What is SEO on Etsy? [UPDATED for 2026]

It can be quite difficult to get noticed on a large marketplace like Etsy — even if you have great products that people want to buy. To maximise your chances of your listings being seen on this hugely popular handmade platform, you’ll need to put some time into improving your Etsy SEO.

Last updated: March 2026

What is SEO?

First, let’s start with the basics. SEO is short for Search Engine Optimisation — an overly technical way of describing the process where you make sure that your webpages can be understood by search engines so that they display your page above others. This increases your chance of being found, and thus increases your chances of making a sale. It should be a significant part of your marketing strategy.

What is Etsy SEO?

Just like Google and Bing, Etsy has its own internal search that it uses to ensure the right products are being shown to customers likely to buy. Etsy SEO is the technical way of referring to the approaches and techniques you use to try and make Etsy’s search engine logic favour your listings above other sellers that make similar products.

As marketplace sites like Etsy have grown in size and complexity, they’ve developed their own set of rules to decide who ranks first and why in their internal search results. These rules are known as “algorithms”.

Etsy does a lot of the external SEO work for you — it’s their site you’re displaying products on, and they have a vested interest in making sure those products appear in big search engines like Google. But there are quite a few small but powerful things you can do to move your products above competitors on Etsy’s own search engine.

If you sell handmade soap, for example, there’s already a lot of competition for similar products. How do you rise above all the other listings and start capturing those sales? The answer is by improving your Etsy SEO.

Etsy’s exact search algorithm is a closely guarded secret. But we do know that a number of factors are taken into account — including the title and tags of a listing, the number of times an item has been favourited, and how often it’s been purchased. Let’s go through some of these so you can see where to focus your effort.

How does Etsy rank your listings?

Let’s start by looking at what Etsy has told us about their ranking system via their Ultimate Guide to Etsy Search in the Etsy Seller Handbook.

Etsy uses a two-phase system to decide what results should appear: Query matching and Query ranking. During the query matching phase, Etsy takes the customer’s search query (e.g. “lavender soap”) and finds all listings that have included that word or phrase.

In the second phase, Etsy ranks all the found listings using its own set of rules, then pushes the ones it deems to have “high relevance” to the top of the search results list. The rules aren’t all public knowledge, but a couple of factors have been confirmed to directly impact your listing’s rankings — including conversion to sale and your customer review history.

Phase 1: Query Matching

This phase finds all listings that match the customer’s query. If you’re not in this initial list, there’s no chance of ranking — so it’s worth starting here.

Query matching looks specifically at your categories, attributes, titles, descriptions and tags. You’ll want to make sure you’re including anything that’s relevant to your item.

Etsy now also searches your description for keywords and phrases — which means you don’t need to cram every keyword into your listing title. You can focus your title on the most important keywords, and use your description and tags for secondary or experimental terms.

Phase 2: Query Ranking

This second phase is where Etsy applies rules to push the listings most likely to result in a sale to the top of the list. It’s important in your query matching work to only include terms that genuinely represent your product. If you add the keyword “lemon soap” to your “lavender soap” listing, you’ll match the query — but you’re unlikely to rank well for it. Because:

a) Listings that are actually for “lemon soap” will appear before yours, as they’ll contain more references to that term; and

b) your customer conversion to sale will be low or non-existent, as the search term makes clear the customer isn’t looking for what you’re offering.

These additional factors are called Relevance and Quality.

Relevance: You’ll want to make sure your tags, titles and descriptions match the shopper’s query to rank high on this factor. Exact matches rank highest, followed by partial phrase matches and then singular words. Working on Phase 1 and ensuring your terms describe your product accurately will increase your relevance score.

Quality: This score (referred to by Etsy as the “Customer and Marketplace Score”) uses a number of factors to determine the product most likely to result in a paid conversion. It ranks products that are the most appealing, sold by sellers with good reputations. It factors in things like complete shop policies, high reviews from past customers, shipping charges, and how fast you deliver once an order is placed.

Read more: How to deal with difficult Etsy customers →

Recency: New listings often get a small bump in the search results because Etsy wants to test the listing to see how appealing it is with customers. Making sure your listings are great from Day 1 helps you hold that initial placement.

