Etsy's Handmade Blog
Shop Makeover Series: Google PageRank Tips for Your Etsy Shop
Story by Aprilrobin
Published on January 9, 2009 in How-To 		Photo by

elles

The following article on Google PageRank was originally written by Aprilrobin for TimothyAdamDesigns' blog (a great resource for Etsy sellers!). 

I've seen the question so many times on the Etsy forums, "Why isn't my Etsy shop showing up in Google when I search for XYZ?"  While that is actually a very complex question, in a nutshell: to get seen, you need to optimize your Etsy shop for Google and increase your "PageRank".

Google's PageRank is the designation from 1 - 10 of an algorithm that assesses how important your website is (10 being the most important). Here's the kicker: it’s machines making this determination. You may have heard these machines referred to as "spiders" or "robots".  I prefer to think of them as robot spiders merely because it amuses me. These robot spiders crawl the web hunting for information and bring it back to the Googleplex. This is known as indexing. If your information is good and full of Search Engine Optimization (SEO), the robot spiders will come back often and give you a higher PageRank, therefore greatly increasing your chances of top search results.

PageRank for any website can easily be viewed by installing the Google's Toolbar.  How do you get this PageRank?

If you search the web for SEO techniques you'll find plenty of them — too many. Unfortunately, a lot of the information you'll find is either not applicable to current versions of the algorithm, spam techniques, or not applicable to Etsy. Etsy is not the same as your regular personal website and I'm not going to suggest you obtain a personal website today either. Baby steps.

 

Inside Your Etsy Shop

The best thing you can do on Etsy is provide good titles and descriptions and use all of your tags. When writing your titles and descriptions, think of key terms.  “Key terms” in this sense simply means that you are using descriptive language that includes words and terms buyers might use to find products like the ones in this listing.

If you were searching for items such as yours in Google, what kind of language would you use? Put yourself in the mind set of the searcher and write accordingly.  Keep in mind that Google likes change.  If you re-list the same items again and again, change your titles and descriptions up every once in a while. Try some slightly different verbiage and new key terms each time.

 

Outside of Your Etsy Shop

Link, link, link! As in, get people to link to you (inbound links/ IBL). To start, use links to your Etsy store in your signature on any blogs, forums or message boards you belong to.

One of the biggest factors in boosting your rank is inbound links from sites with a high PageRank. Not only is Google more likely to index these high ranked sites quickly and repeatedly,  but you're more likely to get click though traffic to your site and more people linking to you.  Site click through rate (the people following these IBL to visit your shop/CTR), is another important factor to determining your PageRank. Inbound links from a low ranked site won't necessarily hurt you,  so don’t freak out on your friend for linking you from his low ranked site. Ignore reciprocal link services and engines that litter the web. These are spam and Google hates spam.

Relevant Links

There is some argument among web developers on the topic, but many, myself included, agree that your IBL should be “relevant” whenever possible.  Relevant refers to the relevancy of your IBL to your store.           
An example of relevant IBL: If your Etsy shop containing crocheted face scrubbies is linked to by a cage fighting website, Google is going to see that and be sort of “Ok, what the...?”  If your Etsy shop containing crocheted face scrubbies is linked to by Martha Stewart, Google is going to see that and be all “WORD!” Your store is now associated with high-ranked information on crafts and handmade goods.  You’re also bound to attract higher click through traffic.  Consider how relevant IBLs are to your shop before investing time pursuing them or paying to advertise.   

Hyperlinks

A hyperlink is when you use words to link to your Etsy store instead of graphics, or in addition to graphics. Remember, the robot spiders can’t see pictures, so do not rely solely on graphics when you link to your shop.  Use descriptive key terms in your hyperlinks. Creating a link to your shop that says “buy handmade crocheted face scrubbies” is going to be more valuable than a link that‘s your shop’s name.  “Daisydoodle’s Boutique” might be the perfect shop name for you, but how the heck is Google supposed to figure out that has anything to do with handmade crocheted face scrubbies?

