Etsy just announced major changes to their algorithm that require seller action by October 1st - otherwise, you may risk losing your traffic. In today’s video, I’m covering everything you need to know and what actions you need to take before next month. For anyone who may be new here, my name is Starla Moore - founder of the Handmade Alpha Academy for Etsy sellers and manager at erank.com, Etsy's most popular SEO tool. And as someone who's worked in the realm of SEO for the last 7 years, I’ll be the first to admit that Etsy’s algorithm doesn’t change very often. In fact, during my 12 years of selling on Etsy, I’ve only seen them make changes like the ones we’ll be covering today a handful of times. And this is actually a pretty significant change that will affect a lot of sellers if they just happen to….not see this update. Thankfully, Etsy is being pretty transparent

about these updates, with big banners on our seller dashboard and listing page - but there are a few areas that I feel aren’t highlighted enough. In a nutshell, Etsy has retired their search analytics beta and replaced it with a new “Search Visibility Page” - a section of every seller’s dashboard where you can identify areas of your listings that may need improvement. And this is unlike our listing audit tool over at eRank, which basically lets you know how well your listings follow Etsy’s best practices - because the real kicker with the new search visibility page is that it’s basically a way to inform you that your listings don’t follow the brand new search criteria that hasn’t even taken effect yet? It’s almost like a cop saying, “Hey, next month - that road you take to work every morning? Yeah, your car will no longer be eligible to drive on it unless you reduce your shipping prices”.

Which IS a change Etsy is factoring into the algorithm in just a few weeks. In the article, Etsy states that: “Our data tells us that once shipping prices are $6 or above, buyers are less likely to make a purchase. We want to make it easier for buyers to find shipping prices that meet their expectations, so starting October 1, US listings with domestic shipping prices lower than $6 will be prioritized in search.” They also state: “We know that shipping needs vary based on the type of item or where it's shipping from, so we'll exclude certain categories and items shipped from outside the US from this new search criteria. We're also giving you better tools to adjust prices if you choose.” Listings excluded from this list obviously include digital items, Listings shipped from US sellers to non-US destinations, Listings shipped by sellers from outside the US, Listings priced over $35 from shops that offer a free shipping guarantee, and Listings that use calculated shipping.

Looking at my own dashboard last Wednesday, I realized that nearly ALL of my listings have shipping above $6 - which was indicated several times throughout my shop and listing page. Kind of a crappy thing to do right before the holiday season, Etsy. Which, okay. I get if. If the data leans one direction, that’s the direction Etsy is going to go. And obviously we can add the shipping cost into the price of our items - but it just feels like yet another way that Etsy is taking control away from its sellers when it comes to how we choose to run our businesses. There are a few other factors that Etsy mentions that have always impacted our search ranking under our Customer and Marketplace Experience Score standards but that Etsy is becoming a little more transparent about. Those include average review rating, message response rates, your rate of cases that resulted in refunds - excluding those covered by purchase protection, thankfully - and on-time shipping with tracking provided.

Etsy did mention that having a star seller badge does not contribute to your search ranking, but all of the factors that do contribute to ranking can also contribute to star seller. Which, I know sounds confusing so here’s a visual for how I see it. You don’t HAVE to be at the top of the triangle to rank in search… but everything that you have to do in order to get there also technically counts towards your rank. Aside from shipping under $6, there are a few other notable contributors to our search ranking. Etsy states that having a return policy will positively impact your search placement, though they do say that you don’t have to accept returns unless you live in a country where it’s legally required. You just have to have the policy in place. So this one is easy enough. Just make sure you’ve clicked that you ever accept returns or don’t accept returns within each of your listings.

