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Etsy SEO: Everything first-time sellers should know

Last update: July 3, 2025

Contents

Master Etsy SEO to boost your visibility and attract more customers

Key takeaways

Optimise keywords across titles, descriptions, and tags to help match your products with buyers’ searches
High-quality images and videos are essential for success on Etsy
Use all 13 available tags on listings, focusing on specific, long-tail keywords to reach more buyers
Engagement rates, like clicks and favourites, impact your listing’s rank on Etsy search results—encourage interactions for better visibility

Etsy search is the primary way for new buyers to find items they are looking for. Buyers use the search tab at the top of the Etsy home page to type in relevant keywords and find products on Etsy.

Just like Google Search, customers are more likely to click on the listings they find on the first page. They’ll only go to the second page if they find no other relevant listings.

If you can land on the top spot for the keywords related to your listings, you’ve truly hit the jackpot. You don’t need to advertise your products and spend money on large marketing campaigns. Instead, you can wait for customers to find your Etsy store and place an order.

But how do you make your shop listings rank on the first page for all the relevant keywords? How do you make sure buyers actually click on your listings when you sell on Etsy? That’s where an in-depth understanding of Etsy SEO can help.

In this blog, we take a look at the main factors that affect listing rankings on search results and the top tips to rank higher for keywords relevant to your business.

What is Etsy SEO?

Etsy SEO involves a number of processes and techniques that Etsy store owners can execute to improve their product and store rankings on the Etsy website as well as other external search engines like Google and Bing.

Search on Etsy works in two phases:

Query matching: When a customer types in a search query, Etsy looks through the existing listings on its website to match the query with the right listings
Ranking: Etsy ranks the listings based on a number of ranking factors that it deems important

Etsy SEO ranking factors: What influences Etsy search rankings?

Take a look at the top factors that can influence the search rankings of your Etsy product listings:

Keywords

The keywords in your product listing (including title, description, categories, attributes, and tags) are used to match the listing with the customer’s search query.

Etsy shop quality

For each listing, Etsy’s goal is to connect buyers with trustworthy sellers. Since Etsy is known for selling unique, vintage, and personalised products, buyers want to know who they are purchasing from.

Listing quality

According to Etsy, high-quality listings have clear information, multiple high-quality images, and a return policy.

Customer service quality

Shops that provide good customer service and constantly keep up with the customer service standards set by Etsy are prioritised in search.

Support for local language

When you choose a shop language for your store, you need to keep in mind that the title, tags, and descriptions of all your listings should be in the same language. If needed, Etsy will translate the content to the buyer’s preferred language in order to match their query. You can also add your own translations, but make sure they are high-quality, not AI or machine translations.

Listing engagement rate

The listing engagement rate is a metric that Etsy uses to measure a listing’s popularity and this rate directly impacts the listing’s position in search results. Etsy collects data like clicks, previous purchases, and favourites to calculate the engagement rate.

Recency

New listings and shops always start with a neutral engagement rate. You may even see a temporary boost in traffic for new listings as Etsy tries to determine how buyers interact with them. Renewed or updated listings also get a temporary boost, which can last from a few hours to days.

Keep in mind that updating listings just to get this short-term boost is not the best way to go. Instead, you should focus on optimising your listings to improve conversion.

Shoppers’ habits

Etsy uses Context Specific Ranking (CSR) technology to show relevant product listings that customers are more likely to buy. It leverages consumer behaviour and previous purchase data to learn about the shopping preferences of every customer. That means each buyer may see different search results for the same query.

Factors that don’t influence Etsy search rankings

Etsy Plus: Whether you have subscribed to Etsy Plus or not has no influence on where your product listings will rank in the search results
Star Seller: Being a Star Seller doesn’t directly mean you’ll be at the top of the search results, but it definitely tells Etsy that you’re a trustworthy seller and a number of customers prefer to purchase products from you
Etsy ads: Even when you are running an ad campaign on Etsy, it doesn’t impact where your product listings will appear outside the advertising spaces.

Top tips for Etsy SEO

Include your primary product or category in the title

Your shop title can tell buyers what you sell and help boost SEO, as buyers can discover your store even when searching for generic products. For instance, the Melbourne-based TwinkleStarNails has a shop name that is unique and clearly tells buyers what they sell.

Source

Find the right keywords

You can use Etsy-specific SEO tools like Keywordtool.io, KeySearch, and Alura to find the right keywords for your product listings. You can also go through competitor listings to check which keywords they have been using.

Make sure not to overstuff your listings with keywords.

Remember, you’re creating product descriptions for people interested in buying your products, not for algorithms that may or may not rank your listings at high positions.

Use all product tags

Etsy tags are words or short phrases that describe the product you are selling. Etsy uses tags to match the buyer’s searches to the right listings.

You can add up to 13 product tags for each listing and you should use all of them to improve visibility. Add long-tail keywords to the tags and be as specific as possible. The tags can contain up to 20 characters and you cannot use symbols or punctuation.

If you’re confused about which tags to add, go to a competitor’s listing and check the tags at the bottom of the page.

Source

Use high-quality photos

Take a look at all the top Etsy sellers and you’ll find that all of them share high-quality images of their products. Customers on Etsy are looking for aesthetic and one-of-a-kind products, which is why it’s important to share pictures that are aesthetically pleasing and Instagram/Pinterest-worthy.

Your photos should represent the products to avoid any post-sales problems. You can also use videos to unpack the product’s features.

→ Take a look at our complete guide on how to sell on Etsy

International Etsy collections get easy with Etsy

Worldfirst makes it easy for businesses to expand globally by accepting local currencies. You can set up your Etsy store and cater to customers all across the world.

With the WorldFirst multi-currency account, you get access to 15+ local currency accounts, including USD, EUR, CAD, and GBP.

A World Account lets you hold funds in multiple currencies, convert funds at competitive exchange rates, and even repatriate them to your bank account at any time. You can also use the collected funds to pay suppliers overseas.

Learn how to connect your Etsy account to your World Account.

Disclaimer: The information contained is general only and largely our views. Before acting on the information you should consider whether it is appropriate for you, in light of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions, estimates, mentioned products/services and referenced material constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice. WorldFirst shall not be responsible for any losses or damages arising from your reliance of such information.

Based in Sydney, Jim is responsible for the WorldFirst business across Australia and New Zealand. He brings with him over 25 years of experience helping Business Owners, CFO’s and Treasury Managers overcome the challenges with cross border payments and navigating volatile foreign exchange markets.

Jim Vrondas

Author

Country Manager ANZ at WorldFirst

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Etsy SEO: Everything first-time sellers should know

What is Etsy SEO?

Etsy SEO ranking factors: What influences Etsy search rankings?

Factors that don’t influence Etsy search rankings

Top tips for Etsy SEO