Etsy Shop Tips: why we shouldn't freak out about the new generic policies
So, along with the new Etsy shop page view comes a source of contention for lots of sellers.
GENERIC POLICIES. dun dun dun..
I will fully admit that I was LIVID when this first came out. Etsy more-than-strongly-hinted that if you didn't switch over to their new ready-made policies, that your placement in search would be adversely affected. I even left a comment on the original article stating how uncomfortable I was with being penalized for not accepting the cold cookie-cutter policies + suggested that we be allowed to add a little blurb into each section to inject more personality. Because as you know, I'm a big fan of showing your personality throughout your shop.
And then I found the FAQ section.
Cue the Hallelujah Chorus.
Here's where your personality goes! Obviously, your FAQ's can't contradict your new Etsy-generated policies, but they're displayed directly underneath next to the header "More Information", so they basically look like a seamless extension.
I simply took everything from my old policies that wasn't covered in Etsy's version and added it into my FAQ's. Here's how:
When you're in Edit Mode, you'll see the blue " + Add an FAQ " option.
Clicking that brings up a dropdown menu with a few pre-generated FAQ options, plus an option to type your own. You'll want to choose the last one on the list - "Custom".
Next, it will bring up 2 boxes. One for your custom FAQ, and one for your answer. Since Etsy's new policies answer for processing times is annoyingly vague, I strongly suggest including this in your FAQ's.
And your final product will look like this:
Pretty snazzy, huh? So now, we can accept the policies, add our own FAQ's, AND be rewarded with better search placement! That's like having your cake, eating it too, AND losing weight. So tell me, have I successfully relieved your fears about choosing between Stepford Wife policies and getting lost in the search algorithm forever? More importantly, what kinds of things will you be answering in your FAQ's?