Tips

1. Don't try to trick Google.
Google’s main purpose is to weed out spam and garbage content and organize legitimate content. Google also carries a grudge. Even though we’re dealing with robot spiders here, they’re a lot smarter than you may think. Filling descriptions and links with nothing but irrelevant key words and trash can get you on the blacklist or “sandboxed”.

2. Be realistic and don't obsess.
Get this through your head right now. Say it out loud… “I WILL NEVER RANK A 10”.  Say it again and believe it.  PageRank is global compared to all other websites in the world.  At the time I’m writing this, Etsy’s homepage has a PageRank of 7 and Amazon ranks a 9. Those would have to be some very magical face scrubbies for your shop to have a PageRank like that!

Find other Etsy shops to look up to and compare yourself to those. Figure out what it is that they’re doing right. Your ultimate goal might be a 4. That’s completely OK and likely very appropriate. As part of my business — I run very popular statewide real estate websites —  if I can rank a 5, I’m over the moon.

3. Be patient.

New shops might take a while to be indexed at all and jumping an entire number is an enormous job.
Keep up with ethical SEO: write organically, be thoughtful, network for relative IBL, DO NOT SPAM, and in time you’ll get there.  The cream always rises to the top.

4. Keep your eye on PageRanks.

Download Google's Toolbar to find out the PageRank of any site your browsing (including your own!) Learn more about this here.

Seller Handbook | Shop Makeover Series

Tags advice, Aprilrobin, best practices, business, Google Pagerank, HOW-TO, IBL, inbound links, online business, optimization, page rank, promoting, search engines, Seller Handbook, seller help, selling, SEO, Shop Makeover Series, TimothyAdamDesigns, tips, tools, tutorials
All articles in How-To
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131 comments     Login to add your own!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. TimothyAdamDesigns

Great Article!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 7:37 p.m. MelissasMelange

Awesome article, thanks for sharing advice from such an important Etsy knowledge contributor!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 7:38 p.m. AlloverArt

I read this on TimothyAdam's blog. It is a great read. :)

Jan. 9, 2009 at 7:40 p.m. anemoneletterpress

great! thanks for posting this!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 7:55 p.m. timesandchimes

Great information! Thank you! And cute items to boot!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 7:56 p.m. kylieB

Fantastic Thanks!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 8:02 p.m. uncharted

very helpful - thanks!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 8:25 p.m. FrucciDesign

It has been a googleish day here!
I'm not sure I can take more info for the day, I'll read this first thing tomorrow morning sipping my coffee...Thanx for sharing and helping understand this new (4 me) world!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 8:34 p.m. AnthologiE

Thanks! Very helpful, informative and somehow you've made all that tech stuff humourous, too!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 8:39 p.m. GoldtoneDesigns

Great Info, Thanks! ►♥◄

Jan. 9, 2009 at 8:42 p.m. KnitStorm

cool. i just recently read the original write up. that blog is pretty darn cool overall...

Jan. 9, 2009 at 8:55 p.m. loopsdesigns

Thanks for posting this. It is very helpful.

Jan. 9, 2009 at 9:06 p.m. happyfamily

Tim is everywhere today!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 9:39 p.m. Studio618

Each time I read about SEO, crawlers, keywords, etc. I seem to understand more. So thanks for posting these valuable info.

Jan. 9, 2009 at 9:44 p.m. 4TheSparrowsNest

So helpful--thanks Etsy!!!!! You all are knocking out those new year's resolutions like crazy! ;)

Jan. 9, 2009 at 10:27 p.m. PDXfabricdeli

Great info and one day I'll be just like the cream - on top. Nice item selection too!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 10:45 p.m. jcrabbit

we were just talking about this today at work (page rank). It is very helpful to your site, and this is a GREAT article. Thanks for sharing!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 10:46 p.m. FirstLove

Excellent info...had wondered about this myself and this article cleared up a lot!! Thank you :)

Jan. 9, 2009 at 11:09 p.m. Christophersartglass

Great article, Thanks!

