RANK HIGHER on Etsy With No Tools Needed
What is the biggest SEO mistake that I am seeing among Etsy Sellers? In today's article I'm going to give you the number one mistake that I am seeing with SEO and this is with Etsy sellers that have been on etsy for even 12 plus years. So I'm going to run through exact examples of this mistake depending on what category you're selling in. And I'm going to tell you exactly how to fix it right now. And stick around to the end of the article where I give you a bonus tip that you should go and apply to all of your listings today.
Welcome back to my Blog. My name is Ahmed and I'm an Etsy seller of about seven years now. I've done over $1.4 million in revenue on this platform and over a million dollars in profit. I also sell on Amazon and Shopify and my entire background is in corporate E commerce.
So in today's article I am diving into SEO for Etsy. So follow the article with us to the end.
How To Do Etsy SEO
The number one mist that I've been seeing with Etsy sellers and the biggest problem that I'm seeing with SEO is that sellers are using their titles to only describe the item itself and not the purpose.
So Etsy sellers are in their businesses so much that they're really product focused. And it's really easy for them to fall into the trap of thinking of product first when it comes to building out their SEO. So they're really used to describing the color, the size, the materials used, maybe the words that are written on the item instead of describing the purpose or utility of the item with their their SEO.
The problem with this is that they are thinking more like a seller and not like the buyer. So they're really hung up on describing the specifics of the item and not describing the solution or utility that it provides the customer. So customers are searching much differently than we are thinking as Etsy sellers. When people come to Etsy, they are looking for solutions. They're not usually looking for specific parameters of a specific product. This is one of the major differences between Etsy and ebay.
So when a customer comes to Etsy, you know they're searching for a Father's Day gift, not the 10 millimeter walnut stained epoxy coated XYZ. So I'm going to break down how this SEO problem is occurring whether you sell handmade products, digital products or print on demand. An example of this with handmade items is this listing titled Sumptuous Realistic dessert scented candles: You choose scent.
Okay, so what is the problem with this? Who on earth is Typing in sumptuous as the first word they type into the Etsy search bar. The first word of your title is the most valuable SEO real estate. And I would guess only if about 2% of people know how to spell the word sumptuous accurately. Not to mention in this title, the colon that they used completely breaks up the flow of the SEO. So that means someone would have to be typing in you choose sent for this to be popping up.
So instead I would be thinking about that combination of the product, the purpose and the utility of the item. So I might call this something like Desert candle custom sent, Candle for gift, box for friend, candle gift. So this way you are capturing as many long tail keywords as possible.
So you have dessert candle, candle custom scent, custom scent candle, candle for gift box, gift box for friend, friend candle gift. Okay, and then I would duplicate this listing and I would have a completely new set of long tail keywords for the title.
So I might call this one, Scented candle, gift for wedding, party favor dessert, lover gift, candle custom. So that way you are capturing these long tail keywords. Scented candle gift, candle gift for wedding, gift for wedding party, Wedding party favor, party favor dessert, favor dessert lover, dessert lover gift, gift candle custom. So I have essentially doubled the number of long tail keywords that this would show up for in search results.
Let's dive into another example and this is with prints and paintings. I see this happening so much with different artists prints and paintings. The title is, Shifting light | Vertical landscape Canvas print, Wildflower painting, Impressionist art print. You might think, well, what's wrong with that? Who is typing in "shifting light" into Etsy search to find this painting? So those words clearly mean something to the artist, right? But what do those words mean to the customer that would potentially buy this? Not to mention all of the breaks and the commas here really cut out about 50% of the potential search results that this listing could show up in.
So instead think about the combination of the product, the purpose and the utility. So I would call this something like, abstract greenery painting, floral wall greenery wall art, wildflower wall decor, Wildflower art, wildflower nursery decor. Now with this, you are going to be showing up for search results for abstract greenery painting, greenery painting floral, painting floral wall, floral wall art, wall art greenery, greenery wall art, wall art wildflower, art wildflower wall, wildflower wall decor, wall decor wildflower, wildflower art, art wildflower and wildflower nursery decor. Do you see all those potential combinations of long tail keywords that you're now showing up for? Then I would duplicate this listing, change the main listing photo, and create a new title with all new long tail keywords.
So for that second one, I would call this Greenery Wall Art for Living Room, Wildflower Painting Impressionist Art, Green entryway wall decor. So with this, you're now showing up for, greenery wall art, wall art for living room, living room wildflower painting, painting impressionist art, impressionist art green, green entryway, entryway wall decor. So see all of those long tail keywords that you're now showing up for? You've probably just tripled the number of search results that you will show up in.
