Artist Derek Collins,Acrylic landscape paintings, painting lessons and randomness: Setting up your Etsy store, Etsy SEO,

Helping you set up your Etsy store
Some helpful tips:
You don't have to be a programmer to do this, I am going to show you where to go. All you have to do is look for phrases and words that are in your store. The code should be in Black and I believe the words that have been inserted from your store will be in blue. Find where they are and you will know which words or Phrases Google is using as Keywords, and as a description for your Etsy store, and your individual listings.
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First go to you Etsy Store,
1. Right click some empty area on the page.
2. Next click, view page source
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You are going to be viewing the code behind that page.

What do you see near the top
Meta name: Keywords , ( this is you Etsy Sections )
Meta name, Description (This is the first couple lines of your Etsy Shop Announcement)
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Lets Start Here
Now go a third of the way down and you will start to find your Etsy Images.
I'm going to abbreviate this, but you should be able to find one, it will start out with

img src=( Etsy Image 3, What ever Etsy named it) then Alt =( Etsy has inserted the title of your individual listings here).

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img src
Let me explain, img src, where did the image come from, Image source. This is usually the name of the painting and then where the image is stored. Etsy voided the name you gave your painting and renamed it. Why did they take your title off. Simple. they what your item to be found, so they renamed it with a Alternative name, Alt=
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Alt=
Alt=, Alternative name, this is the new name for your painting, the name that Google will see. Etsy is Naming your painting the title you used for that listing.
Here. is one of mine: Aceo Original Watercolor Painting Fishing Man Stream Fall.
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This is critically important, if your listing title is only the name of the painting, this is not going to help you at all. Please notice when you list a painting, Etsy says (A brief descriptive title works best), that means Keywords that describe the painting. Descriptive title, not the name of the painting, or your name.
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Benefits of using Keywords in your item title

1. They are also used as searchable tags on Etsy so this can give you a few more tags if you run out.
2. The Customer can see what the Item is without clicking on it, maybe a word in the title will entice them to click.
3. If someone Googles the keywords you have chosen, you might come up on their Google search.

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My titles look something like this: 11 x14 Original Acrylic painting Landscape Abstract Tree.

This describes the painting to the Etsy shopper and also gives keywords so I can be found on Google . It describes Media, style, and subject matter. Don't assume the Etsy shopper will click the image to read the description. Write the title so that they don't have to click to find out what it is. It is sometimes difficult to recognize what something is with a tiny little picture

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An Individual Listing

Now let's right click the page on one of our Etsy listings. Then click view page source.
Now you are going to see:
title (here again you see the Title you gave this listing, followed by your Etsy user name)
meta names =keywords( this is a list of all your Etsy tags)
meta name = description (This is the first line in you item description)
This is why the first line in your item description needs to have keywords and needs to be descriptive.

Here is the first line of my Description on one of my Etsy listings.
Original acrylic painting,Blue skies and clouds
By artist Derek Collins

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I would suggest that you right click one of my listings or someone you think is a big seller on Etsy and compare your listing to theirs.
Bring up a different browser and right click yours and do a comparison. Once you know what you are looking for you will be able to see how other people have set their pages up and how and where they have used Keywords.

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Shop Title:

This describes to Google what your Etsy store has in it. This should be a Phrase of Keywords
like Original Watercolor Paintings * Original Tree Paintings etc.
I put a Asterisk to separate the two Phrases. You can use Google Keywords to find the most popular keywords. This is tricky, If you just use just 2 words you will be lost behind a whole lot of websites. For example, Oil paintings, there a gazillion web sites selling oil paintings. Impressionist oil paintings, narrows it substantially. I suggest 2 separate phrases

The Etsy Shop Announcement :

The Shop Announcement is searchable by Google. Every very web site is searchable by it's title Page description. This describes what the whole web site is about. Your announcement is also the Description or the Title page description of the Web site , which is your Etsy Store.
This is also true of the banner on Ebay, if you have an Ebay store. It is also good to repeat a couple of your Sections here to use as a Keyword phrase, ie. Original Landscape Paintings

This is my Announcement

Original Acrylic Abstracts and Modern Landscape Paintings by Artist Derek Collins, Modern, Impressionism,Large paintings on canvas,realism, trees,clouds,sunsets,fields,streams
When you right click you page you will see how much Google show.

