Do you always feel like there’s a magic formula that if you just figure it out you can make over 1,000 sales a day like the top shops on Etsy. I was chatting to one of my friends this morning who has just opened a shop on Etsy, she is selling children’s bows. I passed her a link of a shop that had over 1,000 orders in one day, yesterday. You know why this shop is successful? They have their Etsy SEO (search engine optimization) figured out and they have been in business for over 9 years. There are literally dozens of reasons why Etsy Shops succeed. I believe the most impactful starting point of an Etsy Shop’s success is their SEO strategy. People come to Etsy ready to buy, they type in key phrases and then Etsy displays results based on that search. Let’s walk through a practice to align your Title and Tags to what people are searching for on Etsy! Doing this correctly will be the foundation of optimizing your search strategy and will set you up to drastically increase your views and sales.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Basics

Let’s first make sure that you understand that your listings title and tags are not the only thing that play into the Etsy search algorithm. These are the six items that play into how high your item gets ranked on Etsy. We’ve got to start somewhere though… let’s focus on that most impactful… aligning your listing title and it’s tags to what your target customer is searching for when they come to Etsy to buy that something special they are looking for.

The Optimal Title 

Let’s get in the mind of a buyer when it comes to your Title. Your listing title is what the customer sees when your listing displays in search.

What is your customer typing in to the search bar?

Buyers who are more specific in their searches tend to purchase more often. Buyers who are more broad tend to be browsing and are not as likely to purchase. For example let’s say you sell jewelry and you want to list a piece of jewelry that is a 14K gold white opal ring. There’s someone on the other side of the internet that is ready to search and buy your item. What are they going to type into the search bar? This was recently me. I was looking for a gift for myself, an “opal and gold ring.” I searched OPAL AND GOLD RING and this listing ranked number one (aside from the paid ads).

I clicked through, looked at the pictures, read the reviews, noted that the item was 14K gold, it was on sale, fit my budget, noticed free shipping and that it was ready to ship in 1-3 days. I quickly purchased and was so excited to receive the ring in the mail. You want this buyer to land on your listing!

So why was it a successful sale? First, this listings has my search terms displayed in the first six words of the item’s title and are also listed in the items tags. That’s step one.

Now your listing… the first few words of listing titles have a particularly strong influence on Etsy Search. What are your first few words going to be? Sometimes this can be simple other times you may need help from… the most common search terms.

Here’s an exercise. Start typing in Etsy’s search bar, the phrases that come up are the most popular searches based on recent searches. If I were listing this ring I would start searching… Opal and… look what comes up… opal and gold ring, that’s a popular search. I will put that in my title within the first few words to try and rank high for that phrase. You have 140 characters in your title so use them to continue to describe your item, using separators like | or . 

For example: Opal and Gold Ring | White Opal | 14K Solid Gold Square Ring | Dainty Gold Ring | October Birthstone | Gemstone Ring | Solitaire Opal Ring

What Tags to Use

Etsy ranks listings highest if the buyer’s search terms are located in the title and the tags. Now that you’ve got your title completed, the hard work is done. Here’s a trick I learned early on and it’s saved me so much time. Copy your entire title and paste it in to the line where you input your tags.

You only have 20 characters so break them up!

Take Action

Now that you have learned how to find the most popular phrases that people are searching for on Etsy via the Etsy search bar you are set to update your Etsy listing titles and then copy and paste that title in to your tags. You will have optimized your listing for the first component of Etsy search! This is the foundation of Etsy SEO (search engine optimization).