Etsy SEO

About two years ago, I started an Etsy Shop for my video game art side gig. In that time, I've learned a lot about what I love and hate about being a handmade artist on Etsy.

One of the parts of this journey I have loved the most is Etsy SEO.

Yup! Spreadsheets, research, keywords, tags, titles, experiments, target ranking words and strategies are all pieces of the Etsy SEO puzzle. Before we get too far into the specifics, it's important to know the big picture: "What is it? Why should we care?"

What is it?

Etsy SEO has been covered by countless blogs and brilliant entrepreneurs (E.G. Jenni Waldrop at Fuzzy & Birch) but I will try my hand at a simplified version.

First of all, SEO = Search Engine Optimization.

"Search Engine? Optimization?"

A "search engine" is a system like Google. It lets you search for things. The "optimization" part describes the process of making your content friendly to search engines so that people can find you. I like to think of it as a game of "Where's Waldo?"

Think of SEO like a game of "Where's Waldo?"

Your product or thing is Waldo, and everything around him is the internet. Your customer is the one looking for Waldo. Poorly executed SEO is like keeping him in his normal striped red/white shirt and hat. Properly executed SEO is like giving him a fluorescent shirt that emits a light strong enough to create a beam that can be seen from almost anywhere on earth! Don't worry, it doesn't hurt him. 

Ok, so then what's a search engine?

Google, Yahoo, Etsy, and Bing make search engines. They are different! They have different ways to organize and display search results.

The goal of a search engine is to take what you enter into a search bar and scour the web for stuff that is relevant to your search. This is one of Etsy's primary objectives. They want you to be able to find exactly what you're looking for as quickly as possible!

In order to do this, search engines use algorithms (a complex set of rules, computations, and programs that determine which content gets shown.) Since each search engine is different, that means each algorithm is different. Learning Etsy's algorithm is really important in understanding how to use it to your advantage.

Why Should We Care?

1. People will actually find you!

Shop visibility is one of the biggest reasons to care about Etsy SEO.  As you know, when you use a search engine like Google, the results of your search get spread out across several pages. It's the same on Etsy. Your goal is to get your product within the first couple of pages of search, and as close to the top of the page as possible. It's no secret that shoppers will rarely navigate past the first pages of search results. This is why shop visibility is so important!

2. Good Etsy SEO works while you sleep!

Etsy SEO is an automated way for people to find your stuff. Once your Etsy SEO T's are crossed and I's are dotted, people will just find you. Anything we can do to free up time for product development, watching Netflix, and spending time with other humans (if that's your thing) is worth the effort!

3. You'll learn stuff about your product and market!

A huge part of Etsy SEO is knowing what words people use to find your product. When you figure out what words your audience uses to describe your products, you will feel more connected to your work and customers.

4. You'll Make More Money!

You can make a shop without investing time into Etsy SEO. You'll still get some sales, but you'll get way more if you work on your Etsy SEO! Think about it: if more people can find your product, you'll have more chances to sell them on your product. Basic maths! More visibility = More Money!

Need some help with tags and keywords? Let's chat!

While I love the science behind Etsy SEO, I know not everyone does. Many of us are trying to balance several parts of running an Etsy shop. Tags and keywords on Etsy can be a big time commitment and if you're in need of some help implementing them into your listings, shoot me a message and let's get the ball rolling!

Etsy Long Tail Keywords

You probably know by now that keywords and tags are basically the driving force behind getting your listings seen on Etsy. I’ve done a few experiments using Marmalead implementing Longtail Keywords, and I made some discoveries.

What, exactly, are we doing?

We're going to look at combining high-scoring tags within Marmalead to make niche and high-engagement long tail keywords. We're also going to review how Etsy processes your tags and titles.

Why tho?

If you're on Etsy, you want to sell stuff. Right? Understanding the different pieces of the puzzle will help you do just that! Etsy SEO is arguably the most important part of optimally positioning your shop to get sales.

What is a long tail keyword?

A long tail keyword is a series of words that describe a product. These words together create a phrase with high specificity. Many Etsy gurus talk about how shops that describe their product the most accurately within their tags and keywords get more sales. This makes sense!

Think about it, if you're searching for something very specific, and the product you're looking for comes up right away, that's a great user experience and will often lead to sale! Basically Etsy wants people to find what they are looking for and rewards shops that facilitate the experience.

a review of etsy tags and title

Before we get too far in, let’s review how the tags and titles work. If you want a more in-depth review, check Etsy’s Seller’s Guide.

