You might have heard that when Etsy sellers put their shop on vacation mode, there will typically be a bit of a dip in traffic and sales when they come back. It’s not always the case, and it can be more brutal for some than others, but the possibility is there and it might make you wonder:
Will putting my shop on vacation mode kill my traffic and sales?
It’s a reasonable fear to have, and today we’re going to dive into it and talk about the best way to go about taking time off – because we ALL need time off right? It’s just a matter of being a bit strategic about how you do it.
In today’s article we’ll explore:
and
So, ready? Let’s dive in.
You might feel afraid to put your shop on vacation mode — maybe you don’t really know what to do and how it works – and if it’s going to affect your SEO, your traffic, or your sales.
Let’s first quickly talk about what vacation mode is.
In your Etsy settings, there is a toggle button you can turn on that enables “vacation mode.”
When your shop is in vacation mode, it will still show up in search results if someone searches for your exact shop name. Anyone who visits your shop will get a message saying the shop is on vacation, and they will have the option to sign up to receive an email once the shop is taken out of vacation mode.
Your products, however, are not going to appear in any product search results – so you’re not going to get any traffic during this time because your products can’t be found.
Since your products are not appearing in search, you’re not going to get clicks, and you’re not going to get favorites – and obviously you’re not going to get sales. And because of that, you won’t be building your listing quality score while you’re away.
You’re not going to lose the listing quality score that you have – that is set and your history will still be retained and linked to your store, but you’re also not keeping your listings active, so you’re not continuing to build activity into your listing quality score.
So how does that affect your SEO, and how can it potentially affect your sales and traffic?
When you return from vacation mode, you may not see the same traffic level you saw before your vacation. This is because while you’re away, other shops are continuing to build their listing quality score in Etsy by making sales, getting clicks, getting favorites, etc, but your shop’s listing quality score is staying the same.
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So what does that mean for you? That’s going to depend on a number of factors – some shops are going to experience a bigger dip in sales than others.
Some shops have a stronger listing quality score when they turn on vacation mode — they have a longer history of consistent sales and traffic and favorites — so after putting their shop and their listing quality score on hold they will still have a competitive listing quality score when they come back and show up in search results.
But other shops may not have a super strong listing quality score yet, and while they’re gone their competitors may be getting more sales and clicks, and this can be why you hear nightmare stories of vacation mode . . . because when those shops come back they aren’t showing up in searches and it takes them a while to build their listing quality up to the new level of their competitors.
So it’s going to be different for each seller because each shop is different and has different scores, different histories, and different competitors.
It also depends on how long you are putting your shop in vacation mode, obviously a longer “vacation” time will have greater potential effects.
You may be reading this and be feeling a bit fearful of using vacation mode and wondering if there are any alternatives you can do instead . . . or wondering if there is ever any case where it does make sense to use vacation mode.
In certain situations there is an alternative – and that is leaving your shop open, but extending your processing times. That said, there are also situations where it absolutely makes sense to use vacation mode.
So which is best for which situation?
Let’s talk about each one.
If you only need a short break, I would try to extend your processing times if that’s possible.
You would obviously want to catch up with all your orders before you leave so that when you actually are on holiday there are no previous orders that haven’t been shipped.
Then you can keep taking orders while you’re gone but extend your processing time – so for example your processing time might be extended from two or three days to five or ten days.
Do the math correctly and make sure you give a processing time that is not just the time you will be gone, but also includes time to actually process that order and ship it out once you come back.
If you’re ACTUALLY going on holiday, and it’s not a very long break, then this is probably what I would recommend.
I know that you will hear people say “but when you extend your processing time you’re going to lose sales because people don’t want to wait 10 days for their product to be shipped.” And that’s true, you might lose some sales because of that.
But at the same time, you are definitely going to lose out on those sales if you’re in vacation mode because your products aren’t even going to show up in search results. So at least with extended processing times you’re still going to get some clicks, you’re still going to get some favorites – which builds up your listing quality score. Plus you’re probably going to get some sales from people who are willing to wait for your products, so you’re still building up that listing quality score instead of having it put on hold.
If you opt to use extended processing times instead of putting your shop in vacation mode, I would make sure that you’re very clear about your processing times being a bit longer than normal.
You want to make sure that you put the extended processing time in your shop announcements, that you are announcing it in your banner, and in every product listing — you want to clearly communicate it to potential customers so there are no surprises.
I would add it to your autoresponder as well so that when people message you they’ll get a response that includes “we’re taking orders as usual but we are on a short break” then give them the information on your processing times.
Now of course you can’t extend the processing times to infinity, and you’re not going to change your processing time to six weeks or six months — so if you really need to take a longer break for whatever reason – it could be maternity leave, or you or someone in your family is sick, or perhaps you’re moving or a long holiday – and you simply cannot take orders at all for a while, then in that case I would say it’s completely fine to use vacation mode.
In these scenarios you really don’t have a choice – you can’t leave your shop open and receive orders and have them not ship, that will hurt your listing quality score and do much more damage to putting your shop and your listing quality score on hold – and it’s why vacation mode is there as an option for your shop.
Again, how it will affect you is going to depend on your history – how long you’ve been selling for, what your listing quality score is, how long your break is for, and what happens to your competitors in the time that you’re away.
You might not be affected at all when you return, BUT to be honest it is likely you will see a dip in traffic for a little while that is proportional to your time away. And there’s no clear “how long can I take off max” or “how long will your traffic dip last after taking time off” formula, because again, it’s affected by too many factors.
So if you have to use option two and actually turn on vacation mode, then what do you do to fight that potential dip in traffic and sales when you come back?
The first thing you want to do once you’re back again to kick start that listing quality score and build it up again is MARKETING!
Your goal is to send activity to your shop, and by that I mean people clicking on your products in search, favoriting them, and obviously buying them.
So whatever you use outside of Etsy SEO to send traffic to your shop – whether you have an email list or social media or whatever – plan a campaign! Make sure that the moment you come back you’re heavily marketing your product again and you’re sending people to your shop. You can even run a sale on Etsy, and if you have a budget you could also consider running ads.
If you would like to learn more about marketing your handmade shop after being in vacation mode you will want to read this article that will not only give you the 11 best ways to promote your Etsy shop, but will tell you the 3 worst ones as well so you aren’t wasting your time on things that don’t work!
Thanks for reading, and until next time, aurevoir!
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