today i'm answering that million dollar
question how do i get discovered on etsy
that's right we're talking all things
scseo seo or search engine optimization
is how the etsy algorithm knows and
chooses which listings to actually show
to shoppers you need to know how etsy
seo works to position your listings for
visibility and discoverability so friend
we're about to make that algorithm work
for you coming up
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welcome back friends so glad you're here
as always if you're new here i'm kate
i'm a wife a mama to three awesome
kiddos an etsy seller and a business
coach and i have this channel to help
you start and scale your etsy business
to the point of success so that you can
spend more time on what's important i've
been on etsy for seven years and made it
to the top one percent of sellers and i
know from experience what a blessing
it's been to be able to stay home with
my kids working and helping provide for
my family so that's what i want to help
you do i want to give you all the tips
and strategies that i've learned along
the way to help you get there faster so
today my goal is to simplify and explain
etsy seo for you so that you can
understand it understand the terms that
go along with it and know what you can
do and what strategies you can put in
place to boost your listings so without
further ado let's jump in so the etsy
algorithm works in two phases first is
query matching and second is ranking now
how well your listings perform in both
of these phases all boils down to two
things keywords and conversion rate so
today we're going to be focusing mainly
on keywords because that's the very
first thing you need to really hone in
on to get your listings found so the
first phrase query matching is when a
shopper actually goes on and types in
the search bar certain phrase or
keywords they're looking for and then
etsy's algorithm will scan through all
of the available listings to see if
there's any that are a match for that
query then the second phase comes in
which is ranking so out of all of those
listings that came up as a match as
eligible to be shown etsy then ranks
them and determines what order they
should be shown to that shopper based on
relevance so let's say a potential buyer
goes on and types in the phrase engraved
wooden spoon the two phases would look
like this etsy would scan all the
listings that are available in all of
the shops to look for titles and tags
and keywords that match that same phrase
engraved wooden spoon then any listing
that actually has that keyword phrase
somewhere in it will be eligible to be
shown to that shopper in the search
results but there may be thousands of
listings that actually have that keyword
phrase and are eligible so then etsy has
to rank them and decide which of these
are the most relevant for this shopper
and which of these listings has the most
potential to convert into a sale those
are the listings that etsy will rank
higher and show first to the buyer so
before we go any further i want to
define some of these terms for you so
you know exactly what we're talking
about when you hear certain words so the
first one is keywords keywords are words
or phrases that you choose to represent
your product these will be found in your
title your tags your categories and your
attributes now you may hear people refer
to them as long tail keywords or short
tail keywords short tail keywords are
just one individual word that's more
broad so it could be mug or it could be
painting long tail keywords are a couple
of words that make up a phrase and are
more specific like mug for mother's day
or printable painting the next term you
need to understand is title your title
is the copy that the buyer sees before
they ever click on your photo and your
title needs to be simple easy to
understand and highlight the most
important features about your product
next is the term tags your tags are
keyword phrases that are decided by you
and entered by you when you create a
listing that describe your product you
have 13 available tags and i highly
recommend you use them all this is
different from your title but they work
together and we'll get more into that in
just a bit all right next let's define
the term categories so when you create a
listing you'll choose from a drop down
menu what category and subcategories
apply to your product the category and
subcategories act as additional tags
beyond your just 13 tags that you
already entered that etsy uses to query
match so the category could be something
like jewelry or home decor and then the
sub category would be something like
leather jewelry or wreaths that fit into
that larger broader category now your
attributes are different from your
category but they're also available when
you're setting up your listing to input
extra details like color or material
like the categories these also act as
additional tags which can help you
appear in a wider array of search
results so your title your tags your
categories and your attributes are the
four areas that etsy takes into
consideration when looking for keyword
phrases titles and tags are manual which
means they could be decided creatively
by you and you actually enter them
yourself whereas categories and
attributes you choose from a
pre-selected drop-down menu now it's up
to you if you want to actually fill
these in thoroughly or skip them when
you're creating your listing but i
recommend that you fill them in if at
all possible if it's relevant so that
you have more opportunities to be seen
categories are especially important
because some buyers actually shop by
navigating categories and using filters
as opposed to just typing in the etsy
search bar so you want to make sure that
you have the opportunity to show up in
those search results if a buyer goes and
navigates to home decor or jewelry or
spa products or whatever the category
may be now quick note about attributes
is that you don't need to repeat the
same exact keyword phrases or words in
your tags if they're already selected in
your attributes for instance if you
already chose green in your attributes
you wouldn't want to put green as one of
your tags since the tags are manual this
