Search is how most shoppers find items on Etsy. To make sure that your items are highly relevant, optimize your listings for Etsy search. Read through this article to learn tips for optimizing your listings for Etsy search.
How Etsy search works
When someone searches for an item on Etsy.com, Etsy’s search algorithm looks for the most relevant matches. You control the most important factors in Etsy search placement when you create listings in your shop.
How to optimize your listings for search
To optimize for Etsy search, you can improve key factors for your listings. The top factors that determine which items appear in Etsy search and the order in which they’re displayed in a shopper’s search results are:
- Tag and title relevancy
- Item attribute relevancy
- Listing quality
- Customer & market experience
- For US shoppers: Free shipping
Tag and title relevancy
Every listing has a title. It's the text that appears above the listing image on the listing page, in your shop, and in search results. Use your title to tell shoppers what your item is in a few words.
A tag is a word or short phrase that describes your item. Etsy matches listing tags with shoppers' searches to find relevant results. A single tag can be a short descriptive phrase (for example: "silver earrings"). Learn more about writing great tags and titles.
- Use all 13 available tags for each of your listings.
- Exact phrase matches are stronger than matches on individual words. For example, a search for “banana backpack” would return all items with the words “banana” and “backpack” in the tags or title, but items with the exact search phrase “banana backpack” in the title would be considered a closer match.
- If a word or phrase in a buyer’s search appears in both the title and tags of a listing, the search algorithm considers that listing more relevant than a listing with that word or phrase in the tags or title alone.
- Words at the beginning of titles are considered more important than words at the end.
- On Etsy.com click Shop Manager.
- Click Listings.
- Search for the item you’d like to edit. Use the Listing status filter to see more of your listings if needed.
- Select the boxes for the items you'd like to edit.
- Click Editing options.
- Click Edit titles or Edit tags.
- Use the dropdown to decide exactly what to change.
- Add your change to the text bar.
- Click Apply.
Item attribute relevancy
Adding attributes about your items to the Listing details section helps buyers find your items in search results. Specificity is important for the Etsy search algorithm to identify your products. When adding attributes, first choose the kind of item you're listing (handmade, vintage, or craft supply) and its categories. You'll then see the option to add attributes based on the category you select.
- Try to use the most relevant attributes available to you.
- Select as many accurate attributes as each item has available.
- Remember, shoppers search by different attributes. For example some may search by color, size, occasion, etc.
Learn more about adding relevant attributes to your listings.
- On Etsy.com, click Shop Manager.
- Click Listings.
- Select a listing.
- Choose the attributes for that listing in the Listing details section.
- Click Publish.
Listing quality
Etsy’s search algorithm also considers how well individual items tend to do in search based on how likely customers are to interact with a listing or buy a product. We call this “listing quality.”
Listing quality is impacted by things like the product thumbnail photo, clear titles, and how shoppers interact with a listing. If a shopper clicks, favorites, or purchases an item after they’ve seen it in search results, that action contributes to the listing’s quality score.
If you just opened your shop, your listings will have a neutral quality score, which has no impact on placement.
- List your items with clear item photographs that invite a closer look.
- Make sure titles are easy to read and clearly describe your product.
- Encourage shopper interaction by experimenting with different tags, updating product photos, and posting on social media.
Customer & market experience on Etsy
We want buyers to have a great experience when they purchase from a seller on Etsy. Because of this, we consider a shop’s record of customer service and whether it’s in good standing according to Etsy’s policies.
- Complete your shipping profiles to represent processing times to your buyers accurately. Be sure to complete your orders to help buyers know when to expect their items.
- Make sure your About section is complete. Read more about telling your story.
- Fill out your shop policies and use the template to give buyers helpful information about your shop.
- Take steps to communicate with past buyers and swiftly resolve open cases.
For US shoppers: Free shipping
Items that ship for free and shops that offer free shipping on orders $35 or more to US shoppers are prioritized in US search to help US shoppers to find more items that ship free within the US.
If you sell items to shoppers in the US, consider setting up a free shipping guarantee to optimize your listings’ place in US search.
To learn more about how Etsy search works, read the Ultimate Guide on Etsy Search in the Seller Handbook.
Etsy Ads
You can use Etsy Ads to promote your listings in Etsy search. There are ad spaces reserved in Etsy search for ads and are separate from search results. You can set up Etsy Ads to have your listings compete for these ad spaces. Learn more about Etsy Ads.
Explore our Beginner's Guides to help you get started on Etsy.