Etsy SEO: How to Optimize Your Store to Boost Sales

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Last Updated on October 23, 2022 by Chris Panteli

Etsy SEO

You’ve set up a shop on Etsy, you’ve got a great product you know people will want and need, but you just can’t figure out how to show up in search listings.

With so much competition, is it impossible to compete with the large, established stores as a small Etsy shop owner?

How long does it take for Etsy SEO to work?

Each Etsy shop is different. This means that for some shops Etsy SEO will work after a few days, weeks or several months. It depends on what it is that you are selling, how well you’ve optimized your titles, descriptions, tags, pictures etc. If you’re feeling impatient and want to see sales fast, you can start doing paid ads, or sharing your store and products on social media.

Absolutely not. In fact, with some strategy Etsy SEO optimization, you can get your listings to the first page of search results with little to no sales. 

In this guide, we’ll show you how to do it. 

Want to know the top skills required to make money online? Check out our guide on the top 11 high-income skills to make more money

Create a Digital Etsy Empire!

Learn exactly how to design digital products (without Photoshop), list products on Etsy, get traffic to your Etsy shop, and grow a real revenue-generating business

Etsy SEO: How to Optimize Your Store to Boost Sales

Etsy Search Engine Optimization: What is it?

Just like Google SEO, you can improve the search results of your listings on Etsy by optimizing each one with tags and keywords. 

Etsy is constantly changing how it ranks listings in its search results, but there are some basic principles that are important to know. Which is what we’ll cover later in this post.

Why is Etsy SEO Important?

Why is Etsy SEO Important?

If your Etsy listings aren’t search engine friendly, you won’t show up in customer searches and won’t make any sales. 

No matter what category your store falls into – whether you’re selling prints or vintage clothes – there are hundreds of other shops vying for the attention of buyers. Unless your listings are showing up on the first page of Etsy searches, your shop won’t be successful. 

With the right SEO strategy in place, your store will consistently shop in searches and you’ll get more sales. Helping you make your Etsy store a money-making machine.

How Etsy Search Works

Etsy is just a big search engine for handmade and vintage shops. A customer will type what they are looking for into the Etsy search bar and then Etsy will show them different listings based on the keywords they use.

Etsy has dozens of different filters to help narrow down searches. Customers can filter:

  • Shop location
  • Free shipping
  • Price range
  • Shop category
  • Colour
  • And more

The more specific you can be when optimizing your store as a shop owner, the more likely you are to show up in these filtered searches – where the sales happen. 

How Does SEO for Etsy Sellers Work?

Each listing on Etsy has space for a listing title, description, and tags – all of which are opportunities to boost your SEO as a seller. 

Tags are the most important aspect for showing up in search results. Etsy will cross-reference your listing tags to what customers are searching for. If your tags match perfectly, you are more likely to show up on the first page of search results. 

Don’t use irrelevant tags

You might be tempted to use the most popular tags, even if they don’t apply to your listing. But this is going to hurt your store. 

If your product listings show up in enough searches and get views but no clicks, Etsy’s search algorithm will stop showing that listing in search results and it will be seen as a poor quality listing. 

This is why it’s so important to optimize your listings and store with the right keywords that highlight your products.

Etsy uses keywords in your tags, titles, categories, attributes, and descriptions to match your listing to shopper searches. 

Etsy shoppers usually know exactly what they’re looking for and will be specific with their searches. For example, if you’re selling stickers, “large skater vinyl sticker”. This is why Etsy gives you so many opportunities to be descriptive about what you’re selling.

How Keywords Work in Etsy search

How to Find Good Keywords

Now you know the importance of optimizing your listings and Etsy store, how do you know which relevant keywords to use?

There are a couple of easy ways to find the best search terms to optimize your listings with:

1. Google Adwords keyword tool

Google’s keyword planner is a great SEO tool. Start by typing in something generic that you might search for to find your product, and Google will show you all the popular related searches.

Aim to use long-tail keywords (that is, with two or more words), and stick to keywords that have low to medium competition and under 10,000 hits.

Using Google Adwords for Etsy SEO

This will make them easier to rank for in both Google and Etsy searches.

Etsy’s search bar will give you suggested search terms when you begin typing. These suggestions are based on popular searches so will give you an idea of the wording customers use when searching for products like yours.

Etsy SEO search bar keyword research

3. Comparative research

Find three or four shops in your niche that are already successful and see how they are using tags, titles, and item descriptions. 

