What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is the process of increasing the quality and quantity of website traffic by increasing the visibility of a website or webpage to end users of a search engine. SEO is not something you pay for, unless you pay for someone to optimize your site or listings, and create organic, meaningful traffic. 

When applied appropriately you can rank your items on Google, Bing, Yahoo and other major search engines. There are a lot of REALLY good SEO sites out there that you can use to do your research. I won't be getting into EVERYTHING here as the process takes a long time to explain, but I will touch on some high level items and smaller tasks that you can utilize to gain more momentum in your SEO journey.

I will also add that algorithms are constantly changing as the web evolves, so this is not something you can "set and forget". You always need to work on your web items (blogs, websites, listings ect) to keep growing your organic traffic. 

Apply SEO to your Work

Most of the sites we provide our work on have their own SEO kicking about. The trick is to apply SEO to your listings and websites to attract more visitors. I am not going to get into SEO for your websites. That is a lot more complicated and intricate and takes a LOT of time to go over. Instead I am going to focus on your listings, where you can apply SEO, and how you can capitalize on that. 

In our listings we have the ability to utilize SEO in our tags, titles, and descriptions. I am going to cover all three below and how you can help increase the organic ratings on your listings on any platform. 

Keyword Research

Keyword research is critical for any person looking into SEO. There are many places you can do this, but my personal preference is "Keywords Everywhere". This used to be a free tool, although now you need to pay for credits. I spent $10 on 100,000 credits 6 months ago and have BARELY dented my number of credits. You can use the browser extension in Chrome and these results will show up in Google, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and more! 

When you search for something on one of the supported websites you will see the Cost Per Click as well as the Search Volume for the specific item. You can also see other related search terms on certain websites. 

If you're targeting Valentine's Day SVGs for example, type it into the search bar of your choice:

You will see the Volume and CPC (Cost per click) and your competition.

On the right hand side you will also see what other people have searched for and related search terms. Not only is this useful for your next designs, but also for other keywords you can use if they are related to your listing. 

Your Search Volume is an average of the total searches that people have performed for the specific keyword over the last 12 months. 

Cost Per Click, or CPC, is the amount the the average person is paying per click for this specific keyword. 

Competition is a number from 0-1 that shows how many people are paying for advertising related to the content. The higher the number, the higher the competition for that keyword. 

Keyword Research is critical for not only future design work, but optimizing your tags, titles and descriptions. 

You can also use Etsy to help you add additional keywords to your listings based upon what others are searching for. To do this type in your keyword and take note of the long list of items people are searching for:

There are a lot of things out there people don't think to use, but these tools are (mostly) free and can help you earn more income in the long run. 

SEO for Titles

Keyword stuffing was a HUGE thing for Etsy back in the day. People thought the more keywords they stuffed into their titles the better. Reality is, Etsy has changed their algorithm quite a lot. You should have 1-2 major keywords in your titles and that's all. For example I generally put the title of the SVG and then the Occasion. Any more than that and Etsy won't rank your listing as it would other's because it comes off as spam. 

 As you can see below I added the title of the SVG and the Holiday associated with it, that's all. 

Keep your titles short, simple, to the point with 1-2 keywords you are targeting. 

SEO for Tags

Generally you can add 13 or more tags to a listing on whatever platform yo are selling on. For Etsy you're limited to 20 characters. Here you want to try NOT to duplicate words over and over, use long tail keywords, and try to get as many keywords as you can in 13 tags. Try not to repeat things over and over again, think about the file type, what it can be used for, the color, and other things related to the design. 

Use your Keyword Research from the above tips to help fill your tags out. 

SEO for Descriptions

You can optimize your descriptions by putting your title in the beginning of your listing. Make sure you also include some of your keywords within the body of the description. 

Aside from that you want to include your license terms, file types (and sizes) and any other relevant information. I tend to use a canned description and add the information I need that is fluid each time I upload a new listing. 

Bulk edit listings with Vela

These are just some basic high level overviews of SEO (mainly for Etsy). Keep in mind these tactics are always changing and growing as the internet and technology increases. There is no 100% surefire way to make everything SEO friendly, but there are a lot of small tricks and habits from the above information you can apply to ensure you're in the right places in search for many platforms. 

If you need some more in depth SEO help for your website or Etsy listings, contact me!

That's it! You've completed the Bootcamp! Now get your butt out there and start creating and selling. Remember $1.00 today is more than you had yesterday! 

I'll reiterate as I did above, if you need some in depth coaching on anything mentioned please head on over to the Services tab or drop me a line. I work with any and all budgets to help you grow and succeed. 

Don't forget to Join my Facebook Group for Tips and Tricks and Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for the most up to date posts and videos.

Cheers
Tanya