How To Improve Your Etsy Relevance Search

Craft Maker Pro » How To Improve Your Etsy Relevance Search

Do you want to gain views from Etsy’s relevancy search?

etsy-relevanceThen, you are on the right page!

First off, let me explain how Etsy relevancy search works.

Etsy has introduced a search feature for relevancy that gives keywords a tremendous amount of weight. These keywords are words or phrases that people use to search – think “ruby bracelets” or “pink baby socks”. Items that match the searched phrase exactly are given priority and displayed above other search results. Exact matches in both the title and tags boosts an item even higher.

Works like Google, right?

In Etsy Relevancy Search, titles are the most important factor in your listing. Titles are more important than tags, descriptions, attributes and views. Real estate’s mantra is “location, location, location” – Etsy’s is now “titles, titles, titles!”

Titles Explained

If you want to be relevant for the search “ruby bracelets”, then you need to have the phrase “ruby bracelets” in your title.

Having the title “ruby silver bracelets” will not be as relevant for the search “ruby bracelets” because of the extra word in between the search terms.

According to Etsy, relevancy search also includes some other factors:

  1. Recent listings/renewals (most evident in the largest searches)
  2. Length of title – shorter can work better for any given search. This isn’t as noticeable in all searches, however, & varies depending on the competition.
  3. Important keywords near the front of the title – this is not anywhere near as important as many people in the Etsy forum think it is, but it has some impact. It is also important for Google, so you should do it anyway.

At this time, we know (because admin has said so, and because I have also tested this where possible) that relevancy is NOT based on:

  • Descriptions
  • Materials
  • The new attributes (style, occasion etc.)
  • Number of listings in a shop
  • Number of hearts or views the item or the shop has in general
  • Location
  • Any personalized search elements

Tags Explained

Tags are important to being relevant for multiple searches. After filling out the most applicable category choices for your item, start with the terms you used in the title. Remember, the search terms themselves must be in the exact same order as the title to be relevant for that search, if it is a competitive search.

Having “Ruby” “Silver” “Bracelets” on separate tags no longer works as well as phrases do. BUT your tag order does not matter at this time, so you could add your shop name as a tag first & it will not affect your relevancy.

Also, having “ruby” and “bracelets” on separate tags is not as good as having them together on one tag, for the search “ruby bracelets”.

How To Make An Effective Title?

As I mentioned earlier, Etsy Relevancy Search also works like Google… which means, knowing what keywords people are looking for is extremely important.

  1. Keyword Research – So what’s the best way to find the right keywords? Google has a newly revised keyword tool that will help you on this, called the Keyword Planner. Check our tutorial about the Keyword Planner to help you get started in writing your product titles.
  2. Google Search – Type words into the Google search & see what it suggests by scrolling down at the bottom of the page. Those searches will not be as shopping-specific as on Etsy, but they can give you a few suggested searches that are useful.

There you have it.

I hope to have opened a few eyes with this post and make Etsy’s new relevancy search useful to your business.

We’d love to hear how your stats improve after you’ve tweaked your titles and tags, be sure to post your success here.

Gary Capps
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