Hello. You are on the Western Bid website, and my name is Victoria. I represent Western Bid in Chernihiv and am developing my small business on Etsy. Our company opens the world of international sales for you. We accept payments from your own websites, deliver your products anywhere in the world, and also offer services of a fulfillment center and US fulfillment center.
Today we will talk about Etsy’s recommendations on creating titles in listings. Many of my colleagues have already commented on this update and shared their own tips and warnings about it. And I generally agree with them, because, if I’m not mistaken, Etsy has been emphasizing since 2020 that titles should be readable and understandable, primarily for buyers, avoiding repetitions and spam, and that they should specifically describe what you are selling.
My experience with the AI tool
But I also want to share my own observations, especially since my account already has the option for bulk title correction using Etsy’s AI suggestions. Moreover, I accidentally changed the titles of almost 30 of my listings with a single click, without realizing it.
Honestly, it’s a nightmare, I was shocked. I didn’t even notice it immediately, only a few days later. My listings that sell well were affected, which I deeply regret, as well as dead listings. Luckily, I didn’t damage them too much.
Therefore, to avoid falling into this trap, I advise you to read this article to the end, and then make a considerate decision regarding changing your titles. By the way, write in the comments if you have already tested this Etsy tool, and share your impressions and results. It will be very interesting.
What does the new tool look like
So, those who already have this update may have received a message on their dashboard from Etsy indicating that your titles need to be changed. Of course, I no longer see this message, but you can go either here, where the factors that reduce your listing visibility are indicated, or directly to Etsy search visibility panel, where Etsy suggests improvements that, in their opinion, will promote overall better performance.
And what do we see here? I have such a notification indicating that 103 of my listings have recommendations for title changes that can help make my product more transparent to buyers. Okay, I clicked update.
Now, I kindly ask everyone to read carefully here because my further actions, which I took when I first visited this page, I didn’t even realize I could do, and it could carry a quite serious threat, so to speak.
So, for those who haven’t yet reviewed these recommendations, you can go to this page to see them, but we will look at how this page appears and what Etsy offers us. This is a direct AI tool that adjusts our titles, giving us the option to update these titles.
What do we see here? There is a photo of the product, the old title, and a new title generated by Etsy’s AI tool.
How I thought it worked
Attention, initially, I thought, well, it’s very simple: go to Edit, replace the title with the one Etsy suggests, and save the changes. I won’t do that now, but I thought that was the right way to do it.
For example, on this page, I saw listings that I was ready to change the titles for, made some adjustments in certain listings, and left others as is because I knew they were already selling well, and I didn’t plan to change them.
Where the mistake happened
But then, to go and look at the next listings, note that only 10 out of 103 suggested listings are displayed on this page. And I want to mention that I had 132 listings. So, I updated almost 30 listings without realizing it myself.
It was a real shock for me when I found out, and I only did it on Friday to see what this tool was about, how it works, and only on Monday I somehow realized that some titles in my listings were wrong. Then I understood exactly where I made the mistake.
How to use the tool correctly
So, now, attention. I think that those who are reading this article before starting to change their titles will find it very useful because, if you want to review all 103 listings and suggested changes, or agree/disagree with them, you must definitely uncheck these boxes.
Because this is automatically enabled when you open this tool, and since all my checkboxes were checked, all listings were updated without choosing, even if I made specific changes to certain listings and saved them.
Step-by-step instructions
Please, be careful with this:
- First, uncheck all the boxes
- Next, make changes to listings you agree with, using Etsy’s suggested titles
- Leave those you don’t want to change as they are
- Under no circumstances, click Save and continue immediately to see the next listings
Because if you click that, with the checkboxes checked, it will replace titles for all listings on this page.
Initially, uncheck, then make changes, and only then click Save and continue, and check the box against the listing you want to change using this tool.
My conclusions from this experience
I hope my experience will be useful to you when you familiarize yourself with this tool, but here are my main takeaways.
Conclusion 1: Don’t change successful listings
First and most importantly, do not change your successful listings that already sell well. This rule must remain inviolable, so you should not change titles in such listings, as Etsy already trusts them, and they have a green light.
During this automated bulk title change using the new tool, I accidentally affected a few top-selling listings. Honestly, I am worried about this, but we’ll see the consequences. Hopefully, everything will be fine because all the search queries in my titles before the change are present in the tags, so I believe the new titles won’t significantly affect their ranking.
Conclusion 2: Test on dead listings
Second, and here’s the biggest surprise for me. Maybe this new tool really works. Dead listings started to become active. Traffic and engagement increased, and some of them even made sales.
For example, this product of ours, we didn’t even have spare components for it, and I don’t remember the last time it was sold. So, perhaps Etsy will now push these updated listings more actively. I’ll keep an eye on it, and if you have any information about this, please share.
To test this new tool, the first step you can do is try changing titles mainly on your dead listings. You won’t do worse, and maybe some positive changes will occur, or at least, the situation will improve.
Conclusion 3: AI is just a hint
The third conclusion I made is that AI should be used only as a suggestion, not a ready-made solution. Because we don’t know under which conditions this title suggestion tool will work effectively.
If your titles were already optimized with important keywords, and you chose effective tags, this is very good, and I think that in this case, automatic title replacement suggested by AI will probably not harm your shop.
If, however, your titles were of low quality before, AI might suggest even worse options.
What to do before changing titles
Therefore, before changing a title, it’s essential to:
- Check which keywords bring you visitors and the most traffic
- Record them
- Do not remove them from titles or tags, even if Etsy advises otherwise
In other words, analyze your SEO and statistics first, then change your titles.
Conclusion 4: Make changes gradually
The next point is to make changes gradually, a few listings at a time, not all at once, to avoid damaging your shop. Also, track the results about a month or two later to see if this new approach works for your listings.
Conclusion 5: Always back up
And a very important tip: I realized this too late — after clicking and updating many listings automatically. When I saw the changed titles, I didn’t remember what the original was, so I couldn’t restore them.
So, before you make changes, download your CSV report from Etsy with your listings info, so you can revert titles if you find that the old ones worked better.
Summary
Why is mass changing listing titles on Etsy with AI advice dangerous?
Because one click can break what already works well. Etsy’s new AI tool changes titles automatically, and if you don’t uncheck the boxes, it updates all listings immediately — even those that are already performing well. This could lead to a drop in search rankings without realizing it right away.
Which listings should be tested with new AI titles, and which should be left unchanged?
It’s best to start testing with “dead” listings — those that have no traffic or sales for a long time. Changes there can give positive effects. Successful listings with good sales history and rankings should be left alone — Etsy trusts them already, and unnecessary edits might do harm.
How to safely change titles without spoiling your shop’s SEO?
First, check which keywords truly bring traffic and record them. Make changes gradually, a few listings at a time, and monitor results after 1-2 months. Always make backups: save the CSV file with initial titles so you can revert if needed.
That’s all for now. Wishing you positive changes, and may your listings perform even better.
