As per the report, Etsy witnessed 395.13 million visits in September 2024. It reflects the opportunities offered by this platform to online sellers and helps them find potential customers for their products. Meanwhile, Etsy is a diverse marketplace and serves thousands of online sellers.
So, getting noticed among many online sellers is indeed a stringent task. Nevertheless, you have a reason to be excited as Etsy SEO can be the right option for you. With search engine optimization, you can improve search engine ranking, visibility, sales, conversion, and ROI.
How to do Etsy SEO effectively? Well, we have discussed various tried and tested tips that will help you do it better and gain the desired outcomes. Let’s start reading the entire post.
What is Etsy SEO?
Well, Etsy SEO envisages those practices and strategies that help in optimizing product listings on this platform, a well-known online marketplace that displays vintage, handmade, craft supplies, etc. Being a seller, you can use appropriate tags, titles, descriptions, etc., to improve the visibility of your product in search results.
To make SEO for Etsy result-oriented, you need to focus on getting details related to search behavior, getting more positive reviews, and using top-quality images to boost the overall credibility of the shop.
Besides, you can also improve visibility by maintaining a fully active shop and also the use of promotions. Getting expertise in Etsy search engine optimization paves up a way for sellers to cajole more potential customers for their products, and propel sales, conversion, and revenues. It opens up new avenues for companies to grow.
What are the Advantages of Etsy SEO?
The fact can’t be denied that Etsy SEO is of great importance for online sellers who seek to boost their online presence and also increase sales on this leading marketplace. Let’s explore various important advantages of this platform. We will discuss each advantage here one by one to help you understand everything in-depth.
- Boost Online Visibility
Implementing a full-proof Etsy SEO strategy helps you boost the ranking of your listing and thus maximize its visibility in search results. In other words, your products become more visible to those of potential buyers.
All you need to do is work with a holistic approach and perform various activities like writing an engaging description, product titles, tags, etc., with targeted keywords. It helps you achieve your ultimate goals and thus increases your chances to appear on the first page in SERPs, which lure visitors to their shops.
- Increase Customer Base
Increasing the customer base is something that is a primary goal of every business as it helps them expand their horizon. The most important thing about Etsy SEO is it helps you increase your customer base and thus ensure the success of your business.
When you optimize your product listing, it helps you maximize the reach of your listing among a vast audience beyond your existing customers. It helps you convert new visitors to your listing into your loyal customers who may be interested in buying your products. It not only increases the reach of your products but also maximizes your brand recognition.
- Improve Sales and Conversion
Well, increasing sales and conversion is something that is the ultimate goal of any business. If you optimize your listing on Etsy with a proven strategy, it lets you catch the attention of more potential buyers, apart from its increasing visibility.
It’s advisable to use advanced SEO techniques to create enticing product descriptions, engaging pictures, sellers, etc. These can increase the conversion rates. An improved listing contributes to increased sales since customers are expected to buy products that are presented well and easy to find.
- Maximize Brand Reputation
In today’s competitive market, brand reputation is quite necessary to ensure the long-term success of any brand. Etsy SEO works effectively to increase the brand reputation of any business and thus helps them become successful in their horizon.
When your products rank higher and also obtain positive reviews, it creates a higher credibility and trust with customers. A brand that enjoys a higher reputation among customers can get more referrals, repeat customers, and more. This indeed solidifies its position in the marketplace.
Effective Etsy SEO Tips to Follow
So, after getting details about Etsy SEO and also its several benefits for businesses, you may now be keen to know the best way of doing it. We have discussed here the most effective Etsy SEO tips and tricks to perform Etsy SEO most effectively.
- Use Product Tags Appropriately
Tags play a vital role in making your products easy to discover on Etsy. With this platform, you can get the flexibility to add a maximum of 13 tags for every listing. These tags work as keywords. Therefore, you can use these tags in a better way to describe your products properly.
For instance, those who sell old cars can use tags such as ‘pre-owned cars’ and ‘old car for sale’. Using the right tags properly helps you make your products noticeable among your targeted buyers.
To use product tags properly, you can use both vast and specific tags. Make sure you don’t use excessive generic tags. The reason is these tags are competitive and also vague. It’s appropriate to research tags in-depth to find what your competitors use and also look for what works well for your competitors.
