Etsy Keywords Explained. Let me help you get the ultimate SEO exposure by understanding the basics of selling on Etsy. If you don’t take the time to understand Etsy keywords, you’ll never really be seen. You will either be talking to nobody by using keywords that people are not searching for or be using keywords that everyone is using and it will be nearly impossible to rank for them.
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When I first started out, I knew that when it came to keywords it wasn’t going to be a part of the process that I could just skip over, work on the other areas, and hope to come out somewhere In the middle.
A lot of sellers who are new to Etsy hear “keywords” and think of it as a generalized word that describes what they are selling. Something like “Gold Ring”. Repeat it a few times and wait for the buyers to show up. (Girl, they’re still waiting).
Broad keywords, focus keywords, descriptive keywords, long tail focus keywords, additional supporting keywords, and super targeted keywords.
Broad keywords – Broad keywords are one or two words, super generic, and very competitive. They get a lot of engagement but not so many sales. Think of “Mug” or even “coffee mug”. That could be anything right? Think of all the unanswered questions about this item. What colour is it? Is it for a mom or a dad? Is it a travel mug? Does it have a funny saying on it? You get it. Very broad and not targeting anyone specifically.
Focus keywords – Focus keywords start to paint the picture of what you’re offering. “Clear coffee mug”. Now everyone who’s looking for a black coffee mug isn’t going to land on your listing, leave right away, and mess up your conversion rates. You start targeting down the right shoppers when you are being more specific in your listings. We are still targeting a coffee mug, only we just eliminated a whole lot of guesswork as to what kind.
Descriptive keywords – I wanted to add this in because they are important to think of when brainstorming. Some examples could be “dainty”, “tiny”, or “personalized”. These words generally don’t make much sense as their own keywords, but they help describe your item and you’re going to want to pair them with your focus keywords.
Long-tail focus keyword – Usually 3-4 combined keywords. Needs to be descriptive. “Personalized clear coffee mug”. These are the kind of keywords that are going to pair you with actual buyers. If someone types in “coffee mug” in the search, they might not even know what they are looking for yet. Even if they did land on your shop with a term like that, it’s a total gamble for you both. BUT if someone types in “personalized clear coffee mug”, and you have optimized your listing for SEO correctly (see that post here if you missed it), then you have a VERY good chance you are getting that sale.
This will ultimately help your conversion rates go up and as long as you are following all the other best practices, there’s a good chance Etsy will start boosting this listing in front of others searching for this or something very similar.
Additional supporting keywords – Once you figure out your focus and long tail focus keywords, those will be the main ones for your listing. However, you still need to sprinkle some other words in there to reach more shoppers. Plus you get 13 tags and you need to be using them all. This could be a “personalized coffee mug” maybe this particular buyer doesn’t know they are looking for clear specifically. “Glass coffee mug”, “Clear Mug”, “16 oz mug”.
Additional keywords that still represent what you are selling very closely, but give you a chance to reach more search results. They can be more broad, so you don’t want to start your listing title with them but they are still a great addition to your tags and if they are a match to your item.
Super targeted keywords – Very specific. Could be low search volume and low competition, but a high click-through rate. Not every niche is going to focus on these but if you find a gap in the market or know you have a very specific product that people are looking for, then this is going to generate great sales. These words are not necessarily long tail, but they are not so competitive. Keyword tools really come in handy for this kind of research.
You might have a collection of fun and beautiful names you call your products and launches over on the gram, but it’s no use on Etsy. If you fill your title and listing description with something like “flower child denim” because you made a super cute jean jacket that you covered with floral, nobody is going to be typing that in search.
You will want to stick to something more like “Embroidered Denim Jacket” or “Kids Denim Jacket”. You have to always be thinking of SEO and what the customer will be typing in on their end and how you can get Etsy to put you in front of them.
Make a list of 10 to 20 possible keywords that you think best describe your product and are words someone would use when looking for that item. Then research them. It seems like a lot of thinking and searching, and it can be. It will get easier as you make more listings and sometimes you might just have to change your main long-tail focus keyword, but many of the other focus keywords might still apply. (You don’t want to make all your listings the same though because it’s all about expanding your reach)
Don’t worry. There are lots of resources to help you do research and find keywords that will be right for you. The best part of doing research is that a lot of times you come across good keywords that you might have never come up with on your own!
ETSY SEARCH BAR – I wouldn’t call this a “research tool” because It isn’t going to give you any data for keywords. However, sometimes it might be a good starting point if your new to Etsy or have a new product you are adding to your shop. You can start typing what you think your product is called and trending/recent searches will populate. After typing a few different things you might come to the conclusion that there is a more accurate name for what you are selling. Then you could take that information as a starting point to begin your own keyword research.
KEYWORDS EVERYWHERE – you can get a chrome or Firefox add on making this super easy to use. It will tell you things like search volume, competition, and trend data. A lot of people who use this will still use something like Erank or Marmalead too.
FACEBOOK GROUPS Many Etsy sellers belong to Facebook groups (or maybe another social group you are a part of) You can simply post a picture and ask the other members to let you know what they would search if they were looking for this item. It helps to get an idea outside your own head sometimes.
MARMALEAD – Many of serious Etsy sellers use this tool. They have a free trial period you can play around with before you purchase a plan which can be helpful if you just want to sit down and get a few good ideas going. Lots of very valuable data, trends, comparisons, and more. This is the kind of tool that is going to show you lot’s of other relevant keywords when you search, which helps with coming up with those additional words for tags. Beginner-friendly and lots of online support to help if you need it.
ERANK – Very similar to Marmalead. Different versions of both free and paid accounts. I’d start (I did start), with one of these right off the bat. I cannot imagine trying to guess my keywords without it. You will see the monthly search volume on the keyword, click-through rate, competition, all that good stuff. Erank and Marmalead will both have seasonal trending sections, areas to save keyword lists and much more.
Listing Title – This is one of, if not the most important focus areas of your carefully selected keywords.
Description – Etsy may not query match with this area but it matters for SEO with outside sources like google for the first 160 characters.
Tags – Almost as important as your title. Make sure you use all 13!
Shop Title – The 55 characters become your shop preview on Google.
Shop Sections – This is a lot of extra “opportunity space” to sprinkle keywords that relate to your business all over in the section write-ups.
Remember you can have good keywords all over your shop but don’t forget when it comes to overall SEO and ranking on the Etsy platform, there is more to it than just having the best long-tail focus keywords.
These kinds of posts are always so much longer than I plan, but I really want to help you understand Etsy keywords so you can implement them in your own shop. They will truly make or break your shop when it comes to generating consistent sales. I really hope this breakdown can help you make sense of keywords. It’s time to actually get excited about driving traffic you your new or existing shop!
Good luck!
4 thoughts on “Etsy Keywords Explained – Get ultimate SEO exposure”
Why does nobody talk about the fact that etsy tags cannot be longer than 23 characters? So long for descriptive keywords… or is it just a limitation for France/Europe??
The same limitations apply to other places too. I wish it was longer. You can break it down into two tags though. If you have 3 or 4 keywords, put two in the first tag then the rest of it directly after. Search engines will know how to read it.
Loved reading your post, very informative and it’s definitely answered so many grey areas I have on keywords 😊
Thank you x
glad it helped:) Those keywords make ALL the difference in getting found on Etsy!
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