Why is my Etsy shop not getting views? 9 fixes to check

You've listed twenty items. You've shared the shop with friends. A few weeks later, your Stats show a handful of views, and most of them are probably you.

It's one of the most common things new Etsy sellers ask, and the answers online are a mix of real fixes and folklore. The good news is that Etsy publishes a lot about how its search works, and it gives every shop a free page that points to specific problems. This guide goes through 9 things to check, in the order we'd check them, starting with the ones Etsy itself flags.

First, find out where the problem is

Before changing anything, open Stats in Shop Manager and look at How shoppers found you (Etsy help: Stats). It shows whether visits came from Etsy search, Etsy Ads, social media, direct links or elsewhere.

• Almost no visits from Etsy search means buyers aren't finding your listings. Fixes 1 to 6 are the ones to start with.
• Visits from search, but no favourites or sales means people see the listing and leave. Fixes 7 to 9 matter more.

Then check how Etsy search works, briefly. Etsy describes two steps (How Etsy Search Works):

1. 1Query matching. Etsy finds every listing whose titles, tags, categories and attributes match what the buyer typed.
2. 2Ranking. It orders those listings using relevance, listing quality, shop quality, customer service, shipping price and more.

If your listing doesn't match the words buyers type, it never reaches step 2. If it matches but ranks badly, it shows up on page 9 where nobody looks. Most fixes below target one of the two.

1. Open the Etsy search visibility page

This is the most useful free check, and many sellers don't know it exists. In Shop Manager, the search visibility page shows how your listings, your shop and your customer service are doing in the areas Etsy uses for search, with recommended actions (Etsy help: search visibility page).

According to Etsy, active listings need to meet certain requirements for a chance at priority placement, including:

• At least one listing image.
• A high-resolution primary photo. Etsy recommends 2000 pixels or more in width and height.
• A primary photo that shows a single finished product, not a collage or stitched-together images.
• A clear, well-lit primary photo.
• A category that's as specific as possible.
• A return policy, even if it's "No returns".
• For US listings, domestic shipping prices lower than $6 are prioritized.

You can also filter your Listings page by these issues. In Shop Manager, go to Listings, then filter by search visibility issues in the Search factors bar. Fix what it shows first. Etsy says the insights usually disappear within 24 hours once you've made the change, and changes can take up to a day to show in search.

2. Put what the item is at the start of the title

Etsy's current advice is to keep titles short and clear, and to lead with what the item actually is. A buyer scanning results should know what they're looking at from the first few words.

A title like "Gift for Her Birthday Present Mom Best Friend Sister Unique" doesn't say what the item is. "Rose and Vetiver Perfume Oil, 10 ml Roller Bottle" does. The gift words can go in your tags instead.

Our Etsy titles and tags guide covers the rules in more detail.

3. Use all 13 tags, and use them on different phrases

Every listing can have 13 tags of up to 20 characters each (Etsy help: tags). Empty tag slots are missed chances to match a search.

Etsy asks for "a diverse array of tags". Your main phrase can appear in both the title and a tag, but use most of the 13 for other phrases buyers type: synonyms, styles, occasions and who it's for. Skip tags that repeat your category or attributes, since Etsy already uses those to match searches.

Not sure which phrases buyers use? Our guide to finding keywords for Etsy covers the free tools, including Marketplace Insights in your Stats.

4. Choose the most specific category and fill in attributes

Categories and attributes (colour, material, occasion and so on) are part of query matching. A perfume oil listed under a broad "Bath & Beauty" category, with no attributes filled in, misses the searches that a listing in the specific perfume category with "scent" and "volume" attributes would match.

Open each listing, go one level deeper in the category if you can, and fill in every attribute that applies.

5. Check your shipping price

Etsy says shipping price and method are ranking factors. Its ranking disclosure lists what may help: a US free shipping guarantee, free shipping, or shipping prices under $6 to US shoppers, among others (Etsy ranking disclosures).

If you charge $7.50 for shipping on a small item, consider building some of that cost into the item price instead. Run the numbers first, using your real postage and Etsy's fees, so a lower shipping price doesn't wipe out your margin.

6. Complete your shop: logo, About section and policies

Etsy counts shop quality too. The search visibility page says your shop should have a logo, and Etsy's search help says great reviews, a completed About section and completed shop policies can all help your placement. Using Etsy's shop policies template helps slightly (How Etsy Search Works).

