Marketing

  • How to Verify Your Etsy Domain for Facebook & Instagram Shopping

    To activate Shopping features and product tagging on Facebook and Instagram, a new “domain verification” step is required as of September 2021. If you are already using Facebook catalogs to tag and share your Etsy products on Instagram (see this guide if you want to learn how to set this up), you may have received this anxiety-inducing email from Instagram on September 1st. Or you may be reading this post after September 2021 looking to find out more information about this requirement and how to set it up.

    What does it mean to “confirm my website”? (aka Domain Verification)

    Website confirmation is also known as ‘Domain Verification’. This is essentially linking your domain to your Facebook business account so that they can know you are the actual owner of the products you are trying to sell on their platform.

    The process to do this usually involves adding a code to your website or domain that another platform (ex: Facebook) can use to identify what account it belongs to.

    This additional step allows Facebook to only keep legitimate sellers on their platform, and eliminates those who are trying to tag products they don’t own.

    What about Etsy sellers who don’t own their Etsy domain?

    Fortunately Etsy has been working with Facebook and provides an easy way to verify your Etsy shop with Facebook. You can find it within your shop settings, along with an explanation of how it works. Keep reading for the detailed steps.

    Disclaimer: Some of the information provided by Etsy can be misleading and allow you to think by verifying your domain, they will automatically sync your listings to Facebook. This is not true. Currently there is no Etsy feature to import/sync listings to a Facebook/Instagram catalog.

    If you want to learn more about how to do this yourself, I created a guide and free tool to set this up.

    What do I need to do to verify my Etsy shop with Facebook?

    1. Login to Facebook Business Manager for your shop and navigate to the domain verification page.

    2. Add a new domain and enter your shop URL in this format: shopname.etsy.com

    3. Copy the meta-tag verification code provided by Facebook.

    4. In a new browser tab, login to your Etsy shop account

    5. Go to Shop Manager > Settings > Facebook Shops.

    6. Paste your verification code from Facebook into the text box and click ‘Connect’.

    7. Return to the Facebook Business Manager domain verification page and click Verify.

    You’ll see a confirmation that your domain is verified. You can now add products to your Facebook catalogs using your listing URL: shopname.etsy.com/listing/ID#

    Next Steps: Setup your product catalog so you can import and tag your Etsy products on Instagram & Facebook. Check out the guide and free export tool to learn more!

    Helpful Links

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  • Etsy to Instagram Product Tagging Guide

    **July 2022 Updates** – The Savvy Seller app is now live! Create your FREE Savvy Seller account to create your shop catalog file to use with Facebook/Instagram.

    **September 2021 Updates** – There are new requirements from Facebook to be able to tag products coming from Etsy (called “Domain Verification”). Please see the updated Domain Verification post for details.


    Whether you are just starting out or have had an Etsy shop for awhile, Instagram is an awesome platform to use to promote your products online. The visual nature of Instagram makes it great for sharing handmade items and building your brand. One of the many features that Instagram has for product businesses is the product tagging feature (aka “Shopping”).

    This guide will go step-by-step through the process required to enable product tags in your Instagram business profile. Once the setup is complete, you will be able to add your Etsy products into your Instagram shop and start tagging them in your posts. Let’s get started!

    What this guide includes:

    What is Instagram Shopping?

    Instagram shopping is a feature available to business profiles, that allows store owners to tag their physical products on image posts and stories. Unlike swipe up, this feature is available to any approved business profile regardless of follower count (yay!). When tagging posts with product tags, a small info bubble shows up for users viewing your post and allows them to click through directly to your website product page. And once you have at least 9 tagged posts, a shop tab will show on your profile to filter down all your product posts for users to view. So, if you are looking for ways to gain more visibility to your products, and get around Instagram’s link limitations, try the steps below to apply for Shopping!

    Requirements for Approval

    What You Need to Get Started

    • Active accounts on: Etsy, Facebook, and Instagram
    • Facebook Business Page
    • Desktop computer
    • Smartphone

    Quick Start Checklist

    • Setup Facebook Business Manager account
    • Connect Instagram profile to business page
    • Verify Etsy domain (new Sept 2021!)
    • Create product catalog
    • Add test product to catalog
    • Wait for approval by Instagram/Facebook
    • Connect Instagram to product catalog
    • Add Etsy products to catalog
    • Create a new Instagram product post!