Now let's take a look at how this happens with Print on Demand. So Print on Demand is extremely competitive and that means that it is even more important that you have your SEO totally locked in. So let's take a look at this example. The title is don't stop retrievin - T shirt for Golden Retrievers lovers - Soft women's T shirt - dog illustration printed on subtle distress version 2.
So who is going to be typing in don't stop retrieving. Okay, I totally get it, you're describing the item, it's super catchy. But who is typing that in? That's the most valuable real estate in this title. Not to mention all, all the dashes between the words are cutting out about 50% of the search results that this could be showing up under. Also, the plurals are not necessary. And no one is going to be typing in dog illustration printed on subtle distress version 2.
So really, the only good thing about this title is, T shirt for Golden Retriever lovers. But even then, you don't need the plurals. So instead I would think about the combination of the product, utility and purpose and I would call this something like, Golden Retriever shirt, Golden Retriever lover T-shirt for Golden Retriever Owner, Retriever Dog shirt for dog lover.
Now this, you're capturing these search terms, Golden Retriever Shirt, Shirt golden retriever, Golden Retriever lover, Retriever lover T-shirt, T-shirt for Golden Retriever Owner, Owner Retriever Dog shirt, Shirt for dog lover.
And then I would duplicate this listing and create a brand new title with new long tail keywords. And that would be Golden Retriever gift for her, Golden Retriever mom Shirt, For Golden Retriever T shirt, I love golden retriever. Okay, so with this, you are showing up for, Golden Retriever Gift, Gift for her, Golden Retriever mom, Golden Retriever Mom Shirt, Shirt for Golden retriever, Golden Retriever T shirt without the dash between T shirt and T shirt I love Golden Retriever.
So let's do one more print on demand example because these are just so, so, so common with this Print on demand category. Okay, in this title, you see, it says, the master is here now, the master is here, Boss, T-shirts for Him, T-shirts for you, gifts for him, gifts for you, Unisex T-shirt. This one, they tried to do some things where they're describing the purpose, right? All the gifts for him, gifts for you, all of that. There are so many problems. The problem is no one is searching. The master is here now. Not to mention they're repeating the same long tail keywords for their first two sets of long tail keywords. The master is here now, comma, the master is here. So it's completely wasted real estate. Also, no one is just going into Etsy search and typing boss or who is typing in T shirts for you.
So instead, what I would recommend is a title such as, Funny T shirt for boss, Funny shirt, Funny boss gift for employer, Funny gift for boss T-shirt. So the reason I added in T shirt twice was because one has a dash and one does not. So whenever you're using T shirt, you want to have T shirt with no space T shirt and T space shirt. So with that, I am capturing these sets of long tail keywords. Funny T shirt for boss, T shirt for boss, Boss Funny shirt, shirt funny boss, funny boss gift, gift for employer, employer funny gift, gift for boss, boss T-shirt.
Okay, and then I would duplicate that and create a brand new set of long tail keywords with this title, funny gift for boss, funny Tshirt for boss, new boss gift for him, funny workplace shirt funny. So with this, I'm capturing all these sets of long tail keywords, funny gift for boss, Gift for boss, Boss Funny Tshirt, no dash no space, Tshirt for boss, boss new, new boss gift, boss gift for him, gift for him funny, funny workplace shirt, and shirt funny. You are going to be showing up in so many potential search results here.
So as you can see, with all of these examples, we are simply repackaging our SEO in a way that is more purpose and utility driven and ultimately more in line with the things that customers are actually typing into the search bar. And if you've stuck around to the end of this article, I want to give you one bonus tip. And this is something that you should implement in all of your listings right now. And this is all about going general specific specific instead of specific specific general. Let me explain.
So when customers are searching, they're oftentimes typing in the noun first followed by the adjectives describing that noun. But I see so many sellers putting those specific adjectives and descriptors right in front of the noun in their titles and SEO. And I think this is because sellers, you know, we are so deep into our businesses that we are really used to describing our items in certain ways.
Usually, customers don't always type that way when they're searching. So when customers are searching, they type in a way that is more general, specific, specific, Versus specific specific general. So this is like noun followed by adjectives describing that noun or product. So this would be like, wedding dress boho lace, instead of, lace boho wedding dress. But a lot of times as sellers we're more inclined to type in lace boho wedding dress to describe an item versus wedding dress boho lace.
So another example of this is when a customer is searching for nursery bedding so they might type in nursery bedding minimalist neutral versus the seller might have used the words neutral minimal minimalist nursery bedding.
So this is just about the order of words being more in line with what customers are actually searching. Because when customers are searching, a lot of times they are just searching off the top of their head. They are typing as they are thinking versus thinking before they are typing. This will make a huge difference in how you show up in search results in front of your ideal profitable customers.
So I hope you enjoyed this article on SEO. If you have any questions on Etsy SEO, please reach out.