A Word on Etsy’s Quality Ratings

Etsy will also assess the quality of your listing and use this “quality rating” to determine where you appear in search. This is somewhere you can make some decent wins with a small effort.

If a user clicks, favourites or purchases your item after seeing it in the search results, you’ll improve your listing’s quality score. This means it’s vital to start selling your product at the search results page — and the best way to do that is by having a great photograph that stands out from the rest. More click-throughs and faves may not immediately lead to sales, but they drive traffic to your page and signal to Etsy that your listing is worth showing.

The next step is converting that visitor into a customer. This means a great description, a series of additional photographs that highlight the features of your product, and the “Customer experience” factors outlined in the next section.

“Customer Experience” and Etsy

This is an area that many Etsy sellers overlook when improving their Etsy SEO. Etsy has confirmed that customer experience factors are a significant part of their search algorithm:

When determining customer experience on Etsy, we look at positive reviews, completed About sections, and completed Shop Policies (FAQs and seller details are not factored into search ranking).

As this information isn’t widely known, it can be a good way of leapfrogging your listings above competitors who haven’t yet caught on.

Your About page is a great way of adding additional terms that can help with being found on Etsy and across the web — so make sure it’s detailed. It’s also an excellent way to show customers who you are, which helps build trust before they buy.

Ensure you’re asking customers to leave a review after they receive your product, as this is a big part of Etsy’s search logic. To increase your chances of a good review, communicate quickly and honestly, manage expectations throughout the purchase, pack your products with care, and consider offering a small discount for future purchases.

Shop Policies provide a way of detailing your shipping, payment options and returns & exchanges. In addition, you have a Privacy policy and a “More information” area where you can include FAQs and more about your business. Think of these areas as further opportunities to add relevant words and language that can help with search and encourage purchases.

Etsy’s Star Seller programme is worth mentioning here too. Sellers who consistently achieve high message response rates, on-time shipping, and five-star reviews earn a Star Seller badge — and Etsy has confirmed this can have a positive effect on search visibility. If you’re not already tracking your on-time dispatch rate, it’s worth starting now.

How to create listings that rank well on Etsy

Now that you know the technicalities of how Etsy ranks listings, let’s go through some ways you can quickly and easily improve your Etsy SEO.

1. Think like a buyer

What phrases would you use to search for this listing? What other words could describe the product? How is it used and when? What words are other sellers with similar products using?

For your title, be concise: Etsy advises no more than 2-4 phrases, separated by commas.

2. Write great descriptions

Etsy now searches listing descriptions for keywords and phrases, so it’s worth treating your description like a second opportunity to rank — not just a sales pitch.

Give a general overview of what your product is and why someone would want to buy it. Use the rest of the space to provide more detail — including unique features, special care instructions, and anything else that describes what makes your product worth buying.

Communicate the passion: potential buyers can tell when you’re genuinely enthusiastic about your product, and that makes a real difference to someone who values buying handmade.

Tip: Proofread your listing before hitting publish — typos can hurt your ranking in search results.

Etsy has shared guidance on improving descriptions:

• Try to incorporate relevant keywords in the first couple of sentences
• Avoid repeating your title in the description, or repeating your tags verbatim
• Craft a couple of sentences that casually injects your keywords in a way that sounds human and real (you can do this yourself, via a writer that specialises in product listings, or using an AI tool — check out our article on how to use AI copywriting tools to improve your Etsy listings)
• Include as much information about your product as possible, including physical characteristics such as colour, shape and fabric

3. Tag it up

Any phrases you still want to include can be added to your tags — you can add up to 13 per listing, so it’s great for synonyms or less commonly used terms. Tags can be up to 20 characters long.

Use phrases rather than single words as they tend to rank better: “lavender scented soap” is better than “lavender” and “scented soap” as separate tags.

Don’t use tags for different languages — Etsy applies translations as part of the search process. Etsy also applies pluralisation, so don’t waste tags on those variations.

The most important tag should come first and say exactly what you’re selling. The first 3-4 words appear on thumbnail pages, and Etsy gives them slightly more weight than phrases near the end of your title.

