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Etsy SEO: 8 – Step Guide

Let’s learn how to do Etsy SEO, step by step:

1. Find Keywords to Rank Well on Google and Etsy

Just like doing SEO for a website, SEO for an Etsy shop should be based on finding relevant keywords, writing helpful content, and building a trusted brand. To help people find your products through search engines and directly on Etsy, you’ll need to use relevant keywords in your shop title, tags, descriptions, and product names.

Here’s an example of the keyword, “anime fish tank decorations.”

When you type that in Google (depending on your location), this Etsy listing will show up. Notice how the title of this product matches the search query?

Putting the right keywords in your shop’s titles, tags, and descriptions can lead to more visibility in search, and therefore, more sales. You can find which keywords to target with a keyword research process.

Finding Keywords Manually

Finding keywords that your shop could target can be done quickly by simply typing in your product name or category on Etsy and looking at the autocomplete options.

These are commonly searched variations that might fit what you have to sell.

The same can be done on Google.

Start off with Organic Research. See which terms bring people to Etsy by typing in etsy.com and pressing the search button.

This will lead you to the Overview report for that domain.

It’ll show a list of keywords that Etsy ranks for on Google per country. Below is an example of some of the keywords Etsy currently holds the first position for on Google. It’s sorted by most to least Volume.

Here, the Volume metric shows the estimated number of times a term was searched per month. Get an idea of what products could lead Google searchers to your site by filtering this list with terms related to your brands. First, type in a term related to your brand.

Just as an example, let’s say you sell only products related to BTS (the Korean boy band). We’ll type in BTS where it says “filter by keyword.”

Also, apply the Positions filter for only keywords that hold the #1 positions on Google.

2. Choose a Search-Friendly Shop Name

Your shop name becomes your page title, and therefore your first impression on search engines. A shop page is what shows up as a result on search engines if anyone looks up your shop or your products on Google.

Choose a name that’s relevant to the products that you’re selling so people can easily find your shop in search engines and on Etsy. What would a customer search to find your product? If you’re trying to sell necklaces, your potential customers might be typing in “jewelry.” You’d want to include that somewhere in your shop title.

3. Include Target Keywords in Your Listings’ Details

Each part of your listing should be optimized for searches while still being useful for the people reading it. The same keywords that might be relevant for tags might not be for descriptions.

Listing Tags

You can add up to 13 tags to a listing. Use all of them (wisely). You can only enter up to 20 characters per tag, so including longer keywords can be a little trickier here. Think about splitting up terms into two tags if you need to.

Also, try to make your tags as specific as possible without repeating yourself.

Listing Descriptions

In 2022, Etsy announced that descriptions will matter to its search algorithm. Not a big shocker as Google has been pulling info from listing descriptions for its search results.

Etsy has offered a few tips on how to make the best of your listing descriptions:

Don’t just copy your title
Make your listing sound natural, while still including a few of your top keywords
Never neglect important information

In other words, you’re writing for humans. Give them all the information they could possibly want to know about your product, but keep it natural and try not to sound like a robot.

4. Leverage Your Social Media Accounts

Leveraging your social media accounts as a seller can lead to better SEO in many ways. One benefit is that social media could help you show up on Google’s SERP features. SERP features are special results on Google that take up valuable space and attract a searcher’s attention. Like this result on Google:

Etsy is a visual marketplace, so your social media should reflect that. It’s a given for sellers with physical products. But even if you sell digital services on Etsy, you can still benefit from visual posts. Karly Hocking sells marketing templates on Etsy. Although it’s not a physical product, she creates engaging posts that reflect her brand.

Canva has tons of free social media templates that you can use to create your own posts. These templates make it easy because it presets the dimensions per social media platform.

5. Fill Out Your Shop’s Information to Get Featured

Etsy’s editors, merchandisers, and social media managers comb through the platform’s stores to try to find the right shops to feature on Etsy’s:

Community Space
Blog
Seller Handbook
Social Media Channels
Success Podcast

Internal links are links that go from one page on your site to another on the same site (a link from one page on etsy.com to another page on etsy.com). They help people find the information they’re interested in and help search engines navigate through your site.

Pages with lots of engagement (like Etsy’s featured sections) can give less popular webpages on the same site (like your new product listings) an SEO boost through an internal link.

Take the Time to Write Your About Section

Write your About section to help potential customers see the why behind your product. What makes your shop worth buying from over someone else’s? This is where your story belongs.

6. Build Up Backlinks

Backlinks are links from one website to another. They can direct new traffic to your website, so a strategy to build these links can really help you grow online. More importantly, search engines see backlinks as a sign of trust. If a reputable website decides to send traffic to your site then it must be for a reason.

By building backlinks to your Etsy shop, you could see your products move up on Google and get more attention. Especially if you see Etsy as a starting point before growing your shop’s brand into something bigger, backlinks can help you get to the next level.

7. Get Lots of Good Reviews (For Your Shop and Your Products)

Remember SERP features? There’s another big one for Etsy sellers: star ratings.

The Google result above shows an overall 5-star rating for Etsy seller, CBluettFineArt. Without any reviews, you won’t see this next to your listings on search results. Getting lots of good shop reviews looks great on search engines and to potential shoppers too.

8. Set Up Google Analytics to Track Your Metrics

Etsy has a stats page where you can look at your shop’s basic information like your visits, sales, and conversion rate. It also tells you where your traffic came from. But what if you want to know more? You can get a more in-depth view of what’s driving traffic to your Etsy shop by integrating Google Analytics.

You’ll have to have both a Google account and a Google Analytics account to start off. Once you do, you’ll go to Shop Manager on Etsy (you might be familiar with it at this point).

Now You Know How to Do SEO on Etsy

You have everything you need in the steps above to optimize your Etsy shop and get more views and more sales. Fair warning: SEO is a constant process which you might not see results from quickly. But don’t let that discourage you! SEO is less expensive than paid ads and gives you a chance to compete against other shops with a bigger budget in the long run. So, if you’re serious about your shop, you should get serious about your SEO too.