Jan. 9, 2009 at 11:30 p.m. fernfiddlehead

I just googled MacBook covers and I was on the first page!!! Wow. I had no idea what it meant 'til now. Thanks!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 1:21 a.m. worksandfinds

That's fantastic!! Thank you.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 3:12 a.m. piddix

I'm a 4. I guess that's good. That was helpful. Thank you.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 3:27 a.m. ArtWhims

neat, love the way you write by the way!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 3:42 a.m. RaeGun

a great reminder. thanks for sharing...I'm a 4 too piddix now what to do with this info

Jan. 10, 2009 at 6:21 a.m. hanginmoon

Thanks for the tip!
even though i can even find my link at page 10. bru~~~~

Jan. 10, 2009 at 7:49 a.m. GeeZees

great article...just repeat, i will never be a 10...lol

Jan. 10, 2009 at 8:22 a.m. englishmuffinshop

thanks for the tips, I'll start doing the "inbound linking" when I comment on blogs. danke!!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 8:28 a.m. accentyourself

Thank you for the information. As an Etsy novice, I'm really focusing on improving my shop this year! Thanks!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 9:34 a.m. BluCille

Necessary info. Thanks.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 9:35 a.m. zombuki

Great tips! Thanks so much! :3

Jan. 10, 2009 at 9:52 a.m. christinececelia

lots of good info
thanks!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 10:38 a.m. marstinia

This is great information and so well written--it explains a lot of stuff I never understood or even knew about! Definitely going to help alot--thanks!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 10:41 a.m. dianedesign

very informative

Jan. 10, 2009 at 12:13 p.m. grassrootsartworks

Sooo interesting and helpful!! I googled a product from my other shop and my shop was on the first page, fourth down!!! I guess I never considered the significance of this, but now I do!!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 1:02 p.m. faeriesfolly

heehee. Robot spiders.
After giggling for a little too long at the image of giant robot spiders combing the interwebz for info, I did get to the part where I learn stuff. ;) Thanks for posting such helpful articles!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 1:08 p.m. lineanongrata

Thanks for all the information.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 2:27 p.m. beachhouseblues

Great info. Thanks!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 2:42 p.m. vortextradingcompany

Helpful thanks

Jan. 10, 2009 at 2:54 p.m. thecaliforniachi

Thank you. This info is very helpful.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 3:33 p.m. HeyChica

Thanks for sharing the info!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 4:05 p.m. abigailee

thanks for all the insight. very helpful!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 4:15 p.m. jacarandadesigns

I've added google toolbar but I can't seem to find the page rank displayed. Could you offer some advice please?

Jan. 10, 2009 at 4:46 p.m. Aprilrobin

Hey guy, Glad you all enjoyed it and I hope it really was halpful to you. Thank you to Etsy for including it here!

If you are having touble finding PageRank diaply once you've installed the Google toolbar, click on the "Settings" link and then on "Options". When the Options window opens, click on the "More" tab.

The third category down is "Even More Buttons". "PageRank and Page Info" is the first check box. Make sure that's checked =)

Jan. 10, 2009 at 4:47 p.m. Aprilrobin

Wow I can't type today! please excuse my typos.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 4:49 p.m. Thinkoutsidethebox

Forgive me if this info isn't 100% correct for some but it works for me. Instead of downloading the Google toolbar to check your page rank you can follow this link to check it...
http://www.mypagerank.net/service_pag...

Be sure to copy/paste your etsy shop link in the box there as opposed to just typing in your store's name..I have to delete the provided http:// and then paste my url from my shop's homepage..then the rank comes up for me..I am a 4 as well. If someone needs more info feel free to convo me!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 5:12 p.m. baconsquarefarm

Great info as always from Etsy and Timothy Adams~ you all rock.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 5:52 p.m. bylynnkrestel

thanks for the info!! thanks too 'thinkoutside the box' that clarified even more!!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. anothertimeantiques

good basic stuff! I'm saving this. Hope to understand SEO's by the time I retire! LOL

Jan. 10, 2009 at 6:56 p.m. pinkboxstudio

straightforward info...WORD!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 7:29 p.m. LaireMarie

These are all so cute!!!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 7:35 p.m. SilverPhoenixDesign

this article helped. Thanks:)

Jan. 10, 2009 at 7:39 p.m. creativecomforts07

I didn't know that you could do this. Thanks! I will check it out!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 9:36 p.m. BeeGracious

Thanks for sharing important information for success!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 9:42 p.m. 2ndchancevintage

I'm lovin' this! Thanks for sharing these valuable tips!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 10:27 p.m. nfall2rt

Wow great info...lots more research to do!