Best Practices to Use Product Tags
- Avoid Repeating Tags
You should always avoid repeating your tags. Besides, you should also avoid copying attributes or categories. It’s appropriate to include more keywords in various sections in your listing.
For instance, it’s certainly not the right practice to use two tags like ‘children gift’ or ‘child gift’ for children’s day. Instead, you can use a ‘children’s day gift’.
Besides, you should not use the category of Etsy as a tag. For example ‘kitchen and dining’ is already a category of this platform. So, you should always avoid using the same tags.
- Never Translate Tags
It’s advisable to never translate tags. The reason is Etsy already does the same. If you are a proud owner of a multilingual Etsy store, you can always fill in all fields in the chosen languages. It’s a good idea to offer complete listings in multiple languages.
These are necessary to match the preferences of overseas customers. On the other hand, it also works effectively to boost your Etsy SEO in other locations.
- Use Regional Phrases
Regional phrases are necessary when your Etsy store targets several specific locations. For this, you need to use the right terminologies for several items based on the actual locations of your potential customers.
For instance, soccer presents and football gifts have the same meanings but these are languages of different regions.
So, you need to first identify languages that your target audience uses to represent your products and then use the right phrases to target them.
- Avoid Using Plurals
It’s advisable to not use plurals while using tags for Etsy SEO. You need to understand that Etsy matches both keywords and queries with root words. You can avoid using words with incorrect spelling.
If you are not able to find the right ideas for your product listing, you can find the right inspiration by checking your competitors’ tags. Make sure you check tags for the same products.
You can do it in the easiest way by using the option ‘Explore Related Searches’, which appears under either the bottom of the webpage or the product images.
- Make Product Listing SEO-Free
To make your Etsy SEO strategy successful, you need to take enough time to research proper keywords for your product listings. Keywords are phrases that users use to search for products.
Users type phrases into Etsy’s search menu to search for products. Keywords are not only words that explain your products but also match the search intent of your customers.
The best way to find the right keywords is to use the Etsy search bar auto-suggestion of Etsy. Apart from this, you can also leverage Google Keyword Planner or even many third-party tools like AHERFs, SEMRush, etc. for keyword research.
While searching for keywords, you need to think from the buyer’s point of view. You need to think about what they search for, especially when looking for your products. It’s crucial to focus on niche keywords to target a particular segment of the audience.
Using the combination of both short-tail and long-tail keywords will also help you achieve your Etsy SEO goal.
Best Tips to Find the Right Keywords for your Etsy Shop
- To find the right keywords for your Etsy shop, you can keep several features of your products in mind. It’s advisable to focus on those features of your product that make it unique. Once you find features, you can make them a list. It’s the right practice to use either single words or short phrases.
- You should always think from the users’ point of view while searching for keywords. Try to find out those terms users use to find your products. Once you find those terms, you can make a complete list of these.
- You can perform in-depth research work to learn about your competitors. Make sure you look at the top-selling products that are the same as yours or also your related niche.
- You should take into account both hashtags and descriptions. You should not forget to check reviews. It helps you know what most important things customers love about products and also why your competitors are the top sellers of those products.
How to Test These Keywords?
Once you have a list of all keywords, you can use the following platforms to test whether or not they are relevant.
- Social media
- Etsy search
- Google and many other search engines
- Use the above-mentioned keyword research tools
- You can also use Google Trends for keyword research.
The above ways are useful to get an idea in terms of whether people use these kinds of keywords or not. With the help of research tools, you can narrow it down. It helps you enhance your Etsy SEO.
Where to Insert Keywords?
Using the right keywords in the right place is a core strategy to help you get better results in your Etsy SEO. We have mentioned here several places where you can insert keywords and thus boost the ranking of your shop on the Etsy platform.
- Product titles
- Product Description
- Meta titles
- Meta Description
- Images alt text
- Domain name
- Blog posts
- Feedback and Reviews
Things to Do
The most important thing you can do is to check your Etsy analytics on a day-to-day basis to analyze various keywords and tags that generate higher traffic and sales.
Once you find anything that is not working properly, you can revamp the same. In this case, you can use different keywords in your descriptions, product titles, attributes, categories, etc.
- Optimize your Etsy Shop Name
The Etsy’s search algorithm considers several important factors in the ranking process – the shop name is one of those. It’s advisable to include your targeted keyword in your shop name. It can help you improve your visibility.