Tips for using Etsy tags effectively:

• Use all 13 tags — it gives you more chances to be matched with a customer search
• Use multi-word phrases to better target exact matches. “charm bracelet” is better than “charm” + “bracelet” as separate tags
• Think of “long tail” phrases — combinations of words that describe your product so accurately that the customer is highly likely to purchase
• Use your Shop Stats to discover which tags are driving traffic and which aren’t
• Think about regional spellings. Some common differences (like “jewelry” vs “jewellery”) are already accounted for by Etsy, but it’s worth considering variations that other sellers may be missing

4. Take advantage of special shopping occasions

Updating your listings for popular shopping occasions is an effective way to drive extra traffic. Consider refreshing keywords for special dates throughout the year to get a ranking boost when it counts.

Valentine’s Day is a good example — if you sell products that make great gifts, update your listings and descriptions in late January to start ranking for those terms before the rush hits.

Setting up a calendar with the dates relevant to your product range, with the dates you need to update by, is a solid way to stay on top of this strategy.

See our guide to selling holiday and handmade seasonal products for ideas →

5. Be solution-oriented

Your products solve a need for someone. The best descriptions don’t just list features — they show how those features make the buyer’s life better or easier.

If you’re selling a mug, don’t just say it holds 12 ounces of liquid. Talk about how it’s dishwasher and microwave safe, or how the design will make the recipient smile every time they use it. Organisational products are a clear example: any product that solves a storage or organisational need should be described in those terms, not just its physical attributes.

Identifying these needs and crafting your keywords and descriptions around them can lead to real gains in Etsy SEO visibility.

6. Good quality, unique content

Assess each of your product pages independently and keep tweaking titles and descriptions with quality in mind. This is a constant process — don’t give up if you don’t see big gains immediately. It can take time.

Small changes are often best. Monitor your tweaks as you make them and you’ll start to discover your own best SEO strategy. What works for one seller may not work for another. Be open to experimenting and you’ll see results.

How to find good keywords for Etsy

For each of your products, think about how you’d search for it on Etsy as a customer. Be obvious and avoid technical jargon that a regular person wouldn’t use. One great technique is to ask friends and family to describe your products in a short sentence — you’ll often get words you hadn’t thought of using.

Another effective approach is to use Google’s Keyword Planner tool. Type in words and get a list of suggested keyword ideas, plus an idea of how often those terms are searched. The more common the phrase, the more people will be using it to find products on Etsy too.

You can also use the Etsy search itself. Find similar products and see what sort of terms they’re using in their titles and descriptions (without directly copying, of course).

Don’t worry about capitalising or adding an “s” to the end of terms. Etsy automatically handles both for you.

Understanding your Etsy fees is also worth factoring in when pricing for conversions — a listing that converts well at a profitable price point works harder for your SEO than one priced too tight to market.

How inventory management affects your Etsy SEO

Here’s something most Etsy SEO guides won’t tell you: your back-end operations have a direct impact on your search rankings.

It sounds counterintuitive, but Etsy rewards sellers who deliver consistently. And the sellers who deliver consistently are usually the ones who have their inventory under control.

Here’s how it connects:

Stock availability keeps your conversion rate healthy. When a listing runs out of stock and gets marked as sold out, it stops converting — and a drop in conversion rate signals to Etsy’s algorithm that the listing is less relevant. Keeping your materials and finished products stocked means your listings stay active and keep building sales history.

On-time shipping affects your Star Seller status. One of the three pillars of the Star Seller badge is on-time dispatch. If you’re scrambling to fulfil orders because you ran out of key materials, late shipments hurt more than just your customer relationships — they can affect your shop’s visibility too.

Good reviews start with reliable fulfilment. Etsy’s Customer and Marketplace Score factors in your review history. The most consistent way to earn great reviews is to ship the right item, on time, every time. That’s a lot easier when you’re not guessing what you have on hand.

Pricing confidence helps you convert. If you don’t know your true cost of goods, you may be underpricing — and then running promotions that eat into margins. Knowing your COGS means you can price to convert without second-guessing.

Craftybase helps you keep on top of all of this: track your raw material stock, monitor finished goods levels, and calculate your true cost of goods so you’re always ready to fulfil. Learn more about Craftybase as Etsy inventory software →

Frequently Asked Questions