It has Artist name,Media,Style, Subject matter. If someone searches for Artist Derek Collins they can find my store. If they search for Original Acrylic abstracts they may find me, you get the idea.

Make the first part of your announcement descriptive of what the web site (your Etsy Store) is about. If you want to run a sale or have a greeting, do it below this. If you use your Announcement just to greet people, you are loosing an opportunity to be found on Google.

Define who you are your store Announcement:

You have to decide who you are, you can't be this, that and the other. I am a ______?
You only get to be one thing, please choose. You have to pick one direction to draw people to your store. Remember, this is the description of your web page, (your Etsy store). This is what people are going to see on Google search.
You can't be all things to all people. If you are a Painter, but you also have a few pieces of Pottery and a few other random things, only mention your main interest. What is your art, Your name,Medium, Style, subject matter.

Don't say you have Original Acrylic Painting and Ceramics Tile, and Key rings. sounds like you have an equal amount of Painting,Ceramics, and Key Rings . You have put the Key Rings on equal footing with your paintings The obvious implications here is, if you could make a living selling paintings,you wouldn't be doing all this other stuff. So you must be a hobbiest. Just saying! Remember people on Google are just seeing a small description.

Choosing Tags:

Lets say you have Acrylic and Mixed Media Paintings
Below is a list of the Categories under art on the Etsy site, then the Sub categories under Mixed Media, then the sub-categories under Acrylic.

1. When you describe your art and assign Tags you need to use as many of these as possible,because these words put your art in different categories within Etsy. The more categories you are in, the greater chance you have of being found if someone is searching by category. So these are the first words you should consider.

Mixed Media

2. After you have chosen all of the above categories as tags. The second most important thing to consider is Medium or substance, Style and Subject matter,Color, then groups you are in, maybe your seller name.

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My titles look something like this: 11 x14 Original Acrylic painting Landscape Abstract Tree

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Describe Your Art
Put this on every listing,Be specific I can't read your mind,I am a man.

Original or Print: Original one of a kind Painting
Size: 5x7 If you put it in a 2 inch matt,it will fit a 8x10 frame

Surface, or materials: Acrylic Painted on 140lb. Arches watercolor paper
Color: Maybe you want to describe the main colors of your art, to make the customer comfortable that the colors they are seeing on the computer are the actual colors of the art in person .

Disclaimer: The colors of my paintings are true. But you monitor may have a different setting, so it is possible that the colors could be slightly, but not substantially off.

Your bio

Make sure you have your Bio page complete

Put an abreviated Bio at the bottom of each listing.

Google Analytics tell me that a lot of people only look at one page of my shop and then leave. For that reason I put my Bio on the lower part of each listing. Maybe they don't see the link for Profile,maybe they don't think to look for it. maybe they don't know what Profile means, but they may read it, if it's right there.

You wouldn't want a 4 page Bio on Each listing. But at least an abbreviated one.

Shoppers are Intelligent
This is a terrible assumption to make. That is like thinking your husband can read your mind. Good luck with that!

I have learned from selling on The Internet, you don't want people to ask questions. Don't misunderstand, you want to encourage them to ask questions. But in many cases, if they ask a question it means that you haven't explained something very well or have left out key information. If you leave something out, don't assume they will ask, most won't. If they buy it and something is left out, they may want to return it, or leave negative feedback.

Policy page

Fill out your Policy page by all means, but also put your policies on each listing.

I Suggestion you put Policies on every listing

100% Money back Guarantee for any reason: If you are not happy with your purchase, you may return for any reason. Item must be returned within 7 days and in good condition

How long does it take you to ship: I usually ship within 3 working days,

Who do you ship with:USPS First Class mail
Ships securely:This painting ships rolled, bubble wrapped, in a new box.

Tracking Number: you will be emailed with a tracking Number

Consider printing Certificates of Authenticity on your computer

Certificate Of Authenticity: Included with this painting
Questions? I know you do! Please Don't hesitate to ask. Click the Convo link at the top of the page and send me your question. Please, Pretty, Please.
Spell Check: Really, did you get A+'s in spelling, are you an exceptional Typer? Do you want people thinking you dropped out of school when you were 12? For the collective dignity of the art community, please use spell check.

I hope some of this is helpful. I didn't go into everything, but maybe there is some useful information for you here. I am thinking of doing a post on Photographing your work.
Derek