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I opened my first online store in 2004 selling handmade dog and cat collars. This was before Etsy, before website builders made things easy and unless you were an SEO genius, the only way to ever be seen was to pay to show up on search engines.

Even though selling online has become easier than ever, your listings could be wasting away. After what feels like a million hours of research and testing things out on my own “dead” listings, I have been able to resurrect them al! Except one of them. I’ll tell you why that one didn’t work later.

So, go grab a shovel and let’s get ready to bring these listings back from the dead baby!

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Why Your Product Pictures Need Text Overlay

The first thing we are going to focus on is your product pictures. Now, I’m not gonna just sit here and tell you they have to be good and lighting and blah blah blah. No duh, we all know this. But did you know that marketplaces, like amazon, and search engines can read the text overlays ON your pictures?

Have you ever gotten a message from a potential customer asking how big something is and you start typing a reply along the lines of, “Hey idiot, you ever read a product description before? Give it a try!” Then you delete it that and start over with, “Thank you for asking. As the product description states, this item is 2 inches long by whatever, have a great day, yadda yadda.”

And, let me ask you this, what were your top questions you had for the last thing you ordered?

I just recently ordered a portable power supply, so I was wondering things like, “How long does it take to charge, what can I power with it, is it heavy?” Things like that. Now, let’s go take a look at the pictures.

Well, look at that! One of the first pictures answers my question of how heavy it is. There are a couple pictures talking about how fast it charges, and the many different ways you can charge it, it even answered some questions I didn’t even know I had!

So, we need to recreate this for our listings. It can be pretty easy and repeatable with a good template. Whether you use kittl, or photoshop or even canva, all you really need to do is set up a template!

But before you make your text overlay templates, think about what information you want to give your customer. First, assume no one really reads the description. What are your main points of interest?

Let’s take these Vulcan Salute earrings for an example. This is one of the listings my resurrection experiment started out with.

For the first info-pic, I’m answering that these are lightweight, handmade and hypoallergenic.

The second is conveying that the acrylic is iridescent.

The third was inspired by reviews. People have said maybe a dark color earring would get lost in their hair, so alternatively depending on the product this could say “best for light color hair or up-dos.” This will prevent an angry reviews down the road.

Fourth is actually a size reference and zoom in details picture that says, “Great for Compliments.” When people see that is said in reviews, it adds to your credibility.

Next up is a measurement picture. Followed by a product packaging picture.

So, think about what it is you sell, what people are asking about for that particular product and highlight the positive traits people leave in the reviews. If you don’t have reviews yet, no worries. Highlight everything that makes the product amazing.

Point out if it’s handmade, small batch, organic, special materials, anything that makes it the coolest freaking thing and that you should buy it.

Here’s a quick list of best practices for your picture overlays:

• Be Succinct: Limit text to one or two key features per photo. If people don’t want to read the product description, they’re not going to ready a short paragraph on a picture. Think bullet point and as few words as possible.
• High Contrast: Use bold, legible fonts and ensure a sharp contrast with the background. No need to get too fancy. That will take away from the subject of the picture – which is the thing we’re trying to sell here, your product.
• Highlight Key Data Only: Use overlays to display dimensions, materials, key benefits (“Ready to Ship”), or a promotion (“Save 15% When You Bundle”).

Visuals are the #1 factor in an online purchase. More photos build a buyer’s confidence and trust. And more information on photos helps search engines categorize your product.

This might be enough to bring a listing back from the dead, except for that one I mentioned earlier, more on that soon, but while we’re at it, let’s touch on what kind of Product Descriptions are converting these days.

2 Biggest Reasons Why Your Product Descriptions Matter

You might have remembered seeing descriptions online that would be maybe a paragraph about the product and then would have a string of keywords, just sitting there at the end of the listing. That was weird, and hopefully your listings don’t have that anymore!

Just like the good old days when I was selling online in 2004, a good product description reads well, answers questions and has all the keywords needed to match search results with your product.

We all have our own listing description style, and it varies so much depending on what you are selling, but here are the quick points you should try to hit for each product description:

• Front-Load Keywords: Start the first 1-2 sentences with your most important long-tail keyword naturally woven into a compelling opening statement. Search engines prioritize the beginning of the description. And an engaging start keeps the reader moving.
• Use Bullet Points for Features & Specs: Use the first few points to list the most critical information: Dimensions, Material, Finish, Customization Options, etc.
• Use Paragraphs for Story & Benefits: A short paragraph or two should sell the emotion. Explain who the product is for and how it solves a problem (e.g., “The perfect housewarming gift that will last a lifetime,” or “An elegant way to organize your entryway.”)
• Shipping & Production Time: Be extremely clear about production time vs. shipping time (critical for custom handmade goods).
• FAQ Integration: Answer common questions directly within the description, like care instructions.

Sometimes when you have a dead or dying listing, it is worth it to look at your description and make sure it is a quick and easy read for you potential customers and catering to all those internet algorithms at the same time. We talked a bit about keywords and tags, so let’s quickly cover that next.

The Simplest Method to Getting Your Tags Right

All these things work together to ensure your “new and improved” listing gets seen by the right audience. Tags are like a code to tell the internet what you’ve got.

There are oodles of videos here on youtube that go over the millions of ways you can find the best keywords. What I like to do is copy my product description into an AI assistant, like Gemini, and ask for tags based on the description. But of course, AI is not perfect, so keep these tips in mind and edit along the way.

• Start with the Customer: Analyze your shop stats and competitor listings to find what people actually search for. Etsy, for example, has recently released a Marketplace Insights tool to help with this.
• Use Multi-Word Phrases: Long-Tail Keywords combine words to use space efficiently (e.g., “Custom Sign” is better than “Custom” and “Sign”).
• Avoid Repeating Words: The search algorithm connects root words, so don’t waste tags on plurals or slight variations. Focus on unique phrases.

But wait! Let’s not forget that one listing, the listing that I could not resurrect. The pictures are lovely. The title, description and all that – perfected. I rereleased it out into the world and ~~~ nothing. Why?

Well, cuz no one wants it. That’s ok. We can’t make a winning product every single time. No matter how fancy I make these dragonfly earrings seem, they are boring, don’t solve a problem, they’re not rare or amazing. But I gave it a try!

There are a lot of reasons why people aren’t buying your products, and I go over 5 more reasons here is this article! It’s an oldy but a goodie, I think you’ll like it!

Happy Crafting!

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