Note: This post is the words of Graeme, an Etsy member who has kindly agreed to let us share his thoughts on SEO more widely. He originally posted this in the Etsy Forums, and JudysDesigns, a DTeam member, found it.

You can do research on Etsy right in Etsy’s search bar – just start typing and popular suggestions appear. Then you can use a tool like: www.tools4etsy.com/Wall-e/Relevancy/Keyword to see where you appear in search + who the top sellers are, the top listings, and the Tags used.

** Titles & Tags are important to Etsy Search (redundancy = relevancy i.e. Tag phrases should be repeated in titles); Description & Titles for SEO (repetition = relevancy, but not duplication; i.e. Titles, each should be unique). Title, Tag and Description (upper/lower) case & punctuation has no importance to Etsy Search & Search Engines like Google & Bing (SEO). Also, the order of Tags is not important.

** Be aware that Etsy sees Categories as having a dual purpose – both as a Category & a Tag. Entering them twice is a waste of a tag.

** According to an Etsy Blog article (ref: blog.etsy.com/en/2013/top-5-steps-to-a-mobile-friendly-shop ): “…item descriptions are truncated on Etsy’s mobile apps after nine lines; aim to keep vital details above the fold.”. As Etsy claims that 40%+ views are coming from Mobile devices, your target audience could be missing key information that may be visible “below the 9-line fold”.

** Please note that on Etsy, it can take up to an hour for the Listing page (Etsy page cache) to refresh and up to 24 hours for the Listing changes to be fully indexed. ( ref: www.etsy.com/help/article/187 )

** Etsy Blog articles & help links that should help:
– Shop Makeover Series: Titles, Descriptions and Tags – blog.etsy.com/en/2011/shop-makeover-titles-descriptions-and-tags/
– Etsy Success: Make Your Shop More Relevant – blog.etsy.com/en/2011/make-your-shop-more-relevant/
– An Etsy worksheet put together to help sellers brainstorm keywords that buyers might use when searching:
blog.etsy.com/en/files/2013/08/Unlock-Your-Keywords.pdf
– How do I make sure my items are getting found in Search? – www.etsy.com/help/article/821
– How to Get Found in Search – www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/how-to-get-found-in-search/
– How to Get Found in Browse – www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/how-to-get-found-in-browse/
– How do I improve my shop’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? – www.etsy.com/help/article/247
– 4 Ways to Improve Your SEO and Increase Your Traffic – blog.etsy.com/en/2013/4-ways-to-improve-your-seo/
– How to Write Enticing Item Descriptions – blog.etsy.com/en/2012/how-to-write-enticing-item-descriptions
(Note: Whilst some of these blog posts have been around for a while, they are still very relevant)
– Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide – static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en/us/webmasters/...

** Etsy mentioned in an Admin Q&A thread (may 16th, 2014) that Etsy (eg: Treasuries) & external (eg: Facebook) inbound links will help with improving a Listing’s Relevancy. Listing new, relisting and renewing all equally give a Listing’s relevancy a boost.

** A great post on SEO Myths you should NOT believe: www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/12878519

** Lastly, here is a tool that compares Etsy Tags side-by-side: www.tools4etsy.com/tagwars