Etsy sellers are always concerned about where their listings show up in search results, but what happens if they don’t show up at all?
When your Etsy listings or shop aren’t indexed, they don’t appear in search results at all. But what is indexing, and how does it work on Etsy?
Indexing is the way that search engines collect and store information about items so that they can be found in search results in an organized way. If a listing on Etsy is indexed, the search engine is aware of it and can show it in search results. But if a listing or shop isn’t in Etsy’s index, it won’t appear in search results at all.
You can think of the Etsy index like it’s a big filing cabinet with files in it.
Each listing and shop is a separate file. If the file is in the filing cabinet, you’ll be able to find it, but if the file is sitting on the floor next to the cabinet, you won’t be able to see it.
When a shop or a listing is created on Etsy, it will usually be included in the index fairly soon, if not right away.
But sometimes a shop or a listing can be de-indexed because of a technical problem. If that happens, your shop might not be found in search at all. It’s rare but it can happen, so how can you tell if your Etsy shop is indexed or not?
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How to tell if your Etsy shop is indexed.
If your Etsy shop can be found in search results, it’s indexed in Etsy’s system. If you can find your shop and listings by searching for your shop’s name or for an exact listing title, then they are included in Etsy’s index. Another quick way to check for indexing is to search within your own shop. If listings come back in results, then they’re included in Etsy’s index.
If your listings don’t appear in search results when you put the entire title into the search bar, or nothing shows up in your own shop when you search in your shop for a listing, then your listings may not be indexed.
The problem with doing this is that Etsy’s search isn’t working on an exact word match anymore, so you might not find your listings even if you put the entire title into the search bar!
So before you decide that your listings aren’t indexed, search for your shop name to see if it comes up. If it doesn’t, have a friend search for it and for some of your listings to see if they can find them.
If you and your friends can’t find any of your listings, or there are no results showing when you search within your own shop, it’s possible that your shop or listings aren’t being indexed by Etsy.
The only way to fix this is to contact Etsy directly, because this is a technical issue.
If your listings are deindexed, they can still show up through direct links or from other places on Etsy, such as reviews and favorited items, they just won’t show up in search results.
If your shop is showing up in search, but your listings aren’t, there could be other reasons for your listings not showing up other than being deindexed.
These can include Etsy limiting your account for some reason, including having open cases, and having too many open orders.
Other reasons for Etsy listings not showing in search.
If listings aren’t showing in search, they may be de-indexed, or it could be because Etsy has suspended the account or temporarily put the shop on vacation mode. Etsy reserves the right to limit sellers’ visibility in search if they think that the shop isn’t processing orders fast enough, or if there are multiple cases open against the shop. If this is the situation, Etsy can remove the shop and/or listings from search results and turn vacation mode on to prevent more orders from being placed.
Once the backlog of orders is cleared, or the shop closes out any open cases to Etsy’s satisfaction, you may be able to request a reinstatement of your account, or Etsy may reinstate the account automatically.
If your account was suspended permanently, you may be able to file an appeal, but it might not help.
If you have an outstanding balance your shop may be suspended, and that can be another reason why your listings aren’t showing up.
If this is the case, Etsy will probably reindex your listings fairly quickly after you pay your balance.
If Etsy limits your account there should be a banner in your shop dashboard that can explain what action has been taken and why.
For situations where Etsy has closed a shop or deindexed your listings, they should send an email explaining why the action was taken. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get an email, though, because Etsy has a reputation for not sending emails when they say that they did.
You can also email support@Etsy.com or integrity@Etsy.com to get information about why action was taken against your shop.
Etsy support is notoriously bad at communicating why actions were taken against a shop, so you may or may not get an answer, but be persistent and polite if your listings aren’t showing up and you don’t know why.
Etsy recently discontinued their phone support for sellers, and they’re now saying that you need to contact them via email using the help page at Submit a request – Etsy Help
. Just be aware that the help center is generally not prompt, so you’ll need to be patient.
Another reason for your listings not appearing in Etsy search could be that the person looking for them is in a country that you don’t ship to according to your shipping settings.
Many Etsy sellers will ask people in Facebook groups to see if they can find their listings in search, but they forget that their listings don’t show up in all locations.
I’ve done Etsy shop reviews for people who don’t ship to the US, and it looks like their listings aren’t indexed, but that’s not the case.
Finally, your listings may not appear in search due to Etsy removing them for policy violations, or because of Etsy’s policy of “frequency capping,” which limits the number of times a listing shows up in search for a specific keyword or for specific shoppers.
This last point hasn’t been explained well, but it could explain why some listings don’t show up in very general searches but do show up in more specific search results.
Having your listings de-indexed is very uncommon, and there are more likely reasons that a listing wouldn’t show up in search results.
However, if you do verify that your listings aren’t showing up at all without another reason for it happening, you’ll definitely need to contact Etsy to request that they be indexed.
Don’t assume that the problem will fix itself, because if it’s a technical glitch they may need to take action on their end to fix it.
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