Forget Instagram, Tik Tok, and Facebook. No amount of social media will sell your Teachers Pay Teachers products until you perfect its listing page. If your products aren’t converting on the Teachers Pay Teachers website, then you’re wasting your time and money on additional advertising. In this post, I’m going to share all of my tips for creating a TpT Product Listing that Sells. 

Parts of a Product Listing

Before we dive into how to create a perfect listing, let’s go over the different parts of a product listing. 

1. The title–this is the title of your product and appears in a search
2. Thumbnails–these are the four images you can upload to showcase a product. The first one, which shows up in a search, is called the cover.
3. Previews–these are more in-depth previews of your resources and can be a PDF or a video
4. Product Description–this is the text description of your product

Create a TpT Product Listing that Sells: The Title

The title is one of the most important parts of a product listing. When a potential customer searches for a resource, the TpT algorithm will comb through resources titles and descriptions for matching keywords. 

This is why it’s super important to think about the keywords you use in your title and throughout your product description. 

When you’re creating a product listing, you do not want to choose cutesy nicknames for your resources. 

Let’s say that you’ve created an amazing Halloween-themed worksheet about fractions. Titling it a “Spooktacular Fractions Review” might sound cute, but no one is going to go to TpT and search for a student activity that is “spooktacular.” 

Instead, you want a title that is short, concise, and describes your resource. “Halloween Fractions Worksheet” is nearly as cute of a title, but it will show up in search results. 

Choose a keyword that you think buyers will use to find resources like yours. Make sure this keyword is in your product title, and remember it. We’ll use it again later!

Create a TpT Product Listing that Sells: Thumbnails

When you upload a product for the first time, you’ll be able to upload up to four images to showcase your resource’s features. 

These thumbnails are like free billboards for your resources. I highly encourage you to use all four images, even if your resource is just a single-sided worksheet. 

Create these images as squares. They will fit better in search results that way. As you’re designing these thumbnail images, zoom out to be sure that the text can be read even when the images are small. They won’t appear full-size in search results, but you’ll still want them to be legible. 

You can use pretty much any software to create these images. Usually, whatever you use for creating resources will do. I and many others use PowerPoint, but if you don’t have it–or simply don’t prefer it–Canva is another great tool. 

For more information on Canva and the ways TpT sellers can use it in their business, read this post. 

Here is some information to consider including on your thumbnails: images of the resource, what is included, and any special features (is it no prep? Digital?) You can also include pictures of your resource.

The cover (the first of the four images) will show up in the TpT search. Make sure that this image captures attention and helps your product stand out!

Create a TpT Product Listing that Sells: Previews

You can upload a preview to show your buyers even more of your awesome product. Your preview can either be a PDF or a video. You could even upload both if you wanted!

If you look around on Teachers Pay Teachers, you’ll find many different approaches to creating a preview. Some sellers create an advertisement for their previews that feel like an extension of thumbnails–they highlight features and include snippets or pictures of parts of the resource. 

Other sellers upload a part of their resources so buyers can get a feel for what to expect from the whole product. 

I actually upload the whole resource with watermarks over the pages. I find that just letting buyers see the whole product before purchase helps them to feel comfortable purchasing and leads to better reviews because the buyer went into the purchase with clear expectations of what they’d be receiving. 

Do not include answer keys in your previews!!! Too many students end up searching the web for answers, and you don’t want to make it any easier for them! Don’t compromise your resource before a buyer can even download it. 

Create a TpT Product Listing that Sells: Product Description

Your title and cover at this point should have grabbed buyers’ attention. Now, use the product description to sell it!

Remember that keyword you made sure was in the title? You’re going to want to use it again here. Without keyword stuffing, try to include that same keyword several times throughout your product description. This will help TpT’s algorithm find your resource when buyers search for a product like it. 

In our previous example, we titled a Halloween-themed fractions worksheet “Halloween Fractions Worksheet.” We would want to use these same keywords in our product description. For example, we might start with something like “Add some fun this October with this Halloween Fractions Worksheet!”

Make sure your keywords sound smooth and authentic; don’t force them. 

In your product description be sure to describe what your resource is and what is included. The more information you give your buyers, the fewer questions they’ll have and the faster they’ll decide to purchase. 

Also, in those post-Covid days, be sure to specify how the product can be used. Is it printable? A Google Doc? Designed for TpT’s Easel? Be sure to list the ways your product can be used in the classroom. 

Obviously, you should never copy another seller’s work (not even a product description), but it’s totally ok to look through resources you’ve purchased in the past for inspiration. Take note of what kind of information those sellers included that worked for you!

Conclusion

Every successful TpT seller knows that you have to master the basics before you start investing time into marketing strategies. If your page isn’t converting, then buying ads to send potential customers to your resources will just be a waste of money. 

If you’re struggling with creating a TpT product listing that sells, I have two resources for you.

My mini-course TpT Takeoff is a quick start guide to getting your Teachers Pay Teachers store off the ground as quickly as possible. It includes templates for product thumbnails and a fill-in-the-blank product description. 

For those who want to go all-in, my signature course TpT Profitability dives deeply into every aspect of creating a sustainable and profitable Teachers Pay Teachers store from the ground up. In addition to helping you plan your resources, your store, and being your marketing endeavors, I walk you through not just what a product listing should include, but how to make every part of it.