For instance, if your business is all about selling used cars, you can name your brand name ‘UsedCarSantuary’. It also helps you boost the search visibility of your brand name as well.
It’s advisable to keep your shop name memorable and also can be spelled easily. Make sure the name you choose for your shop represents your brand well. Always avoid using too many keywords in your brand name since it appears as spam.
- Don’t Repeat Keywords in Listings
The next thing you need to do is to avoid repeating keywords in your listing. You need to understand that the algorithm of Etsy is highly smart and can easily detect similar keywords. So, keyword repeating or stuffing will not help you in any way.
Another repercussion of keyword repetition is also to lead to a poor customer experience. Apart from this, repetitive keywords impact adversely on the performance of your search engines as well. Rather than this, you can also spread your keywords across various descriptions, titles, tags, etc.
- Never Forget to Add Categories
When it comes to categories, these are indeed useful to classify your products in a better way and thus can match with customer searches. Categories represent a wider classification that can help buyers locate different items in the right section of the website of Etsy.
Adding a category in Etsy SEO is one of the most important things you can’t avoid. The main reason is it facilitates potential buyers to discover your products easily. You can implement various important practices to optimize your categories better.
Some of the practices you can implement include choosing specific and relevant categories, avoiding the use of overly general categories that don’t match your products, and using subcategories properly for refining the classification.
Let’s grasp some of the top practices you can implement to add a category for Etsy SEO.
- Select Specific and Accurate Category
It’s advisable to choose categories that match the type of your products. It helps the Etsy’s search algorithm of Etsy to understand the product you offer and serve it to those relevant shoppers. You should avoid choosing broader categories just to increase the visibility of your product. Relevancy is highly important for both engagement and conversion.
- Research Competitor Categories
It’s the right strategy to set your eyes on your competitors to check which categories they use for the same products as yours. This helps you know the most important and relevant category for your product. And you can use categories accordingly to stay in competition.
- Use Different Levels of Categories and Subcategories
You can keep in mind that the category structure of Etsy includes various levels. As mentioned above, you will come across both broad to various specific categories. It’s indeed the right practice to use both categories and subcategories to make sure your product has an accurate description with higher visibility.
- Check the Alignment of Chosen Categories with Tags and Titles
You can ensure that there’s a higher consistency between your selected category and the keywords in both your title and tags. It ensures a higher relevance for the Etsy search engine.
- Update Categories with the Evolution of Trends
You should keep an eye on the changing trends and review your categories to update them accordingly. This is especially important for seasonal items, as you can categorize them based on buyer search trends. It can certainly boost visibility.
- Implement Suggestions Provided by Etsy
The major advantage of Etsy is it provides several category suggestions according to your listing details. These kinds of suggestions can be indeed a great starting point when you are not sure of the right one.
- Avoid Confusing Categories
There are several categories that are confusing or even misleading. You should always ignore categorizing those products that are not relevant sections only for additional visibility. This can offer fewer conversions and also can affect your Etsy SEO with time. The reason is Etsy may not give preferences for such types of listings in search results.
- Check and Adjust Categories for Top Performance
It’s advisable to experiment with multiple categories, especially those listings that don’t perform well. You can track any kind of changes in views, conversions, and favorites to find an effective placement.
Once you choose categories, you can align them perfectly with the right keywords and also stay flexible. You can improve your Etsy SEO. It increases visibility and thus sales.
- Generate Backlinks
The next tip you can follow for your Etsy SEO optimization is to generate backlinks. Make sure you generate backlinks only from reputed websites. Doing this helps you improve the Etsy search engine performance of your shop.
There are several ways to generate backlinks for your Etsy shop. Some of the most reliable ways include blogs, social media platforms, related websites, and more. It’s advisable to consult influencers, and bloggers related to your niche.
Sharing your products on social media platforms, forums, and Pinterest will also help you get the desired outcomes. You can also try to feature your products in magazines, gift guides, etc. Guest posting is one of the reliable ways of generating backlinks from other websites.
How to Generate Backlinks for Etsy SEO?
Now let’s discuss here all the above-mentioned practices in detail to generate backlinks. Doing this in the right way will definitely help you achieve your objective. Let’s explore them.
