How to get more traffic on Etsy: 9 Strategies you should know

It takes most marketplaces decades to get on the same level as ecommerce giants like Walmart, but not Etsy. The Etsy marketplace managed to skyrocket in popularity in under ten years and now rivals top sales channels like Amazon just eight years later. As the fourth most-popular ecommerce website in the United States, Etsy beat out both Walmart and Target to record the fastest online sales growth in 2021.

The popularity of the Etsy marketplace is welcome news to the platform’s active sellers, who recently surpassed 7.5 million. However, an influx of new storefronts and increased competition across the marketplace has also left some sellers questioning how to get more traffic on Etsy. Fortunately, there are time-tested techniques to direct more customers to your Etsy shop and boost sales!

Discover nine tactics to capitalize on surging traffic and outperform competition across the Etsy marketplace.

• Despite the general growth across the marketplace, including a rise in active buyers, the increased quantity of active Etsy sellers has created significant platform competition.

• Poor Etsy storefront traffic can be attributed to several factors, including minimal or outdated product listings and a lack of Etsy search engine optimization (SEO).

• There are several solutions for how to get more traffic on Etsy, ranging from enhancing your product listings to leveraging social media marketing and paid advertisements.

Several factors can impact the ability to drive traffic to your Etsy storefront. Take advantage of Etsy Stats, the marketplace’s free analytics tool, to gauge what factors may be influencing your storefront. Etsy Stats will reveal past and current store traffic, where traffic originates from, and how buyers engage with your listings, so you can understand how to fine-tune performance.

As an Etsy seller, you’ll notice the most significant factor that can negatively impact your store traffic is a lack of listings. Simply put, the more items you have listed, the better your chances of shoppers finding your store. It’s vital for Etsy sellers like you to routinely refresh your product lines and set annual product listing goals to ensure you meet or surpass the previous year’s number of product listings.

The second most significant factor in low traffic is poor Etsy search engine optimization (SEO) for product listings and outdated product tags. Without relevant keywords populating your product listings and tags, it’s difficult for buyers to locate your products via the Etsy search bar. The use of Etsy SEO tools, including Etsy Stats, can help you understand a decline in Etsy traffic (and how to improve it).

When learning how to get more traffic on Etsy, realizing there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution is essential. Like any marketplace, Etsy traffic is multifaceted — some buyers find your storefront on the Etsy platform, while others find you on social media. To get the most bang for your buck on Etsy, address all facets of the marketplace with these nine tips to drive Etsy traffic.

It’s nearly impossible to drive customers to your Etsy storefront without understanding your target audience. Your target audience refers to the defined group of potential customers or the niche market you plan to sell to. By not understanding who these individuals are, you risk poor return on investment (ROI) for marketing, a decline in customer retention, and less Etsy shop traffic.

When defining your target audience, it’s helpful to start with market research to determine the types of customers who already engage with your business and similar Etsy storefronts. Comb through your brand’s social media following and scroll through related Etsy product listings to gather a variety of key audience demographics, including pain points, buying habits, and spending power.

With a better grasp of your target audience, you can tailor your marketing messaging to develop more effective marketing campaigns that drive new customers to your shop. Beyond marketing efforts, your target audience demographics can also assist during your creative process to help continuously develop new products that spark interest and effectively drive traffic.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is not just for sites like Google. To boost visibility and encourage organic traffic for your Etsy shop, it’s important to properly optimize your storefront to rank higher in Etsy search results. To enhance your Etsy SEO, start with the elements of your storefront you can easily modify: the product listings and images that help customers locate your Etsy shop.

When constructing product listings, start with keyword research to identify common queries that customers type to locate similar products. Then, use these phrases in the appropriate product descriptions, titles, and Etsy tags. Review your competitor’s listings to identify other related keywords that can be incorporated into your storefront to increase visibility and drive Etsy traffic.

Using high-quality product photos is also a crucial Etsy SEO best practice that can help support consistent Etsy store traffic. Whether you offer men’s apparel or home décor, every product listing must be optimized with a collection of high-resolution photos from varying angles and depths. These images will help customers envision your products and the high product quality you offer.

Though Etsy SEO is a crucial piece of the puzzle, enhancing the quality of your Etsy storefront does not start and stop with product listing optimizations. While Etsy is much more limited in storefront customization than other ecommerce platforms, such as Shopify, you can still use a few tactics to enhance your marketplace storefront and help drive recurring traffic.

Beginning with your storefront’s About Page, provide buyers with an in-depth look into your brand by including your origin story and any relevant, interesting facts that could intrigue customers, like your creative process. You can also provide readers with a FAQ section that addresses common customer inquiries, including questions about store shipping, returns, and exchange policies.

Likewise, include links to your brand’s social media pages, such as Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok, to prompt recurring Etsy traffic and turn one-time buyers into loyal brand followers. Encouraging your target audience to connect with you via social media is a great way to maintain their attention over time and direct them back to your Etsy shop to make repeat purchases.

Social media platforms, such as Instagram and TikTok, have become powerful marketing tools many sellers use to help retain long-term customers and drive consistent traffic into their Etsy shops. This cost-effective marketing strategy can help sellers build a loyal brand following while capturing potential new customers’ attention through recurring product promotions.

