days. I've been searching my vintage teacups, got to page 40 on "teacups" and page 30 on "vintage teacups" and they still didn't show up so I gave up as well. I've started another craft item but now I've lost the zeal in going back to it to finish it because I feel it will sit on the shelf so to speak and no one will know that it's there! What can we do? I feel kind of abandoned and I just got started. I really thought I had something going but now I feel the wind has gone out of my "sales"!

I certainly appreciate all of the so called "complaining". It has helped me a lot in trying to weed through my tagging. I wonder, after spending the weekend and DAYS before that, working and reworking tags, titles, and listing information, if they might be "complaining" also. I certainly do see it as that. As I have said before, this has been HELPFUL (but sad) to hear that other shops are struggling too. I'm glad to know I am not in this alone with all of the frustration. Now, actual COMPLAINING would be my talking about my painful shoulder after working on the computer non stop. Please be sympathetic to those of us who have been at this awhile and have been thrown for a loop. You might get hit with something like this in the future and then you will be here looking for answers. I appreciate the help and ideas while we are trying to wade through this. I do think it takes awhile for the items to get moved around in the searches. I make changes, work on another item for awhile,then check the searches, then make changes again. Best of luck everyone. I can see this is the way it's going to be, so we HAVE to find our way through it.

Since I have been up and running since the end of July, I have had at least 30 views. My items have shown up under relevancy in that row of pics that scrolls across the screen. So I am pretty tickled that people are viewing my jewelry. Haven't sold any yet but I am very optimistic that I will be successful. My favorite part of posting a new item is naming it! I tend to look at my photos and think about what are the first words that pop into my head. It might be the teacher in me, but have fun naming your items whatever they might be. That seems to working for me so far. Hope this helps someone out there!

"intrinsicimagination" I hear your pain. Since I'm in "tag mode" and that's about all I have been thinking about it seems, I was curious so looked at what you are talking about. I personally haven't figured out the first page of the search either. I wish I could REPLACE the one thing I have on the first page of the search. I am guessing that everyone is tired of seeing it. But, I too notice it's a item I haven't changed the tagging for. I don't want to do it because I don't want to loose the spot. Yet, I am so tempted to fix the tags, to see if one of my other items would replace it. Hmmmm....wish I knew the answer. As far as your items not showing up on the "Feather Hair Extension" page. I don't know ANYTHING, other then what I have tried....if I am wrong, someone please correct me, so I can gain from it also! But, I came to the conclusion that I am not going to show up on the main page when you search for "Mason Jar" which is mostly what I work with. So, I went at it a different way. Tried to think of what others might call my items. I'm so used to calling them one name, that I had to think of what others might look for (which I have read this other places also). With your feather hair extensions, and my not knowing much about your category, as a buyer, I might do a search for "hair feathers" instead, or "hair feather extensions". You might be cringing, wondering why I would choose those titles, but it's what others might go looking for. I know I have tried different things with different items in my shop, as far as putting the search words in different order, breaking the search words up, etc...I don't know, but these are just things I have tried. Maybe I am just encouraged tonight, because I finally got some sales today again. They were mostly from previous customers, so I shouldn't get my hopes up....but I think it's just going to take awhile. Has anyone noticed that some of the shops that were on the first page of your favorite search, are moving down in order? I wonder if more of that will happen as the search processes it all more. Those of us who have been fine tuning our tags will move up more?? I guess that is what I am hoping and what I keep telling myself.......I wish I knew what things would be like in a month. If anyone else has any suggestions, please share them. This has been the place that has been MOST helpful for me. Thanks!

Okay, since I still have SO MUCH TO LEARN also, here is something I just saw that might be another place to check out (if you haven't already). "Here is the link to the Helpful Relevancy Team if anyone would like to join." www.etsy.com/teams/10240/helpful-relevancy-team

Delighted to hear of the changeover to relevancy - I often thought to myself this system would make more sense when customers are searching for something. Good tips. I'm putting up some of my first listings for my crochet hooks today so I'm glad to have come across this first.

Since the change, I have increased sales!!! Def. Is working for me!!!

