Do you struggle with describing your jewelry? Many jewelry designers find craft shows easier than online sales at least partly because of problems with SEO ("search engine optimization"). How do you describe your jewelry so that it can easily be found by your customers?
This blog post is a simple "cheat sheet" for SEO for jewelry shops. You can go much more into depth with spreadsheets, keyword lists, and statistical analysis, but if you're just starting out, keep it simple.
Keywords for Jewelry
Here's a general list of keyword categories that I like to use for jewelry:
- Customer: men, teen, teacher
- Season: summer, fall, autumn
- Style: boho, bohemian
- Type: lariat, cuff, choker, chandelier, hoops
- Materials: gemstone, pink quartz, December birthstone
- Colors: pink and green, aubergine, neutrals
- Size: 18-inch, princess length, long
- Occasion: prom, wedding
- Special Features: adjustable, reversible
- Technique: bead embroidery, hand stamped
- Inspiration/Theme: Paris, A Tale of Two Cities, bicycles, poetry
You don't need to use all of these on every listing; pick the categories and keywords that make sense for you and your customer. Would your customer use the word "aubergine" or would she say "purple"? Does she use "jewelry" (the U.S. spelling) or "jewellery" (U.K.)? Does she know what "patina" is or is she looking for something "weathered" or "rustic"?
3 Quick SEO Tips:
- Use phrases. Think about how you search for items online. Would you search for "necklace" or "fall necklace" or "light blue necklace"?
- Use synonyms. A computer thinks that "fall jewelry" and "autumn jewelry" are two completely different things. You need to match exactly what your customer might type in.
- Avoid pronouns ("it") or other vague wording ("this piece").
Real Life Examples of SEO for Jewelry Shops
Here are some possible keywords to consider for 4 real life jewelry shops. These lists are not complete; there are many other possible keywords. Obviously, it's up to each designer to know which of these will work best for her customers. I'm hoping my suggestions will jumpstart your own brainstorming!
You could use these words as tags or keywords in your online shop. They're also useful when you're writing descriptions or if you're posting about your jewelry on sites such as Pinterest or your own blog.
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Designer: Kashmira Patel Shop: Sadafulee Blog: Sadafulee Item: Pink Coral and Shell Necklace Possible Keywords: pink coral necklace, pink coral jewelry, pink shell necklace, organic necklace, natural necklace, summer necklace, princess length necklace, 16-inch necklace, pink flower necklace, flower jewelry, pastel necklace, feminine necklace, flower pendant necklace, chrysanthemum pendant, vintage style necklace, resin flower necklace, gemstone necklace, chunky necklace, wood and shell necklace, brown and pink necklace |
| Designer: Linda Younkman Shop: Lindy's Designs Blog: Lindy's Designs Item: Copper Blues Possible Keywords: hammered earrings, cobalt blue earrings, blue earrings, copper earrings, gifts under 30 dollars, lampwork glass earrings, handmade earrings, copper jewelry, hammered copper earrings, rustic copper earrings, patina copper earrings, antique copper earrings, western earrings, southwest earrings, cowgirl earrings |
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Designer: Pam Sears Shop: The Crazy Creative Corner Blog: The Crazy Creative Corner Item: Summer Fire Lanyard Possible Keywords: beaded lanyard, red and blue badge holder, beaded badge holder, handmade ID holder, bright badge holder, gift for nurse, work badge holder, colorful lanyard, name badge holder, nurse badge holder, nursing badge holders, summer lanyard, gemstone lanyard (Note: I can't tell what kinds of beads are used from this photo; this is a guess on my part.) |
| Designer: Kathy Alderfer Shop: Kathy Alderfer Blog: Artful Accents Item: Cheerful Daisy Bracelet Possible Keywords: daisy bracelet, cuff bracelet, flower bracelet, red and yellow bracelet, yellow and red jewelry, memory wire bracelet, one size fits all, lightweight bracelet, gemstone bracelet, wood and shell bracelet, summer bracelet, beaded memory wire bracelet, memory wire bangle, beaded bangle, bright jewelry, tween bracelet |
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Tip: Since this bracelet has matching earrings (a separate listing), you might be able to reuse (with minor tweaks) some of these same keywords for the other listing.
Thanks to Kashmira, Linda, Pam, and Kathy for letting me use their jewelry as examples. Please feel free to chime in with comments if you have additional helpful keyword suggestions for these designers. And remember that SEO is just one part of successful selling online. Great photos, stories, and promotion will all help you get noticed.
A few questions:
You said not to use "it" or "this piece". What can be used instead then?
I went back and looked at the tags I have for the pink necklace. Pink and necklace are two separate tags I have. Is that ok, or do I need to have tage like "Pink necklace", "flower necklace", "summer necklace" etc?
Try to be as specific as possible with your word choices. If you write a sentence like "I created this piece using pink beads," then it would only show up in a search if someone was searching for "piece." If you want someone who is searching for necklaces to find that item, you need to say "necklace" instead of "piece." Make sense?
Phrases always work better. If you have the two separate words, you will still appear in search results, but at the bottom.
Think about how you search. If you were looking for a pink necklace, what words would you type into Google? Would you just type the word "pink" all by itself?
THanks!