Jan. 10, 2009 at 11:13 p.m. CoveredLadiesDesigns

Thank you for sharing this great information.

Jan. 10, 2009 at 11:35 p.m. stonerainartistry

Thanks for this great article! It puts ranking into great perspective.

Jan. 11, 2009 at 1:04 a.m. CutieDynamite

So much new Google info, thanks Etsy!

Jan. 11, 2009 at 5:05 a.m. Kikitaly

Thank you for the info

Jan. 11, 2009 at 6:44 a.m. heidiburton

Oooh, didn't know Google carries grudges! Thanks for the info, I'm off to page rank!

Jan. 11, 2009 at 8:16 a.m. TheGoblinTrader

Being fairly new to Etsy, I really appreciate the articles on the inner workings and how to at Etsy. Although, I haven't downloaded the Google toolbar yet, I did hop over to Google and search a couple of key words for some of our items (i.e. pirate journal, and ying yang journal) and was pleasantly surprised to find our items on the first page. I expect being tied to the Etsy community helps in the search engines. I hadn't thought about that extra benefit.
Thanks, Kate

Jan. 11, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. carolinabean

Great article! I needed this information.
Jennifer

Jan. 11, 2009 at 10:44 a.m. LuLusPhotography

Off to the pagerank I go!

Jan. 11, 2009 at 11:19 a.m. truLuxe

... "and be all WORD"... that line made my laugh. My mother would have said there was an error in the article, that sentence doesn't make sense. LOL... even our writing has evolved.

Well... I've got some downloading to do!

Jan. 11, 2009 at 12:41 p.m. charmingladies3

great info

Jan. 11, 2009 at 2:49 p.m. jemily

thanks - great article

Jan. 11, 2009 at 5:09 p.m. dogties

Cool info

Jan. 11, 2009 at 6:37 p.m. sherrysgarden

Thanks for the insight, very useful

Jan. 11, 2009 at 7:48 p.m. alamodeplease

Thanks for the info!

Jan. 11, 2009 at 9:05 p.m. JetWhitePonytail

Word, April. One of the most useful Etsy articles I've ready in a while :)

Jan. 11, 2009 at 9:51 p.m. starttounlearn

This was an intriguing article. Way helpful. I had heard of these robots before but didn't know how the whole process worked. It is also going to be great to be able to monitor my own page. Thanks for the new info!

Jan. 11, 2009 at 10:32 p.m. jcjewelrydesign

This is very helpful. Thank you so much!!!

Jan. 12, 2009 at 8:14 a.m. WildRoseJewels

Great Article! I'm still pretty new, so I need all the helpful hints I can get!

Jan. 13, 2009 at 2:23 p.m. KabiDesigns

Great Article Thanks ^_^

Jan. 13, 2009 at 2:26 p.m. CityChicCountryMouse

Interesting! Gives me lots to think about! I learn something (usually more than one) new every day here!

Jan. 13, 2009 at 2:40 p.m. recupefashion

Wow that is helping me so much and it's telling me that I have to work on my blog minking. Got ot go to work

Jan. 13, 2009 at 2:41 p.m. rabbithorns

This is really helpful...except I still can't get PageRank to work. It's in the toolbar but doesn't "show" any kind of ranking. Sorry to be so lame, but what exactly is it supposed to do? Show a number automatically? Can a site have no rank? (is my site that rank LOL?)

Jan. 13, 2009 at 3:39 p.m. tripletrouble

This article helps a lot!