Very helpful info.... Thank You

big question!!! When I search for "CAT TOY" why do my listings not apear on the first page? My listings are titled starting with "CAT TOY" so why do items with titles that start with "Organic Catnip Plushie" (etc) show up first?

Wow, my views are WAY down today compared to normal, and I changed a lot of my listing titles and tags but that seemed to make things worse?? I can't figure this out yet. I'll have the same title and tags as other items that are showing up on page 1 that were listed after the date I listed my item. Is there another factor that influences where the products show up that I don't know about such as number of sales for that shop, etc???

I haven't found the magic wand that will help my sales so I will try this new approach -- changing my titles. It's very disheartening, as others have commented. With over 800,000 Etsy sellers, how does one get noticed?? Back to the drawing board.

Hi everyone, For those who have followed the tips- I am glad these helped! For those still having trouble, I noticed the following when looking at shops who are having issues: 1. Not using search terms as the *very first words of the title*. Use the tips for brainstorming search terms to find a variety of words/phrases. Also make sure you use whatever phrase is at the front of your title as a tag in one tag box. 2. Not diversifying shop: naming all/most items in the shop/ and/or most/all items of a type in your shop almost exactly the same thing. You want to be found on a variety of keywords/key phrases, not on just a few. 3. Relying too much on one-word search terms at the front of the title. If every thing in your shop starts with a big one-word term like "necklace", (or even a 2-word term that has a lot of items in the search), the problem is that there are a lot of items on Etsy that will fit that, and you won't rank for relevancy for long. If you search for "earrings" or "necklace", you'll see that the most relevant items were listed pretty recently. Try using the search bar to find phrases that you can use at the front instead. I hope these help! If you need more help, please check out one of these forums and post here for suggestions and guidance: www.etsy.com/teams/10240/helpful-relevancy-team http://www.etsy.com/teams/5002/etsy-success http://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/business-topics/discuss/8866830/

For example: 1. treasureagain: type "mason jar" into the search bar to get ideas for starting off your titles. Start some titles with those terms. Also, I started typing "hanging light"- try some terms that come up when you type that in at the front of your listing. Use these phrases as tags as well. 2. squarehare, ElizaJaneClips, sinami1 : use search terms at the front of your titles- use the same methods in the article/those I used for treasureagain.

Thanks for the tips HeyMichelle! I had changed my listings so they began with the same terms based on most search terms according to my Stats report, so I'll go back in and use various terms according to options available. I'll have to be a little creative with my Fry Pan Cozys since there aren't many options as its a new type of product. I'll use your guideance and hope things turn around. Thank you!

Wow, THANKS for the tips HeyMichelle! Much appreciated!!! Yes, I hear you and that is something I FINALLY figured out, with looking in the search bar to get ideas for titles/tags. The diversifying, of so helpful! Thanks! A super spot to check out is the "Helpful Relevancy Team". Wow, so much good information and you can read what other shop owners are doing to adjust with the change. We WILL get through this and hopefully all benefit from it. Just takes some time and hard work. (at least that is what I keep telling myself) Thanks for the good tips!!!!

Sorry HeyMichelle, I see you posted about the Helpful Relevancy Team, and then I mentioned it again. Thank you!

HeyMichelle, You ROCK! Thanks for the help! You ideas have been HELPFUL once again. Just the minute I think I have it figured out, I get more good advice and try it. SO GLAD to have it! I'm sure you are tired of hearing us grumble, but we appreciate your hanging in there with us!

I don't see why we have to be "ranked" What's up with that?? I've tweaked my titles, order of tags, kept wording different and... nothing. How hard is it to find a "ped bed'...dog bed...cat bed... I was really enjoying Etsy. I was amazed at my success. I've just asked my sister to help me keep up. Now it doesn't even seem worth the 20 cents to relist my items. I don't want to run my business on a hope and a prayer. Wern't they making money from us paying the 20 cents trying to keep our items up front? Now they don't even show up in searches. I'm really not trying to be a complainer but I was truly excited about Etsy. I guess I don't know what to think now.

I learned a lot. Thank you.

You have just taken window shopping out of etsy! You don't go on etsy for RELEVENT items you go window shopping. You never know what you really need until you find it on etsy. So bummed this is now gone.