These take an hour, once, and they also help buyers trust a shop they've never heard of.

7. Make the first photo earn the click

Etsy's listing quality score is built from what buyers do after seeing your listing in search: clicks, favourites and purchases. New listings start with a neutral score, which doesn't help or hurt (How Etsy Search Works).

In search results, buyers see your first photo, your price and part of your title. If the photo is dark, cluttered or hard to read at a small size, they scroll past, and the listing slowly drops. Things that help:

• One clear product, filling most of the frame.
• Soft, even light. Daylight from a window is free and works well.
• A plain or simple background, so the product stands out next to other results.
• A thumbnail crop you've checked. Etsy lets you adjust how the first photo is cropped in search results, so make sure the product isn't cut off.

Compare your first photo with the top results for your main search. If yours is the one your eye skips, start there.

8. Look after your customer service stats

Etsy expects shops to meet its customer service standards in four areas: message response rate, on-time shipping with tracking, average review rating and case rate (Etsy help: customer service standards). Meeting them helps you avoid lower visibility in search. Recent cases and past intellectual property issues can have a negative effect.

Your Customer service stats page in Shop Manager shows where you stand. For a new shop, the simple version is: reply to messages within a day, ship on time and add tracking.

9. Understand what renewing does (and doesn't)

Etsy gives new listings a small, temporary boost so it can learn how buyers react to them. Renewed listings get a similar but smaller boost (Etsy ranking disclosures).

That's why some sellers renew listings every day. Each renewal is a new listing fee, though (USD 0.20 per listing at the time of writing, per Etsy's fees policy), and the boost is short. It won't fix a listing with a weak photo or the wrong keywords. Fix the listing first, then decide whether a renewal is worth the fee.

A worked example

This is a made-up shop to show how the checks fit together. "Fenwick Botanicals" isn't a real shop, and the numbers are illustrative.

Fenwick Botanicals sells handmade perfume oils. After a month, 22 listings had 31 views in total, almost all direct. Here's what the checks found:

• Search visibility page: 9 listings had a collage as the primary photo, and the shop had no return policy.
• Titles: most started with "Gift for her", not with what the item was.
• Tags: an average of 7 tags per listing, several repeating "perfume".
• Category: everything sat in a broad bath and beauty category, with no scent attribute.
• Shipping: $6.95 for a 10 ml bottle.

The fixes took one afternoon: single-product first photos, a return policy, titles that start with "Rose and Vetiver Perfume Oil", all 13 tags in use, specific categories and attributes, and shipping lowered with part of the cost moved into the price. None of it cost money, and all of it is something Etsy says it looks at.

There's no promise of a number of views after a fix like this. Etsy says many factors affect placement, and demand for your product matters too. But a listing that meets Etsy's own checks has a fair chance, and one that doesn't is starting behind.

What not to waste time on

• Running Etsy Ads before fixing listings. Ads can bring views, but they won't fix a photo nobody clicks or a title that doesn't say what the item is. You'd pay for the same problem.
• Tags in other languages. Etsy translates seller keywords for buyers in other languages, so write in your shop's language.
• Paid "Etsy SEO" services that promise rankings. Nobody outside Etsy controls its search.

If you'd rather not rewrite every listing by hand

Everything above is free, and you can do it yourself in Shop Manager. The slow part is rewriting titles, tags and descriptions for every listing.

YelloShelf is a paid tool that drafts that part. It doesn't have a free plan or trial. You buy a credit pack, starting at $10, and your first purchase comes with a money-back guarantee. You upload your product photos, and it checks what's already selling on Etsy and what people search for, then writes a clear title, all 13 tags within the 20-character limit, and the description. We're helping you remove the manual, tedious, time-consuming work. You still read it, edit it and paste it in yourself.

Quick checklist

• Stats checked: are visits coming from Etsy search at all?
• Every issue on the search visibility page fixed.
• Titles start with what the item is.
• All 13 tags used, on different phrases, none repeating attributes.
• Most specific category chosen and every attribute filled in.
• Shipping price reviewed, especially for US buyers.
• Shop logo, About section and policies complete.
• First photo clear, bright and easy to read small.
• Messages answered and orders shipped on time with tracking.