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Etsy SEO: Should you repeat keywords?
March 29, 2022
Something I often get asked inside the Tizzit HQ community when it comes to Etsy SEO is “should I repeat my keywords?”
Because sometimes you’re hearing that you should repeat your keywords to get traffic . . .
And other times you hear that you shouldn’t repeat your keywords because you will miss an opportunity to use more keywords and add variety to your tags if you do.
And you end up totally confused and wondering which advice is right!
Fair enough! But don’t worry, that’s exactly what we’ll clarify today.
So, ready? Let’s dive in.
You can watch the video or read the written version below.
Focus On One Main Keyword… Or Many?
So some of you might have heard that you should repeat your keyword on Etsy because it gives the keyword more weight. . . .
As in, if you repeat a keyword, Etsy thinks that it is more important in your listing.
You may also hear that if you repeat your keywords between your tag and your title you then have what’s called a focus keyword— giving it even more weight in the Etsy algorithm and basically telling Etsy, “hey, this is a keyword that’s really important for this listing, a keyword that’s really relevant, THIS is what this listing is about.“
And there is truth in that.
That said, you might also have heard the exact opposite— that repeating your keyword unnecessarily is a missed opportunity to have your listing be found for multiple keywords instead of just betting it all on one keyword.
That’s something that I have said in the past, and also something that Etsy has said repeatedly in their SEO guidelines.
And so there is also truth in that as well.
So how can it be that those two things are true? And what do you do about it in your product listings?
Well, the truth of both of these approaches is somewhere in the middle.
So let’s talk about what that looks like and go through a few theoretical examples together.
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Before we do though, I have a couple of important details I want to go through with you:
First, if you’re not super well versed in Etsy SEO yet, or in how to write titles and tags and what things like a broad match versus an exact match are, then you might want to read my Ultimate Guide to Etsy SEO articles before reading this one. The topics that this article covers are a bit more advanced and assume that you have at least a basic understanding of how Etsy SEO really works. I don’t want you to feel confused by it all.
I also have a whole Etsy SEO video playlist — including videos like How to write titles and tags for Etsy SEO and Understanding Etsy SEO: The COMPLETE guide to the Etsy search algorithm.
I would recommend you watch the videos in order, they are more foundational so will help you fully understand the things we talk about in this article today.
Second, I want you to know that the examples today are totally theoretical examples using made-up data. . . I want to keep it simple so that we can all get on the same page.
So when I use the example of a knitted blanket— if you happen to be selling a knitted blanket, please don’t take what I say as what you should do in your listing because it’s not based on real data, it’s just an example!
Instead you will want to perform actual research, get real data, and use that to make your keyword decisions.
So just know the data in my examples is made-up data that I’m using to show you what you could do with actual data once you have it – so that you learn the theory behind what you need to do.
Now— onto our Etsy SEO keyword discussion!
There Is No Blanket Rule For Etsy Keyword SEO
The first thing I want to make sure you know is that there is no perfect “blanket rule” for when you should use repeating keywords on Etsy and when you should use a variety.
Rather than trying to apply a blanket rule to something that really shouldn’t have a blanket rule, you have to find a balance somewhere in the middle of the two approaches – and today I’m going to use a few examples to help show you what that middle bit means and how to think about it.
So let’s imagine that you sell knitted blankets, and you have these four keywords phrases in your tags:
- knitted blanket
- boho blanket
- wool blanket
- decorative blanket
The first thing I notice here is that there’s a lot of blanket being repeated.
And it may be unnecessary repetition that would limit your reach, because you could miss out on people who use something other than the word blanket to search for your product.
So next you would be thinking what else could I use instead of the word blanket to broaden my reach and possible visibility on Etsy?
So you would then think of synonyms like
- throw
- bedspread
- coverlet, or
- bedding
. . . and you could then replace blanket in places in your tags with any of those synonyms, for example:
You might change your tags to include these other words – you could have knitted blanket or Boho throw, wool coverlet, decorative bedspread – something like that.
