Etsy SEO Guide: How Etsy Search Works and What You Control

Etsy SEO is the work of helping Etsy search match your listing to a shopper's search and show it where it gets clicked. Etsy doesn't publish its full ranking formula, so this guide sticks to what Etsy documents and marks the rest as unknown. The short answer: use the words shoppers search for in your title, tags, category and attributes, meet the listing quality requirements Etsy lists on its search visibility page, and keep your customer service strong.

How Etsy search works, in two steps

Step 1: matching your listing to the search

Etsy matches tags with shoppers' searches, and your title, category and attributes describe the item too. Each of your 13 tags is a separate chance to match a search. Etsy's Help Center notes that tags are most helpful when there's no matching attribute, so filled-in attributes count toward matching as well.

Step 2: deciding the order

Etsy says many factors affect where a listing appears. On its search visibility page it names three areas you can work on: your listings, your shop and your customer service. Keyword relevance and the filters a shopper applies also change where a listing shows up for each search.

What Etsy says it prioritizes

Etsy says changes can take up to one day to show in search, and a newly published listing can take up to 48 hours to appear in search results.

What you control: the listing

Titles: say what the item is, first

Write a short, clear, descriptive title. Etsy says where a phrase sits in the title doesn't change ranking, but the first words are what shoppers see first — especially on mobile — so lead with what the item is and push brand names or decorative words to the end.

• Weak: "Cute Handmade Gift — Custom Necklace for Her"
• Strong: "Personalized Name Necklace — Gold Custom Jewelry Gift"
• Separators (| — ·) keep phrases readable; Etsy search still reads each phrase
• Titles can be up to 140 characters, but there is no minimum to hit — a long list of keywords can confuse buyers

Tags: use all 13

Use all 13 tags, each up to 20 characters. Make each one a different phrase a buyer would type — "gold name necklace" rather than "necklace" — and skip tags that only repeat your category or attributes.

Categories and attributes

The right category makes your product visible in category filters, and Etsy asks for a category that is as specific as possible. Filling in attributes like color, material and size works the same way for filtered searches. Leave them empty and buyers who use those filters will never see your listing.

Descriptions

Start with what the item is, then the details buyers check: materials, size, format and what's included. Etsy's own SEO guidance lists the description as one of the key elements of a listing page. Don't paste the title or a keyword list into it.

Photos and video

You can add up to 20 photos and 2 videos of 5–15 seconds to each listing. Etsy recommends photos of at least 2000 pixels, and your first photo should be at least 635 pixels wide and tall to avoid showing up lower in searches.

What you control: the shop

• Add a logo and complete your shop — Etsy names an incomplete shop as something that can lower search visibility
• Set a return policy on every listing
• Meet Etsy's customer service standards: reply to messages on time, ship on time with tracking and keep a positive review score

What you can't control (or don't know)

Etsy doesn't publish how much each factor weighs, and results differ by shopper and by the filters they use. Be careful with any "secret ranking trick", including ours. Etsy Ads don't change organic search either: Etsy says ads appear only in designated ad spaces and use a different algorithm than regular search results.

Etsy SEO checklist

FAQ