As a reseller, SEO, also known as Search Engine Optimization, is a very important tool to utilize in your business. For those of you unfamiliar with it, Search Engine Optimization is a term that is used to describe how using certain words or phrases in your listings can impact how your item appears in search results on platforms such as Poshmark, Mercari, and Google. The better your SEO is, the better that your listing will perform and rank in searches. Let’s get into it!
How Does Search Engine Optimization Work?
As I started earlier, Search Engine Optimization is the process of taking the steps necessary to help a listing or piece of content rank higher on a search engine. Compared to running paid ads (or using the “promote” feature on Mercari), this is an organic way of getting your listing to appear at the top of the search results. Let’s look at SEO in action: Let’s say that someone is looking to buy a used Louis Vuitton Monogram Vernis Wilshire PM Bag in Red. You would want them to find your listing over someone else’s. In order for them to find your item, it would need to rank above all other listings for the same item. This is where SEO comes into play…
Different Levels of Search Engine Optimization
When it comes to Search Engine Optimization, it can be found at 2 different levels when it comes to listed items: Google and The Reselling Platform itself. Search Engine Optimization is be used on any platform that a search can be conducted. Since your listing can be found on a reselling platform and on Google, SEO can be applied to both.
Poshmark/Mercari SEO
Applying SEO to reselling platforms is very platform specific. [I am most familiar with Poshmark and Mercari so you will hear me reference them throughout this article.] Within these platforms, there are 2 very important pieces that will impact how well your items perform: (1) Keywords and (2) Sharing Frequency.
Keywords
Listings have a few different sections where keywords can be applied: in the title, in the description, and through style tags. Composing a keyword heavy title and description will help your item to appear to as many people as possible in searches. When writing your titles, especially, think about how you would search for the item on the app and use those words in your listing.
Let Me Give You an Example of One of My Listings:
Title: For my title, I included the item’s brand, style name, print, material, and clothing type. If anyone was to search for this specific item and use any of the words from my title, it would definitely appear in the search results on the Poshmark and Mercari apps.
Description: The description is actually much more important to Google SEO searches than Poshmark/Mercari searches but it does still impact the search results on these reselling platforms. Make sure that the description is full of keywords and descriptor words. Poshmark will generate search results that use certain keywords in the description and not the title. In Poshmark/Mercari’s eyes, as long as the word is somewhere in the listing, it will appear in the search results. I usually will just paste in the title name and add in any notes about condition/wear.
Style Tags: This is a newer feature on both Poshmark and Mercari. I never fully used to utilize this feature until recently. It wasn’t until I started using it that I realized that I was missing out on so many opportunities. On every listing that you put on Poshmark or Mercari, be sure to utilize the tag feature. If you are unsure of what words to use, they have a list of autogenerated options right on the app that you can utilize. Be sure to pick words that actually apply to your listing so you can get it in the eyes of the right people.
**ADDITIONALLY, fill in every category and subcategory within each listing. The Poshmark and Mercari apps will use this information in their searches too!
Sharing Frequency
Everyone knows how important it is to share your items to make sales, but do you know why that is? The reason why you should share your items frequently is because sharing pushes your items to the top of the search results. The higher that an item appears at the top of a search result, the more likely that a potential buyer will click on the listing. Let’s be real, most people are not going to scroll though the hundreds of results that appear in a search. More than likely, they will click on the first few pages and then move on. The more that you share your items throughout the day, the more times that it will appear at the top of the search results when people are looking for items at any given time during the day.
Google SEO
Google SEO works hand-in-hand with Poshmark/Mercari SEO but does have some differences. Everything that I have mentioned so far regarding Poshmark/Mercari SEO directly impacts Google SEO. Your choice of keywords and sharing frequency within your reselling platforms has the same effect on your Google search results. Recently shared, keyword rich listings will appear at the top of a Google search. However, Google does take some other factors into consideration as well.
Google is a much larger platform so not only does it include reseller listings in its’ search results but it also includes retailers and other companies as well. In order for you to outrank these companies organically, you need to make sure that your listings are updated regularly. [I’m currently working on a little experiment on this so stay tuned!] Additionally, Google loves photos with white backgrounds and/or light and bright photos. These photos will typically rank high on the Google search engine.
Search Engine Optimization is such an important tool in your listing’s success! Please be sure to update your listings regularly and utilize it to its’ fullest potential.
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