Already finding success with new search! My items are appearing on the first few pages or the top! So happy. I feel like my items are more accessible and easier to find than the old system. I hated that you had to keep renewing to keep showing up ontop! It's definitely taking time to fine tune everything but it is well worth it. Thank you for the changes! As a small fish in this big ocean I am starting to feel a bit more RELEVANT!

Out of curiosity . . . A lot of the nay Sayers are complaining of significantly dropped sales. I haven't increased sales but have increased Views. How about Etsy? Has Etsy seen a significant drop in sales or are the sales now being more evenly distributed? As in, smaller shops with relevant items but not the capitol available to renew every item every day or so? Just interested. FYI- I'm one of those smaller shops, with great product to share with the marketplace but not able to afford constant renewing

"Complaining" mentioned again. Anyone would be concerned if you were used to getting sales and they stopped. Not saying that is completely the case with me, but I have been affected by the change, and am very sympathetic to other shops that ARE feeling it. I didn't re-list all of the time, mostly renewed sold items. Re-listing was very affordable and still is. We are all adjusting to the change and it hasn't been so easy, but work hard at it, just like we did when we started out as a small fish in a big pond. I am learning a LOT in the process once again and I am thankful for some of the "complaining" because it has been helpful in trying to sort through this.

As a fine artist on Etsy, this idea of relevancy isn't very helpful to me, and other fine artists have said the same thing within team discussions. It means that we can't list the title of our art first, which is what should be listed first. It is often what sets it apart, what describes it best. Relevancy means we have to come up with some generic description ... abstract painting, blue birds, watercolor, etc... and it all becomes so much like someone else's "title". I agree with willowdel who earlier mentioned that "window shopping" is important, that many times buyers don't really know that they will actually buy and they don't really know what they are looking for; a purchase is often impulsive, just like at a craft show or art festival... a purchase often happens simply because someone sees something that catches his or her eye. This can be especially true for fine art, particularly smaller pieces which are more affordable. I shop this way, and just about everyone I know also does. So the idea of "relevancy" doesn't matter (or work) to creators of fine art, what matters most is being seen... and that means recency. I've tweaked my titles and tags, listing items in a variety of ways, and while I don't have a ton of sales on Etsy like some folks do, I used to get more views. It's all very frustrating. When you spend the greater portion of your day creating a piece of art, and then taking great photos of it, you shouldn't also have to spend hours figuring out how to list it and figuring out how to tweak all the previous listings in your shop.

Great info, thanks!!

i was on a roll giving my shop a face lift, making it look fresher, prettier to navigate through as well as posting almost daily great quality on trend vintage. sales were way up last month before the change, now this month it was like i started at 0. going to work very hard and take in the advice, but i'm with many folks on here who have expressed their views very clearly "why change what was working" for many of us!

The example for Improving Your Ranking in Search Results is really helpful. Listing what the item is as the first or second word, rather than at the end of the description was not something I thought to do. I will try this out. Thanks!

Google is always changing to keep us all wondering exactly how it works.

Great information now I get it!

Ugh! This is awful...No sales since this change!! Views of my shop are way down. I could not figure out what I was doing wrong. I kept relisting as we all knew was the way to keep you at the top of the search pages. Still nothing. Then I finally found this news....now I know why but I am really unhappy with it...

Well, views and sales went back up the last several days since Etsy added a 'See More' button next to the Recently Listed items at the top of search results (light at the end of the tunnel). Woke up only to see that already changed and my views dropped off yet again, ugh! OMG Enough is enough already!!!

Just read this and this by far is the best explanation of how to re title and tag the items....THANK YOU!!! Got a little work to do now :)

KneeDeep, I'm so sorry. You've explained it so well. I just don't know about this. I never thought of it that way. The uniqueness of your title in the fine art catagory... the unexpected find! We all love those. We don't even know we want it until we see it...and click on it. When you're on page 18 - 30 no body will ever know about your item. I do know my sister sells art on Etsy and she closed her shop last week. I'm sorry for her too.

Thanks for the info on how to make the best of titles and tags!

Knee deep makes a lot of sense! Boy there is a lot to learn here. Seems like we just have to go with the flow? Going to keep plugging along!!!!

Thanks for the fabulous info so we can all make our shops a success!!

