Did you get your shipping profiles all set up? If you missed that post click {here}. It's one doozy of a task I know. In my opinion one of the harder parts of opening an Etsy shop. But once you get past all that it gets easier!
Today's post is much easier... we're taking a breather and doing something easy! :o)
When customers are viewing your shop having your items separated into sections will help them narrow down their search. Say they are only interested in vintage kitchen items. If you have a section for Vintage Kitchen they can click on that and only the items in that section of your shop will be displayed.
It's kind of like having one of these for your customers.
Have you ever stopped in a store you're not familiar with just to pick up one thing? You know what you want but you have no idea where it is in the store. Thankfully they usually have aisle directories hanging over each aisle so you can find what you need. Think of your shop sections as your aisle directory. :o)
The one called "Shop Home" at the very top of the list of sections will show every item in your shop.
It's kind of like having one of these for your customers.
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| Source: www.dgsretail.com |
Have you ever stopped in a store you're not familiar with just to pick up one thing? You know what you want but you have no idea where it is in the store. Thankfully they usually have aisle directories hanging over each aisle so you can find what you need. Think of your shop sections as your aisle directory. :o)
The one called "Shop Home" at the very top of the list of sections will show every item in your shop.
Sections will not be as important early on when you only have a few things
listed but as you continue to add items you will want to be able to organize
them into sections.
You get ten sections limited to 24 characters each and as I said, they
are displayed on the left sidebar of your shop for buyers.
Enter the name of your first section in the box that pops up and save. Remember, they are limited to 24 characters.
Then click on the "Add section" button to continue adding more sections. You don't have to use them all now, you can come back at any time and add more, rename current sections, and rearrange them.
Add Your Items to Your New Sections
To add items that are already listed in your shop to sections click the check box for each item you want to add to a specific section (one section at a time, so for example I would click on the box for every item I want to put in the Kitchen section).
You can choose to name your sections however you
like but keep in mind that your shop sections are one of the items that Google
searches so make them relevant, something that people will likely search on
(i.e. Vintage Kitchen, Silver Earrings, etc.) Note: we will get into Google and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) a little bit later.
You may have seen some shops with spaced out
sections like this:
V
I N T A G E K I T C H E N
S
I L V E R E A R R I N G S
While that might look kind of cool, Google has no
idea what that means. It treats each letter as a separate word when it's written like that; a potential
buyer searching on Google for "Vintage Kitchen" will not see your
shop in the search results or you will be buried pages and pages down.
Once you start to get multiple pages of items you
will want to be sure they are all in a section. If they are not in a section
then buyer's will only be able to see them if they are looking at the default
"All Items" view for your shop.
Imagine if you have 6 pages of items for sale in
your shop. And imagine if the 2 or 3 items that are NOT in sections are on page
5 or 6, your buyers will likely never see them because most people do not take
the time to scroll through 6 pages of items.
And if they are like me when I shop, they might click on each section of the
shop to see what's in each section.
How to Add Shop Sections
How to Add Shop Sections
To begin setting up sections click on "Your
Shop" in the top, right-hand corner > Listings > Listing Manager
> on the left sidebar you will see "Sections". Click on "Organize your listings" to set up new
shop listings.
Enter the name of your first section in the box that pops up and save. Remember, they are limited to 24 characters.
Then click on the "Add section" button to continue adding more sections. You don't have to use them all now, you can come back at any time and add more, rename current sections, and rearrange them.
Add Your Items to Your New Sections
To add items that are already listed in your shop to sections click the check box for each item you want to add to a specific section (one section at a time, so for example I would click on the box for every item I want to put in the Kitchen section).
Click on "More Actions" (above all the pictures), then "Change Section".
Choose the section you want to place them in and click Apply.
To add items to sections as you are listing each item there will be a box to pick the section right underneath the description.
Here are some additional notes about shop sections:
After you have shop sections set up and with your items in them you should still periodically make sure that all of your items are listed in a section. Sometimes they get missed! While writing this I found two that were not in a section!
So to check click the drop down next to the sections. If you have items that are not in a section you will see "No Section".
Click on "No Section" and it will show the items that are affected. Click the little gear icon below that item picture and choose "Change Section", choose the section where you want your item to reside and click "Apply".
I wanted to point out a couple of items about the picture of my shop sections above too.
First, there is nothing special about the capitalized words in each section. I only did that so the main word that buyer's might be searching for is more noticeable.
Second, I don't like the section called "SHABBY but so Chic". It used to be Shabby Chic but there is an issue with using that word combination now since Rachel Ashwell has Trademarked it with her whole Shabby Chic brand. :o(
Third, I really should get rid of the "Bohemian BOHO Chic" section since I have another Etsy shop dedicated specifically to that!
This just goes to show that your Etsy shop will continually be a work in progress!
Next we will create an "About" page!
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear how you're doing with your shop!
Choose the section you want to place them in and click Apply.
To add items to sections as you are listing each item there will be a box to pick the section right underneath the description.
Here are some additional notes about shop sections:
- If you have a section that has no items it will not be visible to buyers.
- You can only list items in one section at a time.
- You will normally add items to sections as you are creating the listing.
- Items that are not designated a section will only be visible on the Shop home page.
After you have shop sections set up and with your items in them you should still periodically make sure that all of your items are listed in a section. Sometimes they get missed! While writing this I found two that were not in a section!
So to check click the drop down next to the sections. If you have items that are not in a section you will see "No Section".
Click on "No Section" and it will show the items that are affected. Click the little gear icon below that item picture and choose "Change Section", choose the section where you want your item to reside and click "Apply".
Once you have sections set up you will be able to
choose the section for the item while you are listing that item. You can also
move items between sections in bulk.
First, there is nothing special about the capitalized words in each section. I only did that so the main word that buyer's might be searching for is more noticeable.
Second, I don't like the section called "SHABBY but so Chic". It used to be Shabby Chic but there is an issue with using that word combination now since Rachel Ashwell has Trademarked it with her whole Shabby Chic brand. :o(
Third, I really should get rid of the "Bohemian BOHO Chic" section since I have another Etsy shop dedicated specifically to that!
This just goes to show that your Etsy shop will continually be a work in progress!
Next we will create an "About" page!
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear how you're doing with your shop!
Posts
I didn't think about capitalizing the word in each section that most identifies it. Good idea and good information. Love the kitty planning her next adventure! LOL!
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