- Use Social Media Platforms
You can understand the fact that social media platforms have enormous potential to generate backlinks and make your Etsy SEO quite successful. It’s a good idea to share your Etsy shops and offerings across various social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and many others.
Every platform offers equal opportunities to generate backlink. They can move traffic directly to your Etsy shop.
You can engage in various groups and communities to generate backlink. It’s advisable to engage with groups like Reddit threads, Facebook groups, Pinterest boards, and more. These are the top places to display your products and generate crucial backlinks.
- Get in Touch with Bloggers and influencers
As we already mentioned, getting in touch with influencers and bloggers in your field is indeed the right decision to generate backlinks. You can approach them directly and give your proposal.
It’s a better idea to offer them free of cost in exchange for a backlink. It’s indeed the most common yet effective method of generating top-quality backlinks and exposure.
We also mentioned above the importance of guest blogging in generating backlinks. You can create guest posts for blogs that enable you to put backlinks in the content or the bio. You can select blogs in your niches based on your products. It helps you get the relevant links.
- Submit to Product Review Sites and Directories
You will come across various online directories that are specific mainly for vintage items, handmade goods, and many more.
To gain the backlinks, you can submit your Etsy shop for these types of directories that can create lasting backlinks. It’s crucial for Etsy SEO. You can come across that platform to get your shop and product reviewed.
- Engage Actively in Forum and Comment Sections
Many forums related to your niche let you include links in your posts or profile. It’s better to engage with these types of communities by answering various questions. You can include your Etsy shop when you find it’s appropriate to the forum discussion.
Besides, commenting on relevant blog posts is another important technique to generate backlinks. You can comment on relevant blogs, articles, and even various forums related to your niche. It offers useful input and includes your links when you think they can contribute directly to your conversion.
- Generate Top-Quality Content on Various External Sites
It’s a good idea to create a complete tutorial or a how-to guide for your products. Once you create the same, you can publish them on the platforms including Medium, LinkedIn Instructables, etc. It helps you link back to your shop.
Several websites are dedicated mainly to Etsy sellers. These websites accept interviews, guest posts, success stories, and more. It’s indeed the most effective strategy to create backlinks. At the same time, you can also engage with the community, who may be keen on the types of products you offer.
- Generate Backlinks from Pinterest
You need to know that Pinterest is a better place to generate backlinks for your Etsy shop. So, you need to chalk out an impeccable strategy to generate backlinks from this platform.
In Pinterest, those pins that link to your listing or shop on Etsy are considered backlinks. You must create images of your products that should be engaging and pin-worthy. It helps you generate more traffic and thus take your Etsy SEO to the next level.
Joining Pinterest group boards is indeed the right strategy as they are specifically for Etsy sellers. Once you join and pin your products here, it helps you maximize visibility and backlink generation opportunities.
- Stay in Touch with Fellow Etsy Sellers
You can get in touch directly with many other Etsy sellers in your niche. You can feature in each other’s shop. Both of you can produce a collaborative blog post. The next important task you can do is to create a resource list and get featured in the same.
You can easily find various websites or blogs that include ‘Top Handmade Gifts’ ‘Best Etsy Shops, or related items. You can list your shop on these resources as well.
- Create and Submit Gift Guides
There are many influencers and bloggers who quite often create several gift guides. You can reach them and talk about your products. You can request them to include your products in their list. These gift guides are useful for generating both backlinks and traffic.
- Check your Competitors’ Backlinks
You can use various tools like Moz, Aherfs, SEMRush, and others to analyze your competitors and their backlinks. These tools give you an idea about those platforms where your competitors generate backlinks for their shops. You can also target those platforms with effective strategies to generate backlinks for your Etsy shop.
- Approach Etsy-Related Publications and Media
Many Etsy-related media sites cover various handmade crafts, Etsy trends, small business stories, and more. You can approach them and provide details about your products.
Once they agree to feature your products on their websites, these will help you generate backlinks and also increase your credibility as well.
- Use Keywords in Product Titles and Description
You need to focus equally on the title and description of your product as well. You can keep in mind that Etsy scans everything, be it the description and title of your listing to know about your product.
Therefore, you can optimize them well to make them easy to understand for search engines. It’s advisable to use your targeted keywords. Meanwhile, it’s advisable to don’t stuff titles and descriptions with too many keywords.
