Trading Likes and Follows on Etsy Can Hurt Your Laser Business
Finding ways to boost sales on Etsy is a must in order to succeed, but trading likes and follows can hurt your business. As Etsy vendors, we always look for new ways to boost our sales and popularity. Likes-for-likes and follows-for-follows campaigns between sellers in the same niche are not uncommon.
Despite its apparent ease and speed, this strategy can potentially do more harm than good. In this post, I will discuss why it’s not a good idea to trade likes and follows with people on Etsy who are also in your industry.
Why Trading Likes and Follows on Etsy Can Hurt Your Laser Business
Low Engagement Rates
Engaging in a “like for like” or “follow for follow” exchange is like exchanging nothing for nothing. People who engage with your content but aren’t your intended customers aren’t providing much value. Your product or content won’t reach the people most interested in your offering, and your engagement rates will remain low. Engagement rates are what help algorithms know to show you to people.
Lowering Your Etsy Shop’s Reputation
You are essentially engaging in spammy behavior by participating in trading likes and follows. This can hurt your Etsy store’s reputation with current and potential buyers. Etsy frequently takes action against shops that engage in spammy behavior, including suspending and closing accounts.
But the biggest thing is that your likes and views are not converting to sales…which lead’s me to the next section.
Focusing on the Wrong Metrics
When you focus on gaining likes and follows, you’re essentially focusing on the wrong metrics. While likes and follows are important, they don’t necessarily equate to sales. Instead, you should focus on metrics directly tied to sales, such as click-through and conversion rates.
Alternative Strategies for Increasing Your Visibility on Etsy
Collaborate with Complimentary Sellers on Etsy
Instead of participating in trading likes and follows, consider collaborating with complementary sellers.
For example, if you sell nursery signs, you could collaborate with a seller selling handmade baby blankets. By collaborating, you can cross-promote each other’s products and reach a larger audience.
Optimize Your Etsy Shop for Search Engines
Another way to increase your visibility on Etsy is to optimize your shop for search engines. This includes using relevant keywords in your product titles and descriptions and in your shop’s tags. Optimizing your Etsy shop for search engines can increase your chances of appearing in search results for relevant keywords.
If you’re looking for a tool to help you research relevant and trending keywords, check out Everbee* to help assist you with this. I’m working on a huge how-to post on Everbee, and I’ll link it here when it’s done to help you with it. Meanwhile, check out this older post about getting your products found on Etsy to hold you over.
Leverage Social Media
Promoting your Etsy store on social media platforms is a great idea. You might make some sales or even find collaborators through Instagram and Pinterest.
You can reach a wider audience with social media. Include a link to your Etsy shop in your profiles and posts across all social media platforms.
While social media isn’t the perfect way to market, you could also start building an email list. I’ll gladly cover email lists in a future post.
In Conclusion
To sum up, exchanging likes and follows may seem like a fast and easy way to build an audience on Etsy, but it can backfire and cause more harm than good.
Engaging in spammy behavior risks damaging your store’s reputation and shifting attention away from the right Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
To get more people to see your Etsy shop, you should work with complementary sellers, make it search engine friendly, and use social media.