#etsyFAIL

I'm hopping mad. In a nutshell - DesignedByLucinda sums it up really well in this forum post:

"Too angry to type. What is the Title of YOUR latest listing?

DesignedByLucinda says:
Think you know? I got news for you - - It isn't what YOU think you submitted. The title that gets submitted to outside search engines (like Google, Yahoo) isn't (take one of my latest as an example) "Red and Yellow Cell Phone Charm Leash Pendant Colorful Bumpy Lampwork", which is what I have i
t titled as so it is friendly to the bots of the search engines. The title that Etsy submits to Google is "Handmade Accessories on Etsy - Red and Yellow Cell Phone Charm Leash Pendant Colorful Bumpy Lampwork by DesignedByLucinda", see?

(head)(title)Handmade Accessories on Etsy - Red and Yellow Cell Phone Charm Leash Pendant Colorful Bumpy Lampwork by DesignedByLucinda(/title)

So what is the big dealio? Well, Google and other search engines prefer titles that range from 60-75 spaces - - and having Etsy add in 31 characters to my title means I will run over the limit (and don't forget my shop name added at the back end, too) so my item is now either skipped entirely by Google as being too long OR it stops reading at the 60-75 space, effectively meaning my t.itle is read as "Handmade Accessories on Etsy - Red and Yellow Cell Phone Char" ...

Check your listings. Open one, right click on your mouse, pick View Source and see what *YOUR* titles really look like.

Your titles are cluttered with "XYZ on Etsy - " and that is what is being submitted to the big search engines and THAT is why perhaps things are a bit slow for you. Your most valuable cyber real estate has been pimped out to feature Etsy in your titles, NOT your items themselves unless you can make your title *really* small and you have a short shop name.

What can you do about it? Nothing, except maybe speak up... *I* don't like having vebiage added to the titles I chose. Do you?(I will never make the FP now, and that is okay; I will speak out if I think something is wrong and THIS is wrong.) "


Added to this - Etsy Admin is running around closing threads about this left, right and centre - and using ridiculous excuses to do it.

paperstreet, who originally broke the news, has been working tirelessly in the forums and one on one with sellers to fight this mess - you rock girl. Please check out her blog here:

http://bit.ly/13km8M