On any listing, you can scroll to the bottom and the tags the shop has used will appear at the bottom. This will give you an idea of what they are ranking well for. 

Easy Etsy SEO

When you are creating a listing on Etsy, here’s how to keep your Etsy SEO in mind:

Product titles

Etsy prefers short, concise titles as these convert better, but the length of your item title won’t affect your search rankings. 

You get up to 140 characters per title, so make sure to include keywords to describe the product. 

If your products are all very similar, you need to differentiate the titles enough to make it clear for potential buyers and to avoid competing against yourself in search rankings.

Product descriptions

Your product descriptions are less important for Etsy rankings, but the first 30 words of the description are used in Google search results as a meta description, so you should add your keywords there.

Begin your product description with an optimized sentence that will immediately grab attention in Google listings.

After that, you can move onto the full product description.

Product tags

Your tags are crucial for SEO. Choose long-tail tags and make sure they are as closely related to your product as possible.

Tags have a limit of 20 characters so if you can’t fit an entire keyword in one tag, split it over two. 

Etsy SEO Tips to Improve Product Visibility

Etsy is always changing its SEO policies, but here are some quick tips that will always help boost your store’s visibility.

Use long-tail keywords

“Stock photos” is too generic to show up in any Etsy searches when you’re selling photography. A better version would be “Office stock photo bundle”.

Use long-tail keywords on Etsy

This is a long-tail keyword and will help your products rank better in search results and show up for the right audience.

Avoid repeating keywords

Etsy will only show one or two item listings from a buyer in a search. This is to give the shopper variety in their shopping experience and stop the search results looking too saturated with a single shop (also referred to as de-clumping in Etsy search results). 

Because of this, you need to be mindful of competing with yourself for keywords.

Have a set of keywords that work for your shop as a whole, but make sure each listing is optimized for a single, long-tail primary keyword. 

Vary your titles

Google hates repetition, so your titles need to be unique to do well in searches. Even if your products are very similar, make the titles different enough so Google doesn’t think your Etsy shop is a bot. 

Use all 13 tags

You get 13 product tags per listing – use them all. Each tag is another opportunity to show up in a search result and get your next sale. 

If you’re struggling with what to include, go back and do some more research into the best keywords – there are hundreds of options no matter what your product.

Front-load individual listings with keywords

Add your keyword to the beginning of your title, description, and tags. This helps Etsy rank your shop and it makes it clear to your potential customers what you’re selling. 

Practices to Avoid

Practices to Avoid on Etsy

There are a few things that will have an almost immediate negative impact on your Etsy SEO strategy:

Keyword stuffing in titles

A few years ago, Etsy titles were stuffed with keywords and they ranked well. Now, Etsy’s search algorithm is more sophisticated and it will see this as spammy. 

Here’s an example if you’re selling art:

  • Instead of a title like this: “artwork, handmade artwork, art print, canvas print, hand painted art”
  • It should look something like this: “Large canvas wall art | Green nature scene with trees”

Focus on making your titles coherent and informative, while still adding the all-important long-tail search terms at the beginning. 

Creating duplicates of listings

Etsy allows you to copy inventory listings to make the process of uploading multiple listings much quicker. 

However, you should never have duplicate listings in your store. That is, an exact match. 

Not only will Google see this as duplicate content and not show it in listings, it also means your store will be competing with itself in Etsy searches.

Plagiarizing titles and descriptions from other shops

Doing a competitive analysis of successful shops on Etsy is a great way to get some ideas of the best tags and keywords to use.

However, never steal someone else’s title, tag, or description word-for-word. Not only will it be obvious to Etsy since your shop is newer, but it can get your shop taken down for  Intellectual Property Infringements. 

Create a Digital Etsy Empire!

Learn exactly how to design digital products (without Photoshop), list products on Etsy, get traffic to your Etsy shop, and grow a real revenue-generating business

Etsy SEO: How to Optimize Your Store to Boost Sales

Conclusion

Although optimizing your Etsy SEO might seem like a lot of work in the beginning, it’s an easy process once you’ve narrowed down the keywords you want to rank for. 

Etsy also provides insights into your SEO and search rankings the longer your store is active. So this is an ongoing process that you’ll tweak and improve as your store becomes more successful. 

Need to make a quick $1000? Check out our guide on 31 incredible ways to make $1K a month alongside your Etsy store. 

Etsy SEO

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