Changes for 2017: What is in store for our Etsy stores?

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind for our Etsy shops as we start 2017:

US postal rate increase

US postal rates will go up on January 17, 2017. Here is a detailed chart. If you use Etsy's calculated shipping, you won't have to do anything. That's the true beauty of calculated shipping.

Avoid keyword stuffing

Etsy recently said that keyword stuffing will no longer be rewarded in search.  Here is more information about what it is and how to avoid it.

Look for more changes to search

Here is Etsy's January announcement about search enhancements they will be working on in 2017.

A search for "vintage photograph" yielded 44,425 results.

Etsy has purchased Blackbird Technologies, a company specializing in artificial intelligence. They will surely be tweaking search.

They already have, in fact. Here is Etsy's announcement about spelling improvements. There is no longer any reason to purposely misspell common words in order to get found.

More specialized terms like "enamelware" versus "enamel ware" you must still test to see. I just tested "wood" and "wooden" and still find differences at this point. There is no way to know which word our buyer will use while searching. So we must still include both words in order to be found.

Test searches are necessary.

How do you perform a test search? 

The same search with the word "photo" had 120,049 hits.

Using another example, search using the word "photo" and note the number of results. Then perform the exact same search, but use instead the word "photograph." Was there a different number of listings available for each? If so, then the words are not treated the same. Both must be included in your tags.

Only time will tell what changes will happen in Etsy land this year. Keep checking back for more help for your shop.

Thanks for your support for my blogging journey. Happy sales in 2017!