Perhaps you’re familiar with search engine optimization, better known as SEO. It’s a big part of what we do here, and have served clients in a wide range of industries. 

Basically, SEO is a collection of practices that result in a website ranking more favorably in the organic search results for a specific keyword or search term. 

Even more basically, when you type something into Google and get the results – those website you’re looking through on page one are websites that have “good SEO” for whatever you just searched. 

Now, this is “Google SEO,” but there are other types of search engines and models that also account for varying criteria when delivering outputs. They work similarly, but not the same. 

One of them is Etsy. So let’s take a look at Etsy SEO, how it works, and, if you are an Etsy seller, what you can do to improve the SEO of your product listings. 

The Difference Between Google and Etsy SEO 

Google SEO accounts for more than 200 ranking signals categorized roughly into one of four main pillars, being on-page SEO, off-page SEO, technical SEO, and content. 

Some of the ranking signals involved are domain age, website security, speed, internal link structure, backlink quality, on-page copy, image optimization, and the quality, age, and depth of content that exists on the pages of the website. 

A website’s SEO is good if it shows up in the organic search results, and poor if it does not, or if it ranks way down the search engine results pages, on page 10 or 11 or something like that. 

Now, to be clear, when you look something up in Google and get an Etsy result, that is still Google SEO. 

Etsy SEO is the SEO that applies when you’re within Etsy itself, looking for different products. 

It is much less complex and somewhat more straightforward than Google SEO, but the process and eventual results are still basically the same. 

When you visit Etsy and search for something, the listings that show up are the ones that have good “Etsy SEO.” 

So let’s talk about how this works and what you can do, directly, to positively influence intra-Etsy rankings. 

The Details of Etsy SEO 

Since Etsy SEO accounts for fewer ranking factors than “conventional” SEO, learning how it works is a little more straightforward. 

Still, just like “regular” SEO, much of Etsy SEO has to do with keywords. As in regular SEO, there are also four main pillars of Etsy SEO, which are the Shop title, description, policies, and the images and video on the shop, which are lumped into one category. 

For Etsy shops, here’s how to optimize:

1. Choose your keywords (and Monitor Competitors)

The first step in Etsy SEO, regardless of how intensive you get with it, is keyword research. There are two ways to go about keyword research. One is purely analytical, the other is more creative. 

The analytical way is to use a keyword research tool like SEMRush to help you find keywords that are high in volume and (relatively) low in competitive difficulty. The thing you need to keep in mind is that this SEO tool’s data is from Google, not from Etsy. 

The other way is to think about the product. Think about what it is, and get specific with descriptors for use, material, and intended audience. 

Ask yourself questions like: 

• What is this product?

• What is it made from?

• Who would use it? 

• What is it used for?

• What size is it?

• What is the color?

• How is it made?

• What unique traits does it possess?

• How are competitors describing similar products? 

The more descriptive you can be (without senselessly stuffing keywords) the better the shop/product listing will be. 

When it comes to optimizing the shop title, keep the title concise while still describing what you sell, in 55 characters or fewer. 

1. Optimize the shop description

After you optimize the shop title, it’s onto the shop description, with which you can get a little more creative since you’ll have more space to work with. 

Enumerate on your position, what you sell, why, and what benefits your products confer to buyers. Use this section as an opportunity to enrich the shop with the keywords you selected during keyword research. 

1. Optimize the images and videos 

Once your shop title and description are optimized, you can turn your attention to the images and videos that live on your Etsy store. 

Make sure these images and videos exhibit high quality and express the utility and value of what you sell. Also, in the alt fields, consider adding in a description that includes some of the target keywords you’ve chosen. 

1. Shop policies 

The last section of your shop page you will want to optimize are the policies. This is where you will want to enumerate the “terms and conditions” of your shop, with respect to payment, returns, exchanges, shipping, and anything else like that. While this won’t give you much room for optimizing with keywords, it can substantially improve the customer experience of your Etsy shop. 

Listing-Level Etsy SEO

That about covers how to optimize the shop itself. Now let’s take a closer look at how to optimize individual listings. 

For individual Etsy listings, here’s how to optimize: 

1. Item titles

This is first and foremost your best way to get your Etsy listings to show up in the internal Etsy search results. 

Etsy will only show about 60 characters of the title, so try to keep it less than this. Answering some of the questions I posited above, describe the item succinctly, and accurately, along with its unique selling points, including the keywords you’ve chosen as applicable. 

One note: make sure the description makes sense and isn’t just keywords strung together unintelligibly, as this will get flagged as keyword stuffing. 

1. Item Descriptions 

Describe the item clearly and succinctly in the first sentence, then give a full description of what it’s made from, how it’s made, and what its ideal uses are. You can get creative here, and make sure to insert the keywords you’ve selected where it makes sense to do so, following the same caveat to avoid keyword stuffing. 

Consider what you would want to know if you were considering buying this item. That will help you answer some of the questions real potential customers might have in the description. 

One note on tags: you aren’t required to use them, but best practice is to use all 13 tags. Include tags that are relevant to your product, and avoid repeating tags, if possible. 

1. Images and videos 

The images and videos you use in your Etsy listings should be original files, either from you or submitted by an actual user. Duplicate files are not good for SEO. Also, make sure that they are high quality and not too large, because if they are, this can slow down the listing and hurt SEO.

One more key thing is to remember to fill out your alt fields for your images and videos. Describe what the video shows and include your target keywords in these alt fields as they will improve the over Etsy SEO of the listing.

1. Backlinks 

The final ranking factor to cover with respect to Etsy SEO is backlinks, which will improve the authority, and rankings of, your Etsy shop and listings. 

Consider asking your customers for links from their personal websites, or asking suppliers of raw materials for a link from their website to your Etsy shop/listing. These links, which are traded for organically, can positively impact your Etsy shop’s rankings. 

Save Time, Reap Results with Etsy SEO Services

As you can see, the short scope of this post illustrates that Etsy SEO, while still quite a process, is not nearly as convoluted as Google SEO. 

With that said, it still takes a lot of time to properly research, draft, and optimize Etsy listings. Working with an agency for Etsy SEO services can help take some of that work off your plate. 

Then you can get back to what you do best – crafting and selling on Etsy.

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