Are you an eCom seller wondering what is a good conversion rate on Etsy? Or perhaps you are currently struggling with low conversion rates?
If so, you’re facing a common problem, but you’re not alone. Many Esty shop owners have also struggled with it at one point or another.
Don’t worry because I can help you.
In this post, I discuss what you need to know about Etsy conversion rates, including:
- A good conversion rate on Etsy
- The average conversion rate on Etsy
- How to increase your conversion rate on Etsy
Let’s get started.
Table of Contents
What Is the Average Conversion Rate on Etsy?
You need to know the average conversion rate on Etsy before you can understand the meaning of a good conversion rate.
According to Growing Your Craft (GYC), Etsy shops have an average ecommerce conversion rate of around 1 to 3%. This rate has decreased recently due to an increase in Etsy sellers. When there are more Etsy shops, more people are selling similar products, which impacts the average conversion rate on the platform.
What Is Conversion Rate On Etsy, And Why Is It Essential?
The term conversion rate is a marketing metric that refers to the number of visitors you convert into paying customers.
All businesses have specific ways to calculate their conversion rates. Things are no different for Etsy sellers.
Here’s how to calculate the conversion rate of your Etsy shop.
Total number of sales in a specific period ÷ Total number of visits in the same period = conversion rate (express your answer as a percentage by multiplying it by 100)
Use the following scenario to help you understand.
Let’s say you’re an Etsy shop owner and want to calculate your conversion rate for the past 30 days. In the past 30 days, you had 200 visitors and 20 sales.
Here’s how to calculate your conversion rate for that period.
20 sales ÷ 200 visitors = .10(100)
Your conversion rate for those 30 days is 10% (.10 x 100).
Conversion rate is a crucial metric for measuring the success of your sales and marketing efforts and, therefore, the overall success of your Etsy store. After all, Etsy sellers need sales to succeed and grow like any online business.
Higher conversion rates = more sales
What Is a Good Conversion Rate on Etsy?
Are you an Etsy shop owner wondering if your current conversion rates are good enough?
There’s no clear answer.
It’s difficult to pin down the definition of a reasonable conversion rate because it involves many factors.
The conversion rate from shop to shop varies significantly. Different product categories can also have different conversion rates.
External factors—or factors you can’t control—can also affect your Etsy conversion rate.
For example, algorithm changes on Etsy can impact conversion rates across the ecommerce platform.
A change in the behavior of Etsy shoppers can also influence the conversion rate on the ecommerce platform.
According to the Etsy Seller Handbook, the popular ecommerce site experienced explosive growth in 2020 as a direct result of the pandemic. Etsy had more than 61 million new and reactivated shoppers in 2020.
You can attribute the increase in Etsy shoppers in 2020 to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s a well-known fact that millions of people across the globe have turned to online shopping over the past two years because physical shopping wasn’t an option.
However, people may leave Etsy once the pandemic is officially over and things are truly back to normal. It’s not something you can predict at this point.
This unpredictability, along with other factors, is why there’s no exact number to signify a good Etsy conversion rate.
All you need to remember is that the average Etsy conversion rate is about 1 to 3%. You’re already doing great if you can maintain this conversion rate for your Etsy shop. If you can increase your conversion rate to 4 or 5%, you’re doing even better.
The question is: how do you increase the conversion rate of your Etsy shop?
How To Increase Your Conversion Rate On Etsy?
Here are strategies you can try today to improve your conversion rate, boost your Etsy sales, and achieve Etsy success.
Improve Your Etsy Listings With High-Quality Product Photos.
Adding high-quality images is one of the most effective ways to improve your Etsy shop conversion rate and Etsy search ranking.
It doesn’t matter if you sell handmade goods, vintage items, jewelry, or craft supplies. You must include high-quality photos in every Etsy listing regardless of your product’s category.
The first thing potential customers see when looking at listings is images. Images are your products’ primary selling point because they’re what catches people’s eyes.
Shoppers also use images to judge your product’s quality and your shop’s credibility. Potential buyers will think you’re an untrustworthy seller offering subpar products if they check your Etsy listing and see poor-quality images.