So many good things to work on! Thank you! Each article has so much to work on that I try to use baby steps in trying things out!

Very helpful thanks!!

This is fun! I like the change. I was spending too much time online last year and not enough time focusing on producing. I also feel that focusing on relevancy instead of trying to trick people into just viewing your page will increase sales. most people go online to look for a specific item. if it is relevant to their search odds are they'll buy. it just makes sense.

Totally agree Kneedeep! I think Etsy has lost Its appeal and relevancy is killing it - far too much like Ebay now :(

I haven't made a sale since the relavanxy switcheroo! When I opened my shop in April I was making sales and was happy. Now I'm getting frustrated. I have read everything I can to make my site relavant. Changing my listings up with no success. Looks like I'm not the only unhappy Etsy seller!!! I hope I make a sale soon or I'm going to feel cheated. Money out the window, none coming in, not a good business investment.

I DITTO the comment above!! I was doing great until the search requirements changed, now I'm dead. And another question... if Etsy’s relevancy search is built to connect shoppers with exactly what they want, how will they find ALL the awesome, eclectic stuff they don't know they want; but when see it, love it and buy it? If I don't know I want a lazor cut leather bracelet with black flowers on it, how will I find it, I would never type that in the search area... (this actually happened), I just stumbled upon it looking through someone else's favorites. That was a sale that almost didn't happen for that seller... I didn't see it when broswing through "bracelets". How things are set up now is very frustrating to say the least.

I really dont know if this is better. Our sales to dropped of and that even with making the Tags tighter. If someone is looking for something dont they just type it in anyway. If people dont find it on newly listed they will find it anyway

I agree with so many others, since the relevancy change my sales have dropped off. I went through and re-evaluated all my listing titles, changed them and still nothing. I thought I may have been alone with this issue. So many other great etsy stores are experienciing this same problem.

I don't get the relevancy thing. Like many others, I read and watched everything I could find about changing titles and tags, but some of my items just don't show up in a search. The article says "Put the most important keywords and phrases at the front of your titles." I did that. Then I experimented with searches. For example: i listed a cowl, with Cowl as the first word in the title. When I searched for cowl, it didn't show up - but there were several items with 6 or more words in front of the word cowl that did show up. There were some items that didn't even have the word cowl in the title! I tried another test - copied the title and tags of a similar item that did show up, but mine still did not. I am extremely frustrated and if sales don't pick up as they should seasonally, I will have wasted a lot of my investment in money and time. Very disappointed. I'm thinking the searches aren't working properly - it seems to be random.

I see in the september merchandising blog that there is going to be a new "affordable" way to promote your etsy shop. I wonder if getting people frustrated was intended to help sell this.

Great Reminder. I get carried away with words. The key is relevancy. Easy to remember words. I guess more generic? Now I am thinking of changing my user name! LOL!

I'm confused! I have 4 "Crochet Doll Amigurumi Doll" listed in my title - that's it just "Crochet Doll Amigurumi Doll". When I search "Crochet Doll Amigurumi Doll" only 1 of the four dolls comes up and it's not even the newest one listed that shows up????

I also am confused. Maybe for each item I should describe them all differently, even though they all table clothes. I better start thinking...........

Thanks for the tips, very helpful.

Wow, so informative. Thank you! We will follow this advice religiously!

Great Tips! Thank you.

I'm new to etsy, this was great information. Thank you.

Ok Let's give this a try! I've had no views for days. If I can try for views then maybe I could dare dream for a sale! lol

I love this information. It is very helpful. I am always trying to find ways to attract more customers to my shop. I need all the help I can get. Thank-You

Since Etsy switched the default for search results to sorted by relevancy it seemed that vistits at my site dropped off dramatically even with doing renewals. Since this is only my second year with Etsy I wondered if lack of visits might be common at this time of year when summer is getting to the end for some of us and people are spending their money in other ways. I have had my ads running for a couple of days now and my visits are very low. I too would rather decide on my own keywords and be able to change them when I decide to. I found that some of the keywords used were not my top keywords. I will give it a week or so but if nothing improves I may as well not spend the extra money. I noticed also that the keywords or tags that I have used on my items are attracting more views than the ads right now.