So what you’ve done by making these changes is you are covering ALL of your bases, because you’d still be found as a broad match if someone searched “boho blanket”, for example
because you have “blanket” and “boho” in your tags,
And someone searching “knitted bedspread” would find you . . .
because you have “knitted” and “bedspread” in your tag list . . . you can start to see how you will be a broad match for any other combination from your tag list as well!
Because even though they’re not an exact match, the Etsy algorithm would match it broadly.
So when is it good to do this?
Well, the answer is – when the data supports it. And by that I mean that using more keyword variety is only great if people are actually searching for those synonyms and you can be found as an exact match or a broad match for what people are actually searching for.
But, what if no one is really searching for those terms? Well that’s when repeating can sometimes make sense — let’s go back to our blanket example:
So what if, for example, your data shows you that the search terms
knitted blankets,
boho blankets, and
wool blankets
. . . have better search data than
wool coverlet and
boho throw?
What you would be doing then is sacrificing exact matches of keywords (the first three phrases) with phrases that people aren’t really searching for much or at all (the last two phrases).
So that’s when it can make sense to repeat some keywords so that you can “exact match” the strong keywords, and use just one or two tags to fit in those synonyms that help you cover your bases as broad matches.
So let’s look at how this might work:
Let’s say that your data shows that
- knitted blanket
- boho blanket
- throw blanket
- Boho bedding
- bedspread coverlet, and
- chunky wool
. . . are top searches that people do.
So if you use this list of keyword phrases, yes you are repeating boho twice and blanket three times— but because it made sense to try an exact match for those four keyword phrases. So once you saw that they had really strong search data and you realized you want to be found as an exact match for those strong phrases as much as possible, it made sense to repeat those keywords.
Then you can add bedspread coverlet and chunky wool just to cover your bases and broaden your reach because those additional words create the possibility of mix and matching and being found for even more keywords.
So here in itself no one is looking for “bedspread coverlet” – that’s not a keyword phrase that people are searching for, and chunky wool is very broad and wouldn’t be a good keyword phrase on its own . . .
but they create the possibility for broad mix and matches like
- chunky knitted blanket, or
- boho throw blanket, or
- wool coverlet
. . . essentially allowing you to broaden that reach and have more broad matches for more keywords in addition to your strong keywords in the exact matches.
The Key To Etsy SEO Is Not Using Any Single “Blanket Rule!”
That’s the thing with Etsy SEO, it’s not as black and white as people will try and make it sound or as honestly we would all prefer it to be- you have to understand how it works so you can find the right answer for each situation or listing.
I know it would be so much easier for all of us if there was a blanket rule—
Haha – blanket rule – haha OK no pun intended on that one!!
But truthfully what you have to do with Etsy SEO is understand how it works-
. . . so that you can find the right answer for each situation.
And the right answer will be different for each shop, and for each niche and each listing— because each keyword list is going to be different.
You will have to look at the keyword data and figure out how the keyword mix at the listing level will work together – just like we did in our blanket example – rather than trying to judge each individual keyword by itself.
Are You Ready To Dive Deeper Into Etsy SEO?
Now if you feel like most of what I’ve said here was a bit over your head or you would love a little refresher on the basics of Etsy SEO please make sure to watch my Etsy SEO playlist on YouTube, it’s a fantastic starting point to get your Etsy SEO ducks in order.
For further support, guidance and step by step SEO workflows, I also have an Etsy SEO course, called the Etsy SEO Blueprint that walks you through my exact process for Etsy SEO; I’ll teach you how to think and how to be SEO smart so that you can always make smart SEO decisions, and it comes with all the tutorials and step by step processes and files you’ll ever need to help you organize yourself as you work on your SEO so that it all finally makes sense and you start getting more views and sales.
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Thanks for reading and until next time, aurevoir!
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This really helped things click for me! After years of trying to wrap my head around SEO your videos and lessons are the only thing that have helped it makes sense to me. Thank you!
Hello Shona! Thank you for your kind words. We are glad that our videos and lessons have been helpful to you. Please check back for future posts!