Tags

• Can be combined when using them in your listing title to make long tail keywords
• Always match your tags to your title
• Spaces are OK
• Max of 20 Characters
• The order of tags within the tag section does not matter

Title

• Max of 140 characters
• Use up as much of those 140 characters as you can with your tags
• The tags in the front of the title are the most important
• The order of tags in your title does matter. We will cover this below.

A note about personalized titles

A thoughtful/personal title is great, but since the title of a listing is the driving force behind where you listing shows up in search, the value of a personalized title diminishes greatly. If you can work your keywords in your title in a way that is descriptive and thoughtful, that is the ideal.

In my research, most shoppers on Etsy will click on listings based on the photography and often don't factor in the title in their decision to purchase.

Find High Performing Tags First

You’re probably used to finding high performing 1-3 word combinations in Marmalead. Keep doing that! Now, you can take this a step a little further and experiment with combining those phrases with others to make long tail keywords.

Let’s say you have these three tags: “Chrono Trigger” “Shadow Box” “Art.” It doesn’t matter the order when you’re entering in the individual tags. However, what does matter, is the order of the words in the title.

This title could look something like this:

Chrono Trigger Shadow Box Art

Let’s check the strength of these tags by themselves first.

“Chrono Trigger” is looking pretty good. I generally don’t use keywords with lower than Moderate engagement. “Very low” competition is what I want.

UPDATE: Etsy has removed the category page (for now) making the Category Page risk not as important of a score to factor into your strategy.

“Shadow Box” I knew would be a broad word to use and sure enough, the competition is high. However engagement is high as well, so that indicates the health of the keyword as a whole. While that’s good to know, I want to see if I can combine “Shadow Box” with “Shadow Box Art” to see if I have a better chance of ranking.

What Does “Ranking” Mean?

The way I understand it, if you have a listing that is “ranking,” it’s on the first or second page of search results for that tag/keyword.

In other words, when someone types in “Shadow Box” into Etsy’s search bar, if your listing comes up on the first page, then you are “ranking” for that keyword. The reason this is important is that studies show that consumers on Etsy’s platform will seldom paginate to the next pages of results. They will more often refine their search.

“Shadow Box Art” cut the competition nearly in half, but the word has “very low” engagement. I definitely don’t want that so I’ll try to think of another keyword to put on the end.

I know from my research that the keyword, “SNES” does pretty well. The new keyword will be “Shadow Box Art SNES.” Let’s try it!

“Shadow Box SNES” seems to be an excellent long tail keyword! “Very low” competition and very high engagement. This is as close to a perfect long tail keyword phrase as it gets. Now, we’re going to see what all the words look like together as one gigantic long tail keyword.

“chrono trigger shadow box art SNES”

Now, we have an excellent long tail keyword that has individual tag strength as well! Now, to last part: how to implement it.

Apply the Long Tail Keyword

It’s quite simple. Copy and paste the long tail keyword, in our case, “Chrono Trigger Shadow Box Art” into your title. Let’s take dissect what’s going on with this title.

How Etsy Sees the Title

In the title, each word by itself has a computed value or “weight” in Etsy’s algorithm. It's important to keep this in mind when crafting your keywords and SEO strategy.

The breakdown of the title: “Chrono Trigger Shadow Box Art SNES” looks like this to Etsy’s search algorithm.

Single Words

Every single word has their own rank.

“Chrono”
“Trigger”
“Shadow”
“Box”
“Art”
“SNES”

Adjacent Word Pairs

Every word coupling has their own rank.

“Chrono Trigger”
“Trigger Shadow”
“Shadow Box”
“Box Art SNES”

Adjacent Word Groups

Every word grouping has their own rank.

“Chrono Trigger Shadow”
“Trigger Shadow Box”
“Art SNES”

Longtail Keyword Weight vs. Individual Keyword Weight

As a whole, this longtail keyword does pretty well! This isn’t the whole picture though. When you’re coming up with phrases, you’ll want to keep a few things in mind.

Recommendation: I saw a rank decrease when I used low performing individual tags to achieve one higher-performing long tail keyword. I would suggest not sacrificing the quality of your single tags for the one perfect long tail keyword phrase.

Some tags do poorly by themselves but do really well when you add a word

Pay attention to how each tag breaks down in the tags section. For example: If you broke up the tags like this, the individual tags would not rank well by themselves. For example:

The single tag “Box Art” has “very low” engagement.

However, when you add “SNES” to “Box Art," you have an excellent tag with high engagement and low competition!

In Conclusion

There’s always something new to learn about Etsy SEO. I’ve used these techniques to increase my views and rank! Here’s a quick recap:

• Make sure to always use the same words from your tags in your title!
• Combine tag keywords in your title to make high performing long tail keywords
• Pay attention to each keyword. Make sure they perform well by themselves before using them for title long tail keywords