Etsy is an eCommerce shopping platform that mainly deals with unique factory-manufactured items. It is the fastest revenue-growing e-shop across the globe.
If you are a seller at Etsy, then you must reconsider your Etsy SEO strategies. Earlier, it was easier to optimize Etsy listings for ranking higher in the search results. Vendors used to fill a few key areas in listing forms and pull off good-enough Etsy ranks for their products. They could even measure their SEO success in the popular marketplace. However, things have changed with time. Taking themselves up a notch in terms of technology, Etsy has changed its search algorithm and is now using Artificial Intelligence (AI). With the smarter search engine, the vendors need to stay in sync with the latest development and optimize their Etsy shop accordingly.
So, how does the Etsy Search work and how to deal with it?
Before we start discussing the optimization tips, you need to understand the exact functioning of the Etsy search engine. Read on to know how exactly it works:
- Tag and title
- Attribute Relevance
- Quality of Product Listing
- Regular Updates
- Shop Location
- Artificial Intelligence
- Listing Language
- Relevant Linking
Recommended Read: How to connect your Prestashop store with Etsy Marketplace?
1. Tag and title
Consider Etsy as Google. Just like the latter, the tags and title being used in product details must match the buyer’s search word or phrase. In case, the search terms are not present, then, the product won’t be included in the results.
How to take care of it?
While some of the ranking factors might not be under your control, this one is. Doing a bit of research and curating the product description that includes the title, tags, attributes, and descriptions should be the first thing you do before getting the products listed.
Here are some of the quick tips that can help you tailor a result-driven item description:
a) The product title should be search-friendly. The exact phrase term is given a higher priority. So, keep a check on the product description of the vendors selling the same product. Create the titles on a similar line.
b) Include other relevant keywords and long-tail query terms in the tags and the product description. Etsy allows you to include 13 keywords. So, you should make sure that no tags are left behind.
c) The character limit for the title is 140 characters, however, the search result will only show the first 55 characters, so, the keywords should appear in the beginning.
d) Along with the titles, the tags are considered by the Etsy search engine as well. These search terms hold commercial and intentional relevance. So, make sure that you opt for the tags wisely.
Recommended Read: How to activate/ deactivate a listing in Etsy Marketplace?
2. Attribute Relevance
Attributes are another important factor in search relevance. Similar to titles and tags, the attributes can be the deciding factor as the users tend to search for queries such as ‘Black Shoes’, ‘White Princess Dress’ and others.
How to take care of it?
Ideally, a category is been chosen first and then the sub-category while listing the products. This helps you to define the types of attributes to be used, like colour, size and many more. Select as many accurate attributes as each item has related to. This will help in maximizing the brand exposure of your products in search results.
Relevant categories display your products to the right buyers, so It’s important to add some more specific information about the product. This will make it easier for buyers to find your product and go for instant purchase. Sellers can easily map their product categories on Etsy by integrating their eCommerce store with Etsy Marketplace in just a few simple steps.
3. Quality of Product Listing
The more clicks, favourites, or purchases an item, the more its chances to do well in the search result. This is known as ‘listing quality’. However, new shops and the latest listings have a neutral quality score and have no impact on the placement.
How to take care of it?
Etsy has an automated approach in this regard. The added products on Etsy that are grabbing more attention, that is, the products that are getting more clicks items are added to the favourite list more times and have high conversion rates will be given preference. Make sure you are offering unique products and the quality you are providing to the customers is high.
Here are some of the tips that you need to take care of in this regard:
a) Ensure that the buyers get at par experience while using your product.
b) Positive reviews on the product pages provide you with an edge over your competitors.
c) The About Us section of your shop and the seller’s policy must be clear. This can even ensure placement in the Etsy search results.
d) Price can be one of the factors that may lead to low clicks. Avoid pricing the products too low or very high. Do some competitor’s research in this regard and come up with an apt solution.
You can even add the production partners and connect them with product listings at Etsy Marketplace.
4. Regular Updates
Etsy’s search algorithm prefers to rank the products that were recently updated. It takes into consideration how recently an item was listed or relisted.
How to take care of it?
Update the product details, title, and tags regularly. Keep the content fresh and up-to-date with time.
Recommended Read: 5 eCommerce tips and tricks to ensure fast growth
5. Shop location
Etsy search considers the shop location of the vendor and this makes search results more prominent. If searches are made in other countries, then the shop location might not be taken into account. The shop location makes your store prominent and results in a higher ranking of your products. You can even update the shipping profile on Etsy.
How to take care of it?
The rationale behind this is to ensure a faster delivery to online shoppers. The third-party vendors do not have any control over it.
6. Artificial Intelligence
As per Etsy, their search system is now attempting to highlight “results most relevant to the specific buyer” based on some factors. These factors may be the time of day, preferences, and others. This may help the shoppers to get accurate search results, but for the vendors, it’s quite a hurdle. This is because they will no longer see the same results every time you type in a search. Even if they make the searches in incognito mode, they won’t get the same result.
How to take care of it?
With the latest technology coming into play, tracking the search results have become quite an issue for Etsy sellers. Here are a few ways to track the same:
Etsy Rank
It is a rank checker tool that searches Etsy for your items and filters out personalization results. This is a free tool and even allows filtering out bulk reports.
Etsy Stats
The sellers can use the “Search Terms” section to see which keywords are being used by the customers to find your items.
7. Listing Language:
When you sign up on Etsy, it’s important to list the products in the shop language to sell your products. All the listing information of a product should be in the native language of a Marketplace. For example, If a Marketplace works in the French language then the English keywords would not be recognized by the search algorithm of that Marketplace.
How to take care of it?
All the listing information of the product should be in the Etsy Marketplace language only otherwise it will never help to bring up your items.
8. Relevant linking:
Links play an important role in higher search engine ranking. It is a great idea to link your shop page with the product and policies listed on the Etsy Marketplace. The shop page information should contain the following information:
- Shop Name
- Shop Description
- Sales Count
- Start Date
The shop page information available at the Marketplace will promote the brand and enhance visibility which will ultimately bring more traffic to the store.
Recommended Read: What do the General Settings of the Prestashop Etsy Integration Addon look like?
Conclusion
Since the competition is at its peak, you need to stay at the edge in every aspect of marketing. No matter what is the quality of the products that you are offering, they won’t be of any worth if it is not visible to prospective customers.
