The Enigma of SEO's

If you tread into the forums on both Etsy and Artfire, you can't help to be bombarded with the words SEO's. For those that don't know what SEO stands for it is Search Engine Optimization. I have been avoiding this three letter word as those of you that have been following me I have had one busy schedule with shows. But with a one week break ahead of me, I thought it was time to try and find out as much information as possible with regard to this scary three letter word. I will preface this with my search is not yet complete. I couldn't possibly tackle it completely in one day.

In my quest for additional information I went to the trusty old Etsy forums, which I hadn't visited in quite some time and posted a thread. To view the thread, go to: http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6198908&page=1

Lo and behold GoTo of Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6650 had written about this particular topic just a few days ago on his blog: http://www.gotogreatpanes.com/blog/2009/06/22/search-engine-optimization/

In his blog he posted a link to Google's SEO Starter Guide: http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2008/11/googles-seo-starter-guide.html

While this isn't the only source for SEO information, it worked as a good starting point for me. With great angst, I had to set aside my creative names for my pieces and replace them with names that hopefully will be more in compliance with SEO. I am going to check my google analytics in a few days and see the difference. As of today my total view count since Etsy's SEO change had me at an increase of 4.60%. I will let everyone know what tales the next few days tell.

Tomorrow I am going to tackle the names in Artfire store, which is down 21.81% in views and then finally my website, which is doing good.

Special thanks to GoTo on Etsy for pointing me in the direction of a good starting point for a guide!!