However, to reap the benefits of social media marketing, you must remain consistent over time. Continuously interact with followers and share relevant content highlighting your brand to help lock in customer attention, making it easier for you to push them back to your Etsy store. This content can include images, reels, and stories that feature your products and day-to-day operations.

Etsy sellers are also ideal partners for social media influencers who mesh with their niche audience and can promote their products. In exchange for complimentary products or payment, social media influencers can showcase your products to their (often much larger) following to help viewers become aware of your brand and potentially drive new customers toward your Etsy storefront.

When searching for products that fall into a specific niche, customers prefer to purchase from sellers who understand the space well and can prove to be a trusted resource. That’s why it’s important for Etsy sellers to become an expert within their niche — or someone who understands exactly what customers are looking for and how to offer a solution that fits the bill.

As you work towards becoming an expert within your niche, it can be highly beneficial to network with other sellers and entrepreneurs that belong to your niche. From networking events to Facebook groups, there are many ways for you to connect with like-minded individuals and learn more about your niche, ways to improve your products, and how to better connect with customers.

Gaining niche expertise also means securing the right resources for your brand. Business solutions such as Gelato’s print on demand services can streamline production for your Etsy shop and provide your customers with a robust collection of products. Demonstrating niche knowledge alongside extensive product offerings will help you become a trusted contender within your niche.

Paid advertising is one of the simplest ways to drive traffic to your Etsy site. Because a vast majority of consumer product searches start on search engines such as Google, Google Ad services are one of the most popular forms of paid advertising. Through Google Ads, store owners can list specific products with underpaid shopping results or promote their storefront with text-based search ads.

Next in line after Google Ads are social media ads; like search engines, many consumers head to social media to gain inspiration for product searches. Popular social media platforms, like Instagram and Facebook, offer paid ad services that can display your products in the social feeds of your target audience. Social ads can even take the shape of shoppable posts that direct traffic to your Etsy shop.

Of course, Etsy also offers its marketplace search engine for consumers to browse for available products, which sellers can utilize for paid advertising. Unlike other marketplace advertisements, paid Etsy ads can appear across various marketplace locations, including Etsy search engine result pages, relevant product categories, and marketplace pages within similar product listings.

Sharing details on promotions and discounts is one of the quickest ways to drive traffic to your Etsy store (and encourage an immediate purchase). Customer incentives such as coupon codes, promotional pricing, and loyal member discounts are awesome ways to capture customer attention.

With many online shoppers looking to avoid unwanted purchase costs, free shipping notifications are one of the first incentives customers look for when shopping on Etsy. To drive new traffic without impacting your profit margins, remember to offer free shipping across your entire storefront and tie any necessary shipping costs into the consumer’s final purchase price.

Likewise, the Etsy marketplace allows you to develop promotional sales and discount codes that can be shared with existing social media followers and email subscribers. Plugging limited-time promo codes into your social media and email marketing efforts — or even your paid advertisements — can be highly effective at driving new and existing customer traffic to your Etsy storefront.

As mentioned earlier, a limited quantity of product offerings can impact your Etsy traffic and reduce overall store visibility. Depending on your specific product niche, you may want to consider expanding your product offerings in an effort to reach more customers and build brand loyalty.

If you’re nervous about expanding your inventory without the confidence that new sales will come, partner with a trusted print on demand service like Gelato. Because you only pay for the products you sell, print on demand services are a low-risk, cost-effective method to expand into new product markets while still ensuring streamlined operations and ultimate customer satisfaction.

Men’s clothing, kid’s clothing, phone cases, wall art, and business-related products are just a fraction of the many new product types you can add to your Etsy store using print on demand services. These high-quality products are produced when ordered and shipped directly (and promptly) to your customers to ensure you avoid steep inventory costs and customer satisfaction concerns.

Good customer service is essential to turn a one-time customer into a repeat customer. Since you only have one chance to make an excellent first impression, your first shot at proper customer service will be how you present your Etsy storefront. Critical details, such as product dimensions, store policies, and product reviews, should be immediately visible for an easy purchase decision.

Beyond the customer’s shopping experience on Etsy, there are several tactics you can deploy to provide outstanding customer service. Following a purchase, one simple customer service technique is to send a quick satisfaction survey, and a thank you message. Etsy even provides a convenient messaging platform to reach customers directly beyond email marketing.

You can also encourage a customer to leave a positive review by seeking feedback that can improve operations. Reviews significantly impact shared marketplaces, and the more positive reviews your Etsy business earns, the more traffic you drive. Plus, reliable customer service will always send the right message for buyers to recommend your products and return to your Etsy store.

With 7.5 million active sellers across the Etsy marketplace alone, it’s no surprise that sales-boosting strategies are essential for staying ahead of the competition and avoiding a dip in Etsy traffic. From becoming an expert within your niche to properly optimizing your storefront and product listings, be sure to refer back to these nine tips when looking to boost sales and grow your Etsy business.

If you believe a lack of product offerings weighs negatively on your sales, don’t count out a print on demand (POD) service like Gelato. Gelato is an industry-leading POD supplier with a robust catalog of customizable items to expand your product offerings. With local production hubs across 32 countries, we guarantee fast and sustainable delivery options and top-tier customer service.

Discover how to expand your product offerings with Gelato high-quality custom products today!