Niche keyword and tag selection on Etsy: 3 steps to the TOP

For successful SEO on Etsy, it is necessary to move away from broad queries with high competition in favor of niche long-tail keywords. They better match buyer intent, have lower competition, and provide higher conversion rates. Use tools like eRank to analyze trends and CTR, and logically break long phrases (over 20 characters) into several tags for effective ranking.

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Online trading is a sphere where SEO plays a key role. Without proper search optimization, your product will just get lost among thousands of others, and potential buyers won’t find it. And the foundation of SEO is keywords. Today, we will talk about them.

The mechanism is simple: a buyer visits Etsy, types a few words describing the needed item into the search. We, sellers, choose words that characterize our products. When these two sets of words match — bingo, the system shows our listing to the buyer.

Looks simple, right? But there’s a nuance. Competition on Etsy is now crazy. Guessing the right words is not enough — you truly need to work on selection so that the algorithm picks your product and shows it to someone searching for it.

Next, I will detail how to find those keywords that will bring your listings to the top.

Hello friends, my name is Victoria Zhidok. I represent the company Western Bid in Chernihiv. Our company opens for you the world of international sales. We provide assistance with connecting PayPal / Stripe payments from your own websites, deliver your products anywhere in the world, and offer fulfillment and prep-center services in the USA.

How does search work on Etsy?

The search algorithm gathers all listings containing keywords matching the buyer’s query, then ranks them so that buyers see the most relevant products.

Thus, the keywords used in your titles, descriptions, tags, categories, and attributes are very important. Using long keywords (long tail), as Etsy says, is the key to ensuring your products appear in search results.

So, how and where to search for these long keywords?

That’s why I want to share my own experience working with keywords, and then, using an example, show how I do it with the help of eRank tools. The main rule here is — move from a broad keyword to choosing long, niche-specific keywords that attract the right buyers. That’s my main secret.

Broad keywords vs long-tail keywords

Let’s discuss this in detail.

Broad keywords are very general terms consisting of one or two words. I’ll share a good example I found in eRank.

Suppose you sell jewelry. A broad keyword here is simply “bracelet.” It’s searched often, but competition is huge — nearly impossible to rank at the top.

A completely different case is long phrases with several words. For example, “silver bead bracelet.” This is searched less frequently, but your chances of success are much higher. First, the competition is lower. Second, the person entering such a query knows exactly what they want — which means a higher likelihood of purchase.

Useful info for those working with jewelry: this summer, I noticed a sharp increase in demand for “silver bead bracelet.” It seems to be trending — worth noting.

Tags vs keywords: the important difference

You might claim that we are limited to 20 characters per tag, and we can add up to 13 tags in a listing on Etsy.

But let’s not confuse things here.

A tag is not exactly a keyword, more precisely, if your keyword fits within 20 characters, it becomes a tag itself. If a long tail keyword exceeds this length — as often happens — then you just need to split this phrase into multiple tags.

For example, if you find a long keyword like “wall mounted jewelry organizer,” which has 22 characters. It’s a good statistic, but yes, the familiar problem. How do we split this keyword into tags?

I could split it into “Wall” and “jewelry organizer,” but that’s not ideal, because first, I don’t sell walls (Wall), and second, Etsy doesn’t favor single-word tags.

It would be better to split it into “wall mounted” (attached to the wall) and “jewelry organizer,” making key phrases: “wall mounted” and “jewelry organizer.” This way, Etsy will read your words in different combinations and find an exact match if you write in the title exactly “Wall jewelry organizer.”

Broad queries vs Long-tail keywords

Working strategy with tags (limit 20 characters)

Practical example: keyword selection with eRank

Now I want to show you how to practically use eRank tools to find and select long-tail keywords, starting from a broad keyword. This example, by the way, was suggested by eRank experts. I personally use it and recommend you try as well.

Let’s start: Suppose I sell wall clocks.

Step 1: Find a broad keyword

First, go to the option called Monthly Trends. Here, we see that we have “Wall Art,” and our wall clocks will correspond to the broad keyword “Wall Art,” because this product truly relates to this category.

Click on it to go into the keyword selection tool.

Immediately, we see that this is a decent search query with enough search volume. But competition here is very high — this is a very general keyword, suitable for many products.

If you use this keyword without supporting it with more niche-specific ones, it will be very hard to rank at the top. So, it’s not the best choice for SEO of this listing on Etsy.

Step 2: Narrowing the niche through filters

Next, we see related keywords, often grouped in a cluster. These keywords are within the same niche or sub-niche.

To narrow down this niche to better suit your product, you can sort columns to display the desired info. Choose default matches, specific phrases (exact match), or broad matches.

You can also specify words that your target keyword should contain, or exclude them if needed. For example, I want to see related keywords containing “clock.” I type “clock,” add it, and search.

And look at the interesting results. We see a limited set of keywords, and then we start analyzing each one for potential use with good results.

Step 3: Analyzing specific keywords

For example, this keyword: “Art Deco Clock.” Art Deco is a style in decor, interior design, and if you can make your clock in that style, that’s worth considering because the statistic is quite good for this tag.

Although the search volume is still modest, the CTR (click-through rate) is very high, with low competition. It’s an ideal fit, containing within 20 characters. You can confidently add it as a tag if relevant and your clock matches the Art Deco style.

Another interesting tag for clock makers: “unique wall clock,” which also shows good results, even with some competition. Every handmade clock is unique, so this tag works well for all your listings.

Another example: “oversized wall clock,” with a small competition, can be a good keyword if you make large clocks. In fact, earlier we saw that “large” can describe the size. Using synonyms like “oversized” can boost attribution and attract additional target audiences looking specifically for “oversized wall clock.”

Conclusions

Thus, using long-tail keywords:

Firstly, helps optimize your listing and store for SEO.

Secondly, attracts potential buyers who know exactly what they want.

Thirdly, increases conversions and helps you compete better with other sellers using more general phrases.

• Why do long, niche-specific keywords work better on Etsy than broad queries?
  Because they better match buyer intent, have lower competition, and help show your listing to people who already know what they want to buy.
• What’s the difference between tags and keywords on Etsy, and how to use them correctly?
  Keywords can be longer than 20 characters, but tags cannot, so long phrases need to be logically split into multiple tags for Etsy to interpret correctly in different combinations.
• How to use eRank to go from broad queries to effective niche keywords?
  Start with a general term, gradually narrow the niche through filters, analyze competition, search volume, and CTR, and select the keywords that truly match your product.