Jan. 13, 2009 at 3:57 p.m. piperewan

interesting.

Jan. 13, 2009 at 6 p.m. mystudio

Excellent information. Thanks so much.

Jan. 13, 2009 at 7:53 p.m. barehandedpress

Wow. I never even considered naming my products with Google searching in mind. Thanks for the tip!

Jan. 14, 2009 at 7:26 a.m. MagicalMedley

Fantastic... will have to make it a project to learn and get some page rank and linking done today. Thanks so much for the tips.

Jan. 14, 2009 at 11:58 a.m. mloartwear

Very good article!

Jan. 14, 2009 at 8:20 p.m. RussPotak

Sounds like the PC TECHNO POLICE SPIDERS are everywhere. You can run, but you can't hide from them. Be careful what you say and how you say it. They're on to you before your hit "enter". I'm "Looking for Links in all the Wrong Places." Good luck everybody,,,,I know I'll need it!

Jan. 14, 2009 at 9:09 p.m. hempandmore

Thanks for a great article! :-)

Jan. 15, 2009 at 11:44 p.m. OutOfSomething

Wow! This is great information! I am not very intelligent in the technology arena, so this is a great help! I've been working hard to get people to see my stuff and still haven't sold anything...I'll keep trying and using your tips! :) Thanks again!

Jan. 16, 2009 at 3:39 p.m. crochetgal

Awesome collection of information! I'm not to technologically savvy but you tell it in English. Thanks very much!

Jan. 18, 2009 at 9:45 p.m. TheBeehive

Fantastic info, thanks!

Jan. 19, 2009 at 4:59 a.m. Petables

Wow this was great!

Jan. 19, 2009 at 7:55 a.m. jodifrench

Thank you!!!!

Jan. 22, 2009 at 1:56 a.m. Glitzer

love the tips!

Jan. 22, 2009 at 12:48 p.m. msduds

Thank you ~ great advice!

Jan. 27, 2009 at 12:02 p.m. stilettogirl

Does anyone know why, if you search very specifically, like the exact title of your item, similar etsy shops come up, but not yours (like at all) even on the last page or the irrelevant extras? I feel like I started a college degree all over again. There is so much to learn! LOL.

Feb. 16, 2009 at 10:07 p.m. Gypsymoondesigns

I did somethings and raised my page up a rank! Thanks!

Feb. 26, 2009 at 10:36 p.m. SakuraSoapworks

I am a beginner and this info is golden

March 13, 2009 at 1:50 p.m. kittybblove

Thanks for doing an article about this!

March 13, 2009 at 4:45 p.m. odiliafu

Thanks for the very useful article!!

March 13, 2009 at 5:39 p.m. bellasparty

Great info. Thanks!

March 13, 2009 at 7:26 p.m. FoxyGknits

Great info! Thanks for sharing.

March 13, 2009 at 8:36 p.m. BGBJewelry

great info- and love the etys pics! I never could figure out if you need to be closer to 1 or 10- now I know- thanks again trisha

March 13, 2009 at 10:02 p.m. zMacPhotography

Thanks so much for the tips! :) Very much appreciated.

March 14, 2009 at 9:52 a.m. Depictions

Sorry, but I'm going to stick my neck out here. I probably won't win any friends or sales for saying this : some of the information in this article is confusing/mis-leading, for want of a better word. It also serves to perpetuate the myth that high toolbar PageRank = high ranking in search engine results pages.

Your search engine ranking is NOT the same as your Google tool bar PageRank. Toolbar PageRank is updated only three of four times a year and is, as Google state:

"one of over 200 signals that can affect how your site is crawled, indexed and ranked"
Source:http://sites.google.com/site/webmasterhelpforum/en/faq--crawling--indexing---ranking

I would recommend reading Google's own webmaster guidelines and FAQ: crawling, indexing and ranking, for a more accurate overview.

One area, I would really pay attention to is their policy on link schemes which can be found here:
http://www.google.com/support/webmast...

I hope the editors will be able to include the links to the official Google pages, which I think readers may find useful.

