I am guessing you heard that you need to work on your SEO to get sales on Etsy, and you are overwhelmed by just hearing that three-letter word. You are in the right place because I am just about to simplify what Etsy SEO is & explain what you need to do to improve your Etsy shop’s visibility.  Let’s get right into it!

What is Etsy SEO?

SEO (search engine optimization) is a powerful tool that helps your shop be found in Etsy search when your customers search for your product. When a customer types a phrase to the search bar (for example birthday candle), that phrase consists of keywords (birthday candle). The ETSY SEO engine will scan through all the listings & keywords on Etsy and decide which products are the most relevant for that customer.

Simply put, optimizing your shop’s SEO will help your customers find your products. Without SEO optimizing your Etsy shop, your products will not appear on early pages of Etsy search results, no matter how adorable your product is and how great your photos are! 

 Which keywords to use in your Etsy shop?

You may think: “Ok, I understand that it’s important, Michaela, but how do I optimize my Etsy shop, so it shows up in the search?” 

Great question! You optimize your shop by using quality keywords in your shop and listings. That’s right; I said QUALITY keywords. With thousands of similar products on Etsy, many other sellers use the same generic keywords, making it very difficult for your product to show in early search results. Customers usually purchase a product they found in the first few pages of their search results; that’s why it is essential to use QUALITY keywords compared to overused generic keywords. So what do I mean by “quality keywords”? Maybe you already heard that Etsy recommends using “long-tail keywords” – that is what we are talking about. 

What are long-tail keywords?

They are simply more specific than general terms, allowing you to target high-quality traffic to your shop (or niche demographics) compared to people who are browsing online but are not ready to make a purchase yet.

Long tail keyword examples that actually make your product show up in search: college graduation gift for her, medical school graduation gift, graduation gift for best friend

General keyword examples that most struggling Etsy sellers are using: graduation gift, birthday gift, mothers day gift, gift for her

As you can see, long-tail keywords are a lot more specific, which means a less customers are searching for them, but customers who are searching for these phrases already know what they want and are ready to make a purchase, compared to the customers who are typing in generic terms and are just in browsing stage of their shopper’s journey. In the end, you don’t need to be exposed to ALL the people; you just need to be exposed to the customers who are looking for exactly your product.

That is why you need to use relevant long-tail keywords in your listing title, description and tags. My favourite tool for finding long-tail keywords for my shop is Marmalead. You can try 14 days free trial here.

How to SEO optimize your Etsy shop, so it shows up in search? 

Once you have a list of quality keywords, it is essential to use them in your shop pages and listings, so the Etsy Search algorithm can register it and show your products to your customers!

1. SEO Optimize your shop pages – use relevant keywords in your Etsy shop about section, policies, FAQ, announcement section

2. SEO optimize your shop listings:

• fill our your listng attributes
• use all 13 tags
• fill your title with relavant long-tail keywords
• add your products to shop sections named with relevant keywords
• use relevant keywords in first two sentences of your product description

Need more help? Download my Free Etsy SEO cheatsheet and start improving your Etsy shop today!

Good luck and talk soon!

Michaela