Adding Product Types to Google Base Feeds

If you have not yet set-up Google Base you should start by reading this article.

You may have noticed that in your Google Base you get a warning that states "Warning: Missing recommended attribute: weight." The way Etsy has our RSS feeds set-up there is no way for this information to be included. You can however, go in and add these weights manually. Please note that your items will still appear in Google's Shopping searches with out doing this. Following these steps will just help your items to appear in relevant searches. If you decide to edit your items I recommend switching your uploads to monthly because after each upload happens all of your edits will be lost and you will have to re-enter them all by hand.

To add some attributes follow the instructions below:

1. Log into Google Base
2. Click "Active Items"
3. Click "Edit" next to the item you would like to add attributes to
4. Click any of the links under "Include additional details
for your item" on the right hand side
5. New boxes will appear, add the information for your product
6. Click "Publish" at the bottom of the page.


Don't understand something I wrote about? Have a related question? Post a comment and I will be sure to answer it. Have an unrelated question? Submit it here and I will feature it on my blog!

xoxo
susan.

Google Base E-mail

*UPDATED*

If you are currently using Google Base you more than likely have now received an email that states "In order to provide shoppers with the most useful information, we'll be making the 'condition' attribute required starting on June 30th, 2009."

Currently, the only way to fix this is to go into each listing manually and edit them. Hopefully, Etsy will be modifying the XML files soon so that it includes condition variables -- but currently there is no fix.

Please do not worry! I will post again before June 30th with a possible solution if Etsy does not address this issue.

Updated: 06/25/2009

Etsy has sent out notice that they have fixed this issue.

We wanted to let you know this Condition attribute is now included in all Etsy shop feeds. If you use your shop feed to schedule uploads to Google Base, there is nothing new you need to do and no action needs to be taken. We have you covered.

Items on Etsy with "Vintage" as a top-level category will be listed with a condition of "used" in Google Base going forward. All other items will be listed with a condition of "new."

I would check your recent upload to make sure it has worked properly for your feed and let me know if you have any problems.

Love Always,
susan.

Setting up Google Base for Multiple Shops

This post was inspired by Corr Nucopia

If you have more than one shop on Etsy you will more than likely want to be using Google Base for each shop so you can get all of your items into Google's shopping results. If you have not yet set-up Google Base for any of your shops then you should start by following the instructions here.

Once you have your first shop set-up on Google Base you need to go here and register for a multi-client account on Google. It should only take a few hours and they will send you an e-mail once it is created. Once you have received the e-mail stating it has been set-up follow the additional instructions below:

1. Log in to your Google Base account
2. Click "Create another account to manage" at the bottom right and fill in the information for you new shop
3. Click the link to your new shop under "Display Name"
4. Click "edit" under "Uploads"
5. Schedule the time you would like it to happen and paste in your RSS feed link for your new shop
6. Click "Update schedule"

If you have more than 2 shops, you can follow these same instructions for as many shops that you have. Have fun getting your items out there!


Don't understand something I wrote about? Have a related question? Post a comment and I will be sure to answer it. Have an unrelated question? Submit it here and I will feature it on my blog!

xoxo
susan.

Impressions vs. Clicks

Originally inspired by: ningsunderworld

If you are using Google Base, Project Wonderful, or some other form of advertisement, you are probably getting some data about numbers of impressions and numbers of clicks. This post will explain the difference between the two.

Impression: This is when your add is made visible on a website. If someone is looking at a website and your advertisement is being shown, then that would count as 1 impression.

Click: This is when someone clicks on your advertisement. If someone looking at a website sees your advertisement and then they click on it, that would count as 1 click.

The number of impressions will always be greater than or equal to the number of clicks since it is impossible to click on an add unless there was first an impression.


Don't understand something I wrote about? Have a related question? Post a comment and I will be sure to answer it. Have an unrelated question? E-mail me, and I will feature it on my blog!

xoxo
susan.

What is Google Base? How do I set it up?

Google Base is a database. There are a handful of ways to use it but most Etsy users use it to get their products into Google's shopping results. This is another great way to increase your exposure.

Before you get started you need to set-up a Google Base account, which can be done here: www.google.com/base/

The following step-by-step instructions will automatically upload all of your Etsy items to Google Base. These instructions are probably the longest instructions I will ever post here -- If they are overwhelming I would suggest printing it out and checking off each step as you complete it. You will only have to do this once.

Note: If you have previous items in Google Base from manual uploads or from LetsEts, you need to delete these before you begin.

1. Log into Google Base
2. Click on the "Settings" tab
3. Fill in your information. When entering your website address use the address with your shop number not your shop name.

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Follow these added steps only if you are not sure what your shop address is

• a. Enter shopname.etsy.com into a browser (e.g., MagnetGames.etsy.com)
• b. Press "return" on your keyboard
• c. The website address in the browser should now be different.
• d. Copy that address, it is what you should use for step 3.

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4. Click "Save Changes"
5. Click the "My Items" tab
6. Click the "Data feeds" tab
7. Click the "New data feed" button
8. Select your country
9. For "Select the type of item in your data feed" select "Products"
10. For "Select the type of the data feed you're registering" select "google base"
11. Your data feed file name is your Etsy user name followed by .xml. Example: MagnetGames.xml
12. Click the register data feed button
13. Refresh the webpage
14. Click blue text displaying "edit" right next to your xml name
15. Change the File format to XML, all the other settings can be left the same
16. Go to your Etsy shop and scroll down to the bottom right. Click "Subscribe to shop feed." Copy the address of the page
17. Back on Google Base, click on "create" right next to "Schedule"
18. Click daily, and then pick a time that will be happening in 1-2 hours from the current time (you can change this later)
19. Paste the address you copied from step 16 into "Url of file." You can also choose how often you would like it to upload your items.
20. Click "Update Schedule"

If you followed all of these instructions and you ended up with a "Failed" under recent uploads please post the failed message in the comments and I will be sure to help you get it all sorted out.

To set the time and frequency of your uploads follow these instructions:

1. Log in to Google Base
2. Click on "Data feeds"
3. Click "edit" under uploads, it is right next to "Schedule"
4. Choose the frequency, time, and timezone of your uploads.
5. Click "Update Schedule"

Do you have another shop on Etsy? Follow these directions to set-up additional shops on Google Base.

Don't understand something I wrote about? Have a related question? Post a comment and I will be sure to answer it. Have an unrelated question? Submit it here and I will feature it on my blog!

xoxo
susan.