As a relative newbie, this and articles like it, as well as the comments are invaluable! Many thanks!

Relevancy, I'm not sure that this is working the way that it should and decided to give it a real chance before commenting. Now like many other folks I too am disappointed and experiencing a real drop off in views and sales. I experimented like everybody else changing tags with little success. So I did my own experiment. I found one of my recipe journals in the Relevancy Search. So, I listed another recipe journal using the identical tags and it replaced the first journal. So now I'm totally confused. Both should have been found in the same search. I also had a look at the tags that other sellers at the top of the Relevancy list had used and could not find any real connection. I have also search using tags and the results are spotty. I can have 10 items all with the same tags ( lets face it how many ways can you describe a book) and they all don't appear in my search. On ads, I agree with BikerBlingCa, the tags that appear in ads are not tags I would have picked and there is no way to change them. Unless I can change TAGS there seems to be no point in using this option.

Thanks for this. I have had a good overhaul of my tags and titles. I'll watch in my stats to see if it has had a positive affect.

I also agree with some of the fine artists who bring up the issue of titling pieces of work. I find myself spending a lot more time editing on etsy than ever with few gains. I appreciateall the advice and opinions of others here. Thank you.

I am not sure what to say about the relevancy issue. I just have one problem. I spend more and more time trying to do "things" on etsy in order to get my procucts sold. There are days that I don't even get to make anything! I have tried the relevancy thing, but obviously not well enough. I don't seem to be able to get to that point, that my products are selling nicely and that I can maintain the shop in an hour a day, listing items and checking with my teams, I really do not know what else to do to change this.

I was on vacation when this change started. During September, I didn't have the time to make any changes in my listings, but my sales were normal. All of a sudden on October 3, my sales and views dropped off dramatically. I sell mainly supplies (brass charms and blanks, watch parts). Only some of my items are showing up in the searches and then they are way back in the pages, while other shops have dozens of their items ahead of me. I pay Etsy hundreds of dollars a month for listing and sale fees. If this relevancy thing isn't adjusted, or corrected, or reversed, Etsy will be losing money on me. This is my sole source of income. I've invested a lot of money in purchasing and stocking supplies. I need to be able to sell them. Etsy, please do something about this!!!!!!!!!!

very, very helpful. thank you!

I make Beaded Sugar Skulls. The first two words of my titles are Sugar Skulls. Yet when I type "Sugar Skulls" in the search, my product is nowhere to be seen, yet items whose titles don't contain either word are on the top of the list. I don't get it!

Search engines are a mystery and always changing in how they pick who gets seen up front. Thanks for the tips and keep them coming.

I'm a huge etsy fan, also a seller, but this relevancy thing is confusing. Since there are tips, i follow it, but actually i dont know what's the point. What i understood so far was, i pay for renewing, gets more exporsers in the front page. But now renewing seems have no point. I would just search and see the page, i wont bother to see how i can see the most recent items as a customer. I would understand if relevancy is first, then among sellers using same keywords, who renewed most recently comes first. but it seems not. I dont see exact pattern how it works. Maybe i should consider to make my own shop page and use paypal system. Since i figured today i have more visitors easily from tweeting than having benefit by using etsy site. I kept tweeting and observed. Of course after i followed the relevancy tips. still tweeting works better. I see no point of renewing and using etsy site now. I hope uguys make things more clear for everyone. How the system works in deeper level.

I think making more categories would be more helpful to develop relevancy. I sell notepad holder, which is an organizer, i dont see exact category i can put my itmes in. There are other organizer sellers, they choose Bag-wallet, Book-case, Accessories kinda categories too. I just hope there is a category for all list taker sellers so customers can see all and compare. It would be even better if it can be sorted by the notepad size.

This was a useful article but I'm still not 100% clear on how it works. I rarely find anything of mine when I serach specifically for things I know are in my shop....

Thanks for the ideas.

@lindadiane BINGO! this is so unfortunate. it used to be that the harder you worked here on Etsy, the better you did. if one was religious about listing new items, one was rewarded with higher showings in the recency search. now it just feels homogenized. the high sellers have far fewer views, the low sellers are seeing small spikes, but we are all ending up in a cloudy middle. and my buyers, the ones Etsy claims will benefit from this, are more confused than ever. i'm afraid you've shot yourself in the foot with this one Etsy.

