Every Etsy seller wants to rank on the first page of the search results. If you want to boost your sales, this is an essential skill you need to learn as a beginner Etsy seller! The most important task is learning how to write effective Etsy titles and tags. Here is the exact strategy I use for all my Etsy shops to maximize SEO (search engine optimization) and rank 1st on Etsy search!

Step 1: Market Research

How To Research Etsy Keywords

Once you have your category or niche, you want to research the Etsy titles and tags that other successful sellers are using. For example, let’s look into the category of monitor stands.

We can first do a general search for the term ‘monitor stand’. Then, using the EverBee chrome extension, you can quickly analyze all the searches on that page.

💡 TOP TIP: I always recommend categorizing the listing by the highest monthly revenue so you can see which ones are performing the best and see what titles and tags they are using.

When you open up a specific listing, you will get lots of information including the exact title and keyword tags the seller used for that product. Plus, it also gives you an idea of the volume count for each of those terms. This is a great way to start getting insight into your category and get inspired for what products you can begin to create.

How To List Out Keywords

I like to jot these keywords down on a Google sheet. I created a template for this which you can get completely for free here. It allows you to write down the keywords, search volume, competition, ratio and Google searches.

 As you look into different listings, you can start curating your list of keywords in the Google sheet. Make sure to include primary and secondary keywords here!

What is the difference between primary and secondary keywords?

Primary keywords are the main keywords that are directly related to or describe your product. For example, “monitor stand” would be a primary keyword.

Secondary keywords are broader and aren’t an exact description of the product, but are still related. For example “desk organizer” or “gift for him”.

Targeting these secondary keywords allows you to cover a wider range of words that your potential customers may be searching for. This therefore allows you to reach a wider customer base!

Etsy Search Volume And Competition

Once you've got a good variety of keywords that are relevant to your category, you can use eRank to analyze the search volume and competition.

💡 When selling on Etsy, you want to find a category or niche that has a high search volume and low competition. This means that the demand for the product is high, but there are not as many people competing to sell it.

Now, search your list of keywords one by one on eRank and jot down the number of monthly searches and competition into the Google sheet. Once you do this, the ratio column will automatically be calculated, and this column is what will tell you if a certain niche is worth getting into or not.

Should you target Google search as an Etsy seller?

It’s also good to jot down the Google search volume as sometimes if you have a category that has low competition, you can also be found through Google search. After all, Google is the biggest search engine so it’s a bonus if you can rank on there too!

💡 eRank is also great for discovering new keywords and opportunities that you had never even thought about! So always be on the look out for the related keywords that come up whilst you’re researching your keyword list.

Step 2: Collect & Organize Relevant Keywords

How To Sort And Prioritize Keywords

Once the columns have been filled out, you can start highlighting the keywords that have a high monthly search and also a good search to competition ratio.

Generally, the higher the search-to-volume ratio, the better the opportunity there is within that category. Anything close to 1 is great, but anything higher than 1 is amazing!

For example, if the ratio is 5, it means that for every 5 buyers, there’s only one competition. In other words, there is only one listing competing for every five customers who search for the product. This means there’s still plenty of space to delve into this category and find success in it too!

💡 Even if the ratio looks good from the surface, you want to ensure that there are still enough people searching for the product each month, and that there are indeed sellers already making a good revenue each month too!

Step 3: How To Structure Your Listing Title

What is a long tail keyword on Etsy?

Long tail keywords are usually longer and more specific, but can target different combinations of keywords. For example, the long tail keyword ‘Dual Monitor Stand’ will target both the ‘Dual Monitor Stand’ and ‘Monitor Stand’ searches. This is a great way to incorporate more keywords into your Etsy titles and tags!

How To Write Your Etsy Listing Title

Using the list of keywords you have curated, create an SEO title, using your primary keyword at the start. The maximum length for an Etsy title is 140 characters.

Continue prioritizing which keywords you think are best to use, including some broader secondary keywords too. This ensures that you cover a wide variety of what your target audience might be searching for.

Should you repeat words in Etsy titles?

If there are different combinations of your primary keyword you would like to incorporate, it’s generally fine to repeat words in Etsy titles. Be careful not to overload it too much though, and try to instead use those characters to cover as many different searches as possible.

💡 REMEMBER: Building a successful Etsy shop takes a lot of experimentation and patience. So do what you think is best, and you can always refine it later on as you see how the listing performs.

Step 4: Add Relevant Tags Into Your Listing

How To Add Etsy Tags Into Listings

When you upload a new listing, you will come across a ‘Tags’ section, which is where you want to include all your keyword tags. Here I’d recommend having the same structure in the tags as you did in the titles.

Do Etsy tags have to be one word?

The maximum length for an Etsy tag is 20 characters long. Your Etsy tags can and should be multi-word phrases and remember to consider any synonyms and regional phrases of your keywords too! This ensures you cover a wider range of potential searches.

💡 TOP TIP: Make use of all 13 tags to again help you cover as many search terms as possible, making it more likely for your potential customers to find your listings!

Learn More

Your listing tags and titles are an essential component of Etsy SEO and helping you to rank higher in Etsy search. So hopefully you have learned some tips and tricks to help you optimize this part of your shop!

Don’t forget that you can access the Google sheet keywords template for free here, or check out the 4 steps to starting a successful digital products Etsy shop here!

 You can also check out my full YouTube video below for a step-by-step video tutorial of everything I’ve discussed above! Watch here!