It’s necessary to make your title clear, crisp, and keyword-rich. You can use the most important keyword at the front as Etsy focuses on the first few words. It’s necessary to write a title and description and put keywords naturally. Make sure you include necessary product details like material, size, and color.
While writing a description, you can mention the use or the way products were made. You can also include even any interesting story behind the product to catch the attention of potential customers.
- Update your Listing on Daily Basis
When you update your product listing regularly, it gives an understanding of Etsy’s algorithm if your shop is relevant and active. Though you don’t need to create your listing every time, you need to modify product descriptions, prices, and tags daily to keep your shop fresh.
You need to update images of your products most frequently and also modify titles. It’s advisable to add several new keywords and also update your product’s descriptions. Besides, you can also run various limited-time offers or promotions to keep your product listings dynamic.
- Use Quality Images for Your Products
The search algorithm of Etsy gives preferences to those listings that include superior-quality images. That’s the reason why you should always use top-quality images for your listing. Images are also crucial to improve overall user experience, which leads to a higher conversion rate.
You can follow the right practices that include using all available image slots, which are approximately 10. Besides, it’s also necessary to include several lifestyle shots, close-ups, angles, etc. Always use a clear, bright, and cropped image.
- Add Proper Attributes
While listing your products, you can include their proper attributes including size, color, and occasion. These are crucial things that buyers use to filter their searches properly. With Etsy, you will get the flexibility to add these kinds of attributes to your listings. It’s necessary to fill them out with a higher accuracy.
Including attributes properly enhances the relevancy of your listings and thus also improves visibility. It also helps your listings appear in the filtered searches.
- Use Social Media
Etsy is one of the most robust platforms. But, you can also use various external platforms as well to increase traffic – social media networks can be the right option for you. It can indeed maximize the visibility of your shop.
Many leading social media platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, and others are appropriate to share your products, create backlinks, and generate interest in your listings.
An impeccable social media strategy will help you in making your task successful. You can implement the latest on-going social media practices as well and post regularly on your targeted social media platforms to showcase the latest products.
You can share your list most easily by using its direct integration with Pinterest. Make sure you create engaging stories, posts, reels, etc. It showcases the uniqueness of your products.
- Add a Clear Policy for your Etsy Shop
It’s necessary to have a clear and transparent shop policy, which is necessary to create trust and credibility with those potential buyers. Etsy always favors those shops that have clear policies in place. Make sure you add several sections for shipping, returns, refunds, and custom orders.
While creating a policy for your Etsy shop, you should include shipping times and cost. Besides, you can also include your refund and return policy.
Take into account the following things while creating a policy for your Etsy Shop;
- You need to mention shopping policies, which should include processing time, shipping method, delivery time, and tracking.
- Mention a clear payment policy, including accepted payment methods, custom orders, deposits, etc.
- Include complete return and exchange policies that include conditions for returns, deadlines, refund process, non-refundable items, etc.
- You should include cancellation policies like cancellation windows and custom orders.
- Your policy should also mention personalized orders such as lead times, detail required, and approval process.
- It should include some FAQs to address various common questions of customers.
- Your policy should include shop terms and conditions clearly, including intellectual property and customer responsibility.
- The policy should mention shipping delays and lost packages.
- Make sure you review and update your policy from time to time.
- Refine your Strategy Continuously
We all are familiar with the fact that search engine optimization is an ongoing practice rather than one one-time activity. So, refining your strategy for SEO for Etsy stores from time to time is indeed quite necessary.
It helps you cope easily with changing trends, evolving keywords, etc. It’s also necessary to analyze the performance of your listings and based on it, revamp your strategy, which is essential to stay ahead of the competition.
Final Words
So, after going through the entire post, you understood how to do Etsy SEO, right? It’s advisable to perform a thorough research to know what your competitors are doing, which we already mentioned. It helps you chalk out the best strategy that helps you get the better results.
You can proceed with the right strategy and implement the above tips properly to keep your SEO effort on the right track. Getting in touch with an Etsy SEO expert will help you a lot. They will assist you to take your search engine optimization to the next level.
Additional Resources:
- The Beginner’s Guide to eCommerce Analytics
- A Beginner’s Guide to Amazon SEO to Boost Sales Quickly in 2024 (Updated)
