There’s this interesting fact about Etsy SEO that’s not discussed enough…
As you may know, Etsy uses 7 criteria to decide which products to show in the search results.
But out of those 7 criteria, only ONE has got anything to do with keywords.
Just one. Out of 7.
In other words…
Keywords are just the cherry on top of your Etsy SEO cake.
➡️ Do you need keywords? Absolutely.
➡️ Is learning how to pick the right ones important? Certainly.
➡️ Are keywords the foundation of a successful Etsy SEO strategy? Absolutely NOT.
So . . . what IS the foundation of a successful Etsy SEO strategy? Let’s find out!
When I talk about Etsy SEO I like to think of it like a cake, and keywords as the cherry on top. 🍒🍰
Yes … keywords are ALL everyone is talking about (overwhelmingly so) so it can feel like they’re everything — but keywords alone won’t get you there, even if you have the best keywords in the world for your products.
Imagine that Etsy gave you a call and secretly told you what exact keywords you should use . . . you STILL wouldn’t be successful or showing in search results if you hadn’t first “baked your Etsy SEO cake”.
So – what’s in the Etsy SEO cake? The 6 remaining ranking criteria.
They have nothing to do with keywords, but everything to do with how successful you will be on Etsy.
Let’s take a look at the Etsy search algorithm process, and the factors that make up your “Etsy SEO cake.”.
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There are two steps in how the Etsy algorithm works.
First, Etsy does what’s called query matching. It’s pretty much like every search engine — they look at the keywords that a potential buyer typed into the search bar, and they look in the database for any listing that matches these keywords.
In that query matching list, Etsy may have literally thousands and thousands – even millions – of listings that match your keywords.
For example, if you type in “wall art” on Etsy, there are going to be a HUUUUGE amount of listings that match those keywords, so Etsy now has to decide which one they’re going to show you first.
2. That takes us to our second step: ranking (which includes our Etsy SEO Cake!)
Etsy uses seven criteria to decide what order they will show you the listings in, and only one of them — relevancy — has got anything to do with keywords.
How relevant your keywords are is the cherry on top of your SEO cake.
The next 6 ranking criteria are what make up your Etsy SEO cake – the foundation of your Etsy SEO.
All of these other items . . . your listing quality score (that’s essentially your conversion rate and how well your listing does), recency, customer and marketing experience score, shipping price, translations and language, and shopper’s habits . . . these other items have nothing to do with keywords.
But they are each VERY important and affect your Etsy SEO ranking, and if you ignore them and only focus on keywords it is not going to improve your ranking.
So spend time optimizing these other (non-keyword) criteria, so you have a solid Etsy SEO foundation — and THEN, optimize your keywords!
Keywords will NOT bring you sales without the cake underneath.
So focus first on the cake and optimize your shop from the ground up so that your keywords strategy CAN be effective and get you sales.
I see too often shops getting traffic from their keyword strategy but their shop isn’t structured properly, their listings aren’t optimized for sales, they’re missing some key elements across their listings and shops that signal to a buyer that YES this is the item they should buy — and so their conversion rate tanks.
When that happens, Etsy takes note and your listing quality score goes down. Because that listing quality score is a VERY important ranking factor – you’re then stuck until you boost your conversion rate again…. which is now harder as Etsy will send you less views.
And you’re stuck on a negative feedback loop.
Being successful on Etsy is about creating a positive feedback loop that sends all the right signals to the Etsy algorithm. You do that by focusing on the cake first, keywords second.
The cake is what most Etsy sellers skip in hope that finding the “right” keywords will solve everything — and that’s where they miss the mark.
So remember, cake is everything! (I mean this literally and figuratively 😂)
Your SEO cake and optimizing for those crucial Etsy SEO ranking factors is so important that I created a full module about it called the “Etsy Shop Tune-Up” inside the Tizzit HQ “Etsy SEO Blueprint” course.
This module is based on everything I look for when I do shop reviews: I teach you how to do your own shop review so that you can turn your shop into a well-oiled selling machine!
Once your shop is optimized – then yes, it is all about keywords (i.e. finding that perfect cherry to put on top).
In fact the rest of the Etsy SEO Blueprint will teach you how to find the best keywords as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Here’s the full course outline:
Module 1 – The Etsy algorithm and ranking explained (🤓)
Module 2 – Etsy Shop Tune-Up (<– the cake 🍰 !)
Module 3 – Keyword research and selection (🍒)
Module 4 – Keyword implementation (🍒)
Module 5 – Maintenance and improvements (📈)
If you want to learn how to review your shop and take your Etsy SEO to the next level, click below to get started on the Etsy SEO Blueprint!
Thanks for watching, and until next time, aurevoir!
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I have recently started as an SEO executive and I am continuously looking for new things to learn. This blog is really good, it is a new knowledge for me. Thank you for posting the article. Keep sharing more.
Congratulations on your new role as an SEO executive, Jobin! We are glad to hear that the article has been helpful to you. Keep checking back for new ones. 🙂