Following eBay’s lead, Etsy has put its hat into the search-and-sort-by-”relevance” ring. On Thursdays for the next three weeks, Etsy will be sorting their search results using algorithm that attempts to determine the relevancy of listings to the customer. According to Etsy’s blog:
Etsy’s Most Relevant Search is a living feature in active development, and it will evolve over time as we monitor its performance and make improvements to the listing process.
Etsy’s search and sort algorithm currently considers three main factors:
- Tags
- Titles
- Descriptions
Tags are the 14 keywords Etsy allows sellers to categorize and describe the item they are listing. This is the most heavily weighted part of the algorithm. Guidelines on effective Etsy tags are here.
Descriptive and short titles are the next most important factor in the Etsy relevance algorithm. The algorithm seems to relate lengthy titles with keyword spamming, thus penalizing longer titles. According to Etsy:
Super long and unnaturally written titles don’t work well for Most Relevant, and they are unappealing to shoppers. A good, accurate, buyer-friendly title can help your relevancy; a super-long title, jam-packed with keywords — or, conversely, a short title with no descriptive information — will hurt it. Aim for the “sweet spot” in the middle here. Make sure to put very important search words, such as what the item is, in the title.
Finally, a keyword filled and lengthy description is the third key to ranking well in Etsy’s relevance search and sort. Don’t skimp on the description, because the algorithm is looking at the words and phrases you include here. What words you take out of the title should be included in the description.
Having inadequate descriptions for your items will bring down your relevancy. Think about what keywords your ideal buyer would be using in her searches, and try to weave that into the story you’re telling.
Unlike eBay rolling out Best Match, Etsy has given sellers a few weeks to experiment and prepare. Now is the time to act. Make the recommended changes to your listings and see how they fare on “Relevance Thursdays.” Take note of what works and what doesn’t and make tweaks for the following week. Wash, rinse and repeat.
What tips do you have to share regarding Etsy’s “Best Match” experiment?
The Return of the Auction Format
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The auction format is experiencing a renaissance of sorts on eBay. For several years, eBay has been depreciating the auction style format in favor of the fixed-price format (Buy It Now and Stores inventory) through various incentives such as listing fee discounts, extended durations, and favorable treatment under the Best Match. Recently, however, this trend has started to turn around. Auctions are making a comeback.
eBay seemed to signal the auction formats return to favor when they offered sellers the opportunity to post five free auction style listings each month. Then, eBay recently redistributed the ratio of auction to fixed-priced listings they display on the first page of the Best Match search results. According to the Best Match Webinar eBay held last week, auctions now comprise an average of 70% of the listings on the first page of the search results. In fact, eBay is going as far as testing a notice on the Sell Your Item form encouraging sellers of a single item to employ the auction format to achieve increased visibility in the Best Match search results.
Also, the most recent Best Match changes level the playing field somewhat among auction listings. There is no boost in Best Match for free shipping (although listings with excessive shipping and handling charges will be penalized) and Top-rated sellers do not get increased visibility for their auction-format listings (they receive a boost in Best Match for fixed-price listings only). In fact, auctions are currently the easiest way to get visibility in Best Match without all the hassle of Best Match optimization.
So all hail the return of the auction format!
New eBay Templates Added
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In response to numerous requests, I’ve added a couple of new templates over at the free eBay templates machine for the fall season. There’s a Halloween template incorporating orange and black colors and a template called “autumn” with fall colors.
New Halloween eBay Template
As always, our templates are free with no registration required.
Seller Dashboard Restricted to Those With 10 or More DSRs
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As part of their system changes for fall 2009, eBay.com has restricted access to the seller dashboard to sellers who have received 10 or more Detailed Seller Ratings over the past 12 months. If you don’t meet these qualifications, this is the screen you encounter when you attempt to access the seller dashboard:
This is particularly significant to sellers who want to access the new search visibility tool that is being added to the seller dashboard this fall. This tool offers more transparancy into the Best Match algorithm which can help the seller rank higher in the search results and earn more sales.
I’m not sure why eBay decided to establish a minimum threshold requirement in order to access the seller dashboard, but the value of the search visibility tool should motivate even the most casual seller to maintain enough sales to use this utility.