Just starting up a shop is definitely daunting and I hope that I'm doing all of this correctly!

I just posted this in the last blog comment thread re listing for relevancy, but I think I have some advice for those struggling with this in this thread as well. Based completely on my own experience struggling to put what I was reading in the blogs into practice...which was getting truly frustrating. Finally I began reading the comments in the last thread and analyzing listings for shops that commented positively in the comment thread and those that were negative. I began to see 2 distinct patterns for strategies emerge..which made it much easier to see that I was in the "incorrect listings and tag" group hehe. I think this might help others understand how to apply more effective listings for their own shops as well. I also think that there is a fallacy in the thinking that Etsy determines what is relevant and what is not. When you think of what makes Google so great, which is accurately pulling up in the first few listings ensuring they are exactly what the searcher is looking for, we realize that Google isn't dictating what is relevant for those key words and searches, it is the searchers that determine what is relevant, and Google has to continuously track those trends which change from moment to moment. Why does Google make this effort to be accurate? Highest possiblity of conversion, or click through rate, which is why google search traffic is considered golden to online retailers and other traffic based websites. Quality is always better than quantity when it comes to internet traffic..sometimes it just takes a while to get there.:)

EXCELLENT!!!!

omg!

Back to "Most Recent" please. I notice I see the same items on the first five or so pages for any search I do over and over again, day after day. The fact that I don't necessarily specialize in a certain product but rather in a variety of accessories makes it difficult for my items to be found in the masses, despite having the same types of tags as my competitors. "Most Recent gives everyone a chance to show up on the first page of a search as long as their shop is active with new listings. Can we please go back?

This change in search has been horrible - Countless hours spent 'adjusting' our listings and tags to 'hopefully' appear better in search when we should be CREATING ART. Really not fair to the sellers, who are the real backbone of etsy. CHANGE IT BACK!!

Totally UNFAIR and extremely difficult to understand. CHANGE it back to where it was fair for all.

It was simple before; renew your listings, etsy makes money and I get my items up front. Now when I search the items that I sell to see what comes up, it seems that only one or two shops hit the front page. I have looked at their tags and see nothing different from mine. This is extremely frustrating and I have no idea what to do.

I'm brand new to Etsy so I'll take all the advice I can get. I've been a jeweler for a long time but this is a whole different creature than regular wholesale shopwork or retail! I'm looking at it just like designing a webpage online, the relevancy rules seem to be the same.

Always great reading tips!!! thnx for the help!! :)

Just set up my own shop. I'm so excited!

Thanks for this ;)

I've just just about everyones comments... In summary I would say it is: VERY IMPORTANT FOR ETSY TO REVISE AND ADD TO THE CATEGORY HEADINGS AND SUB-HEADINGS... if relevancy is the criteria then the Category titles/headings have to be relevant to what buyers are looking for!! e.g. adding 'leather' under the various jewelry headings.

Hmmm, lots of work to do.

Great tips!! Now i have lots of work to do and make chances to my shop!

I have to say my sales are sooooo far down this year even after tyring to do all these great tips and tweaks etc... not sure I can stay on etsy as I know most of my CA team is dumping Etsy too. Bummer. Trying to stay positive as we keep working on our shops that used to sell, trying to make correct changes and still sales are so low!? :(

thank you your site i very helpful etsy is a huge doorway for all the artists out there i feel right at home

Yesterday I added two new items. I renewed them also once. I never received a single visit on them. I used to get at least a dozen visits per item listing. When I looked for the items under an easy search term they could not be found in the first 50 pages. It is impossible to list new items now because most etsy vendors have made their items relavent and new items, even though relevant are now put behind them on the last page. Why list at all?

Although I feel like "please give us your opinion - nobody is listening anyway", I have to say that sorting by relevancy would perhaps work if it was actually RELEVANT. After just posting an item, I enter the exact words in the search and all the appropriate categories, my item is on page 79... Of course, an ocean of completely irrelevant items are filling the pages 1 - 79. Unfair system. Waste of my time. Waste of my money.

Thanks for the info I think it will be very helpful for my!!! ;)