    Setup & Approval Process

    SETUP FACEBOOK BUSINESS MANAGER ACCOUNT

    1. Open a web browser to https://business.facebook.com.
    2. Click the “Create Account” button to create an account. (If you already have a Facebook Business Manager account, login.)
    3. On the home screen there will be a section to create or claim a business page.
    4. Follow the on screen steps to link your current business page to the business manager.

    CONNECT INSTAGRAM PROFILE TO FACEBOOK BUSINESS PAGE

    1. Open the Instagram app on your phone. Make sure you are logged into the Instagram account related to your Etsy shop.
    2. From your profile, go into Settings > Account > Switch to Professional Account.
    3. Choose Business type account
    4. Follow the steps to connect your profile to the correct Facebook business page, and verify any contact information. (If your profile is already setup as a business profile, verify that it is connected to the correct Facebook business page.)

    VERIFY ETSY DOMAIN (NEW SEPT 2021!)

    **For complete explanation and detailed steps for how to set this up, see the post here.

    CREATE A PRODUCT CATALOG

    1. Within Facebook Business Manager.
    2. In the top left corner, select the “Business Manager” menu.
    3. Under “Assets”, click “Catalogs”. Then click “Create Catalog”.
    4. Select “E-commerce” as catalog type, then click next.
    5. In the first dropdown, select your business page as the catalog owner.
    6. In the “Catalog Name” field, enter “Etsy – <shopname>”, then click create. (Replace “<shopname>” with the actual name of your shop)
    7. Once the catalog is created, click the “View Catalog” button.

    ADD TEST PRODUCT TO CATALOG

    • From the catalog page, click the “Add Products” button.
    • Select the “Add Manually” option, then click next.
    • Fill out all the fields on the form for one of your products, then click “Add Product”. (Only add one product at this time to verify the connection to Instagram is successful. You will add the rest of your products in a later section.)
    • Once the product is added, click Done.

    CONNECT INSTAGRAM TO CATALOG

    1. In the Instagram app > Settings > Business
    2. Click “Sign Up for Shopping”
    3. Follow the prompts to select the product catalog you created above and submit your profile for approval.
    4. Now you wait. Instagram approval can be immediate or take a few days. To check the status, you can follow the same steps and click the “Sign Up for Shopping” to see the progress.
    5. If you are approved, move onto the below steps for adding your products to the catalog.
    6. If you are NOT approved, see the troubleshooting ideas and helpful links below to see if you can figure out why you were not approved.

    Adding Etsy Products to the Catalog

    Request Your FREE Etsy Shop Catalog File

    Shop Catalogs is a tool inside Savvy Seller, built as a quick and easy tool for you to get all the data you need from Etsy and in the right format for Facebook in one simple click. Create your FREE Savvy Seller account to get a personalized shop file that is ready to configure in your Facebook Product Catalog in Business Manager.

    Tagging Products on Instagram

    Once you are approved and your products are loaded, tagging products is pretty simple within Instagram. Your catalog products will be available to tag when adding a new post, story, or when editing an existing post.

    Common Issues & Troubleshooting

    If you are encountering issues, try one or more of these fixes:

    • Ensure that your Facebook page’s “category” (Page > About) isone that is business related. (See Facebook Page Categories)
    • In Facebook > Page > Settings > Instagram, make sure that your page is connected to the correct Instagram account.
    • In Facebook Business Manager > Catalogs, click your Etsy catalog and go into the settings. There is a section for Connected Instagram Business Profiles, click the Manage Profiles button and review the status of your approval/connection. You can also check the status within Instagram > Settings > Business > Sign Up for Shopping.
    • Convert your Instagram profile back to personal, and then go through the steps again to set up business profile. (Only do as last option, as this will wipe out your analytics and business settings.)

    Helpful Resources

    GENERAL

    SETUP

    USAGE

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