And - here’s the one that is the most concerning out of all of these updates. Be sure to listen carefully here because there are a few layers to this one. Etsy states that, “Each of your listings should include multiple high-quality photos, which are critical for buyers when deciding when to make a purchase.” Multiple. Okay, we have the ability to add 10. But “multiple” is a bit vague. However, if you scroll down to the Q&A portion of the article, Etsy elaborates a bit. The question was: What if I don’t have any reviews yet? Does this impact my new listing’s visibility in Etsy Search? Etsy answered with this: “New listings will still be shown in search even if they don’t have any reviews or ratings yet, as long as they don’t have any other listing or shop quality issues. For example, if a new listing is missing photos or a return policy, search visibility might be impacted immediately.”

During our Thursday Q&A over at eRank, Pam Duthie and I both recalled hearing Etsy CEO, Josh Silverman, state that Etsy considers a listing complete when it has at least 5 images. Unfortunately, neither of us remembers where exactly we heard this information, so I can’t provide a source for this one. But it’s just something you may want to keep in mind when adding photos to your listings. Photography Coach, Kristina Nicole, and I have also been discussing challenges sellers have been encountering when it comes to their photos, with many seeing notices in their shops stating their photos aren’t up to par with Etsy’s search standards. Of these, sellers are seeing risk factors such as photos that are too dark - a huge hit to those who take dark and moody listing photos. Thumbnails displayed as collages are also being flagged within seller’s dashboards, and in their August 28th Article titled, “Creating Listings That Convert”, Etsy says:

“Avoid using collages in your first listing photo, since it can be confusing for shoppers to determine at a glance what’s for sale. It will also serve as a thumbnail and may be hard to see on smaller screens.” And lastly, sellers who utilize images that are less than 2000 pixels wide are now seeing notices that recommend utilizing a higher quality image - which is understandable. To hear Kristina’s advice and perspectives concerning Etsy listing photos, I highly recommend watching her latest video which will be linked up here and down below. Now, to be clear, Etsy has only used the October 1st date in reference to the new $6 shipping threshold, not in reference to these photo related recommendations. This likely means that the photo standards we’re now seeing in our shops have always had an impact on our search ranking. Etsy’s just becoming a bit more transparent about this ranking criteria.

So, if you have listings popping up with notices, but those listings are selling well within your shop, I wouldn’t rush to change them unless you notice a dramatic dip in traffic and sales. When it comes to ranking in search, Etsy will always go where the money is, and if your listings are selling exactly as they are, it likely means that Etsy won’t stop showing them to the customers who are buying. However, if you’re not making sales, it’s probably a good idea to make sure your listings have at least 5 photos, are above 2000 pixels, don’t utilize collages, and are well-lit and easy to understand. I personally just listed new items in my own shop and am testing the views and visibility of listings that have 10 photos, vs those that have less. And, as of right now, I’m not really noticing too much of a difference. Both are seeing relatively consistent traffic and favorites.

Only time will tell how these changes will play out in the long run, but for now, I recommend checking for those return policies, adjusting your shipping prices if possible, adding more listing photos, and obviously keeping an eye on things like your response rates. We are just weeks away from the annual Etsy holiday traffic boom, which starts in early October and peaks in November. So if you’re panicking about how you’re going to get your shop ready or how you’re going to drive traffic to your shop this holiday season, I just want to take a moment to tell you a bit about our upcoming Alpha Holiday Bootcamp… This 7-Day training is for Etsy sellers who want to save time, stress less, and learn from expert coaches every single day, like Hannah Gardner, Photography coach, Kristina Nicole, Dave from AddToCart, Simply POD with Mandy, and Angel from Passive Income Angel. Oh, and me. I’ll be speaking too.

On day 7 of the BootCamp, you'll be able to join my husband Marc and me for a live coaching call, where you can ask last-minute questions as you finalize your holiday marketing prep. The boot camp will be taking place from September 9th through September 15th, and registration begins this Thursday, September 5th. We’ll only be accepting registrations until the 8th of September, so be sure to click the link below or visit bootcampalpha.com if this sounds like something that you'd like to check out for your own business. Until next time, pookie.

Etsy 2024 October Algorithm Update: Everything You Need Know

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