is a great opportunity for you to get a
little more specific so you might put
something like forest green to really
narrow it down that way you'll be shown
in query matching and ranking for both
the terms green and forest green now i
would recommend to never just use a
color itself as its own tag because
that's going to be way too broad even if
you just use forest green as a tag you
need to include something about the
product with it so if it was a scarf you
might put forest green scarf instead of
just force green okay so now i'm going
to give you five tips of things i would
recommend you do when determining your
keyword phrases the first tip is to be
creative and think like your shopper the
first thing you need to think about is
what would my target customer type in
what are they actually searching for
then ask yourself questions like what
could this product be used for who would
use this item for example mom's shirt
who might this be a good gift for an
example of this could be golfer gift
what holiday or occasion could this be
used for an example of this could be
first birthday onesie is there a certain
aesthetic that this applies to for
example farmhouse or minimal think about
how you would describe it by size shape
and material quick little sub tip here
is that once you've decided on your tags
and titles and keyword phrases you can
always update them and change them
throughout the year to reflect upcoming
holidays or seasons or gifting occasions
so you might have a product that could
just be a really good gift in general
for several different occasions so you
can change out your titles for christmas
and mother's day or whatever occasions
apply to it now beyond just thinking
creatively and coming up with your own
keywords i do have a resource that i use
and love for determining what keywords
are trending in my niche and that is
sales samurai you guys have probably
heard me talk about sales samurai if
you've been around for any length of
time if you're interested to know more
about how sales samurai actually works
you can check out my dedicated video
that i'll have linked below on doing
etsy trend research and keyword research
on sale samurai i also have another
video on seo specifically the seven
factors that etsy takes into account
when query matching and ranking so if
you want to know those seven factors you
can check out this video here which will
also be linked below all right we're
about to move on to tip number two but
if you're getting value out of this
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hit that thumbs up that really helps our
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bell as well so you don't miss any of
our new content all right moving on to
tip number two which is to look for
patterns in your reviews you want to
look through the feedback that people
are leaving you for anything that could
be repeating as a pattern an element of
your product that people are really
loving and mentioning over and over
again can cue you into what might be a
good keyword so for instance if you have
a hoodie that you just see in your
reviews over and over again people are
loving how soft it is that could cue you
into a good keyword phrase which might
be soft hoodie now i know how hard it
can be to try to be creative and diverse
when you're coming up with your keyword
phrases and not to be too repetitive so
one thing you can do is to go to the
etsy search bar and start typing in
something that has to do with your
product and look at what populates in
etsy's predictive phrases that come up
these are phrases that are currently
trending on etsy and can give you some
ideas if you just feel stuck okay tip
number four is to stay in the know about
trends there are two main ways that i
suggest you do this number one is to
keep up to date with etsy's marketplace
insights report which they come out with
every so often and it's detailed
information about what's currently
trending and what's currently popular on
etsy it's really important to know what
trends are coming in and what's fading
out so that you can stay ahead of the
curve and create products that fit those
trends right when they peak another
great way to stay on top of retail
trends is to sign up for the retail brew
newsletter this is a newsletter that
will come to your inbox three times a
week it's free to sign up for and it's
all about what's happening in the retail
world so if you are a retail seller it's
super important to stay in the know by
following articles and newsletters like
this that can help you stay ahead of the
trends i highly recommend you sign up
for retail brew it's free it literally
takes 10 seconds to sign up for so
there's no reason that you shouldn't do
it once you sign up they'll send you a
confirmation email so all you'll have to
do is click confirm in that email and
you'll be ready to go all right lastly i
have a little bundle for you of quick
tips about your title and tags you want
to make sure if you're using multiple
phrases in your title that you separate
them with either a comma a dash or a
line this helps keep your title look
clean and easy to read and not spammy or
clunky at all the more clear and concise
your title is the more it'll catch their
attention when they're scrolling through
those search results now as far as your
tags you want to make sure you use all
13 don't leave any blank because using
them all will give you more chances for
visibility and to be discovered also in
both your title and your tags you always
want to opt for phrases of a couple
words rather than just using one
individual word shoppers tend to search
in phrases and they don't often just
type in one word so if you're selling
ornaments you might put personalized
ornament instead of just ornament all
right friends that's all i have for you
today i hope that helps and like i
mentioned before if you're interested in
watching my dedicated video on seo and
the seven factors that etsy takes into
account when query matching and ranking
i'll link that video right here on the
end card you can click or tap on the
square right now and it'll take you over
to that video to watch that as well bye
friends