In case you’re apprehensive, look at the evidence supporting the importance of product photography and how it affects a potential buyer’s purchase decision.
According to an Etsy survey, 90% of shoppers said photo quality was either very important or extremely important to their buying decision.
In a separate survey by eRank, 83% of respondents said photos were the most crucial aspect of their Etsy experience.
The significance of adding high-quality images to your listings is undeniable, so do it today.
Here are conversion rate optimization strategies you can implement immediately.
Add Ten Images.
Etsy lets you add ten images per listing, so take advantage and include up to ten high-quality images in each of your product listings.
Showcase Multiple Angles.
Include high-quality images of your products from multiple angles so customers can see the entire product.
Add Images of Your Products in Use.
Include images of people using your products to give visitors a more concrete idea of your product’s size, texture, and quality.
The great thing about adding high-quality images to your listings is that you can implement the strategy at almost no extra cost—unless you hire a professional photographer.
Check out The Ultimate Guide to Product Photography in the Etsy Seller Handbook to learn more about how to take attention-grabbing images for your listings.
Enhance Your Product Descriptions.
Writing clear and detailed product descriptions is another powerful way to improve your Etsy listing conversion rate.
Accurate, detailed, and concise product descriptions are essential because:
- They help entice visitors into buying your products, converting those visitors into paying customers.
- They give visitors the reasons they should care about your specific products.
- They provide solutions to visitors’ problems, creating a need that can translate to successful sales.
- They improve your SEO if you include all the keywords relevant to your listing.
Here’s how to optimize your product descriptions.
Create Eye-Catching Listing Titles.
Write snappy titles that grab visitors’ attention. Your listing titles should be short and easy to read; avoid stuffing them with keywords. However, you should still include the primary keyword near the beginning of the title.
Writing high-converting listing titles involves a lot of search engine optimization (SEO), so I’ll provide more details in another section of this article.
Include as Many Details as Possible.
Remember that customers can’t touch your products or test them in person. Therefore, customers rely on product descriptions to give them the information they need to determine whether or not to purchase your product.
Your descriptions must be as detailed as possible to convince visitors they should buy your product.
Ensure that you detail all the features of your product in the description. List details such as:
- Size and weight
- Color options (if applicable)
- Materials (for items like clothes where people can have different preferences in terms of material)
- Medium (for things like artwork where artists can use a wide range of mediums)
- Instructions for use and care
You should also describe how your products can benefit your target market. If a product helps solve a specific problem, ensure that you include that in the description.
Just remember that you also have to be honest when writing product descriptions.
Ensure that you also list your product’s limitations along with its benefits. Never claim that your product can do something that it can’t.
You don’t want your customers to feel cheated or deceived.
Product descriptions will differ from category to category, but the details above will give you a strong foundation for creating persuasive product descriptions that can increase your shop’s conversion rate.
Be Clear and Concise.
Being clear and concise means making your product descriptions easy to read.
Your product description shouldn’t be one giant wall of text. Break up your product descriptions with short paragraphs and use bullet points to highlight key selling points or elements that make your products unique.
Use the inverted pyramid concept when writing product descriptions to improve customer experience. If you’re unfamiliar with the inverted pyramid concept, it’s a content structure where the critical information is at the top or beginning.
Most shoppers won’t bother reading the entire product description. Using the inverted pyramid concept ensures that shoppers immediately see what they need to see without scrolling to the bottom of the listing.
Monitor Your Shop Stats
Stats is where you’ll find an overview of your shop’s metrics, including visits, orders, revenue, and conversion rate.
Keeping an eye on your stats is crucial because it lets you see your shop’s overall performance. Your stats help you pin down specific metrics such as:
- The source of your shop’s traffic (Etsy search, Etsy pages, Etsy ads, offsite ads, etc.)
- Your best-selling items
- Listing stats (How shoppers engage with your listings)
If you improve the description of a particular listing and see a spike in that listing’s popularity, you know that the enhanced product description helped. Conversely, if you see that listings with poorly written descriptions don’t get much traffic, you know you need to improve those descriptions.