March 14, 2009 at 9:53 a.m. Depictions

http://sites.google.com/site/webmaste...

March 14, 2009 at 4:52 p.m. thevintagesupplyco

Great article! I looked myself up under vintage supply and I was #2 on google!! I guess I've been doing something right!

March 16, 2009 at 3:01 p.m. StitchesOfThePast

Thanks for the information.

March 16, 2009 at 6:55 p.m. DragonfliesStudio

Thanks Aprilrobin for a great article and also to Depictions for clarification! My head is spinning.

March 16, 2009 at 6:56 p.m. DragonfliesStudio

Thanks Aprilrobin for a great article and also to Depictions for clarification! My head is spinning.

March 17, 2009 at 7:36 p.m. Happy2you

I've been very curious about this stuff lately, as I am just beginning. Thank you for the easily digestible article.

March 21, 2009 at 9:41 a.m. michellecanuelle

Great information! Thank you for sharing!!!

March 22, 2009 at 11:30 p.m. ClineffsConfections

Great article! Thanks for the info!

March 23, 2009 at 8:27 a.m. catsongstitchery

I had no idea about page rank and all that. Excellent article!

March 24, 2009 at 10:20 a.m. thepurselady1

A lot of food for thought!! Thanks for all the info!

April 27, 2009 at 10:13 p.m. mayzbeadz

very well put

April 30, 2009 at 8:23 a.m. beccamari

Thanks much!

April 30, 2009 at 11:44 p.m. anothertimeantiques

excellent! Question - can you get page ranks without the google toolbar?

May 3, 2009 at 12:38 a.m. vintageapparel

Off to get more information. Thanks for a great article.

May 22, 2009 at 5:57 a.m. lynsi

Thanks ! I think this article offered some really great incite!

May 23, 2009 at 7:32 a.m. TheSewingDen

Very! Very! informative. I am so glad I took time to read. Thank you

June 11, 2009 at 8:29 p.m. Antillia

Very enlightening, thank you!

June 14, 2009 at 4:01 p.m. RSSDesignsInFiber

I'm going to be realistic - for my small Etsy shop, I am not interested in taking the time to check my Google Page Rank, but the information on how to do links so that Google picks up on them better is very valuable.

My shop name describes what I make on purpose - I crochet and knit and may eventually get some needlepoint up in my shop to sell, so I couldn't put either crochet or knitting in my username like some do.

Overall, this article is pretty helpfull for finding out how to get into Google Search results.

June 21, 2009 at 3:10 a.m. daisytrails

This is So awesome! And written in terms i can understand!

June 21, 2009 at 11:27 p.m. TheNightjar

wow, i have a lot of work to do! whew! thanks for the info

June 25, 2009 at 5:14 p.m. wooden45

Thank you for making this a little easier to understand!

June 30, 2009 at 12:24 p.m. dreamspiralart

Thanks for breaking it down into lay-man's (or woman's) terms. Usually this website stat stuff makes my eyes go crossed. I could actually follow this article and will apply the info in two shakes of a stick!

Sept. 16, 2009 at 10:51 a.m. dsenyo

Very informative. Thanks for sharing this post. http://dsenyo.etsy.com

Sept. 18, 2009 at 8 a.m. aquablueseaglass

Amazing report. Thanks.

Oct. 4, 2009 at 5:32 p.m. lillith

great info and clarification as well!

Oct. 7, 2009 at 4:59 p.m. LABELit

very helpful. will definitely use these tips!

Oct. 11, 2009 at 7:42 p.m. pearlsvintage

Great article... Thanks for spelling it out!

Oct. 15, 2009 at 9:07 p.m. Jelart

Great Ideas, thanks!

Oct. 15, 2009 at 10:04 p.m. FashionTouch

Very easy to understand and helpful!!!!! Thank you very much!!!

FashionTouch
Unique and Affordable accessories at http://fashiontouch.etsy.com
Useful Tips, Showcases, Reviews and many more at http://fashiontouchme.blogspot.com

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