You can find the stats page by logging into your Etsy shop account and clicking Shop Manager.
Etsy SEO
Etsy SEO is another potent strategy for increasing conversions. Etsy is a search engine like Google, and the things you do on Etsy affect your search rankings.
Here’s how to improve your SEO on Etsy.
Optimize Listing Titles For SEO.
The maximum character length for Etsy listing titles is 140, so the first thing to remember is to keep your listing titles short and snappy. You don’t have to use up all 140 characters.
Etsy’s maximum character length for titles gives you enough space to include one or two keywords. Avoid overstuffing your listing titles with keywords, though. The best practice is to create short and snappy titles with one or two focus keywords.
Remember to place focus keywords at the beginning of the title. Doing so has a substantial impact on the Etsy algorithm.
Do keyword research to find the best target keywords for your store.
Using an Etsy keyword tool can help you find the best keywords.
There are many Etsy keyword tools available, each with different features. However, their primary function is the same.
An Etsy keyword tool allows you to enter a broad keyword based on your niche. Most tools will then show you a comprehensive list of related search terms shoppers use to find the products in your niche. Most tools will also show you the current volume and history of keywords.
From here, you can determine which keywords are ideal for your niche.
Using target keywords to optimize your listing titles increases the chances of your product appearing on the first page of Etsy search results. Appearing on the first page increases the chances that shoppers will find your product, thereby increasing the likelihood that visitors will make a successful purchase.
The good thing about keyword tools is that they are subscription-based. You can unsubscribe anytime if you want to switch to a different one.
Pay Attention to Your Product Tags.
Avoid neglecting your product tags because they can also help your Etsy ranking.
Etsy stores can add up to 13 tags per listing, so don’t hesitate to use all 13 slots. Each product tag can have a maximum of 20 characters you can use to add relevant keywords.
When it comes to product tags, it’s as much about quality as it is about quantity. Etsy’s algorithm prioritizes listings with the keyword in both the title and tag over listings with the keyword in just the title or tag.
The quality of your product tabs isn’t just about what you include but also what you leave out.
Ensure that you remove all duplicate tags. For example, if you’re selling a gold necklace and one of your tags is “gold necklace,” you don’t need to put “gold” as a separate tag.
You should also remove plural nouns and misspelled words in your product tags.
Use Long-Tail Keywords.
Long-tail keywords are much more targeted than short keywords, so use them often.
Use a keyword research tool to find the long-tail keywords shoppers type on Etsy and insert them into your titles, tags, and product descriptions.
Let’s say you’re a jewelry designer optimizing a listing for a gold necklace with a garnet pendant. Instead of using just “gold necklace” as your keyword, use “gold necklace with garnet pendant.”
Remember: improved SEO equals more traffic equals higher chances of converting visitors.
Offer Free Shipping.
Hefty shipping costs can prevent shoppers from completing a purchase. Almost 50% of consumers say that high shipping prices are the main reason they abandon their carts.
It’s natural for people to want to save money. Most shoppers wouldn’t buy an item if it meant having to shell out a significant amount of cash to pay for shipping. They would rather spend that money on another item.
Evidence shows that shoppers are much more likely to spend on additional items just to get free shipping and avoid paying a high shipping cost.
According to a survey by Inmar intelligence, 78% of customers are willing to buy more just to get free shipping. The same study also shows that most consumers don’t mind waiting longer to receive their orders if free shipping is an option.
Don’t be afraid to offer free shipping to shoppers to increase your conversion rates. Free shipping incentivizes customers to buy more and buy more often.
Here are free shipping strategies you can try.
- Offer bundle discounts in exchange for free shipping.
- Include the cost of shipping in the item price.
- Offer free shipping to customers who meet a minimum order requirement.
The Bottom Line
Now that you’re familiar with Etsy conversion rate optimization strategies, try implementing them today.
I detailed easy, effective, and low-cost techniques to make it easier for you to improve your conversion rates. Check out this article for more information on promoting your Etsy shop.
