With nearly $2 billion of revenue in 2020, Etsy is a leading e-commerce provider for consumers interested in high-quality bespoke goods. In recent years, UK-based sellers have grown to hold the largest share of international seller accounts (second only to US-based sellers). Unfortunately, Etsy sellers face considerable challenges when trying to appear on the first page of a customer's search results.

In this article, we’ll summarise official advice from the Seller Handbook on how to get your Etsy listings on the first page of search results, driving stronger sales for your e-commerce business.

How Etsy determines what to show to customers

You’ll need to know how Etsy works in order to get your listings in front of customers. In short, Etsy uses a two-phased approach to determine what to show to customers as they search for goods:

The first step is "query matching". Etsy’s algorithm breaks down customer searches into understandable keyword pairings. Etsy then uses these keywords to search for sellers that meet the customer’s criteria.

The second step is "ranking". Etsy analyses all the product listings that match the search terms, ranking the results based on relevance to the customer. Etsy takes a total of 13 factors into account, which is why it’s essential to learn which ones improve your product’s position in search results the best and refine your listings accordingly.

How to make your listings more visible in 3 steps

1. Optimise your listings for Etsy’s search engine

Getting the right set of keywords into your description is vital if sellers want to rank more highly in search results. For an example, if you sell "wallets for men" you need to make sure your product is described accurately enough for Etsy to find it and rank it higher than other men’s wallets available from other sellers.

To do this successfully, you’ll need to learn about optimising your product listings for Etsy’s search engine. You can learn more from Etsy's blog for sellers in The Art of SEO and 20 Questions Your Buyers are Asking. Etsy’s search engine processes language translations, misspellings and plurals by customers, so focus on describing your products accurately and let Etsy take care of the rest.

Etsy advises that you use the most descriptive set of keywords in your product title and tags. Doing so helps your product appear consistent and accurate to Etsy and avoids keyword stuffing (listing every possible keyword, regardless of relevance to your products, to try and dupe the system and appear in more search results).

Etsy listings have a unique field that sellers can use to describe their products called ‘attributes’. For example, a product can be part of the "home furnishings" category but have attributes like "handmade", "recycled" or "gold".

By using this additional layer of product information, Etsy can show products to customers who are more attracted to these features as they shop.

2. Create compelling product descriptions

Etsy’s search engine also checks your product descriptions for important information. By providing original, clear and illustrative product descriptions, you can cover a wider range of keywords without verging into "keyword stuffing" territory.

Creating compelling product descriptions also has the benefit of highlighting your product’s value as customers read it, netting you more sales.

3. Update and diversify your Etsy store

Etsy promotes newer listings and archives them after four months, helping to maintain fresh content on the platform. By regularly updating your listings, adding new products and variations to existing ones, your store can stay at the forefront of Etsy’s product rankings as it experiments with new content for customers.

Other factors that impact your store’s ranking

Etsy aims to target customers with context-specific rankings: showing listings within customer searches that Etsy thinks customers will like but aren’t always 100% relevant to customer searches. Following the steps above can help your products appear in context-specific search results made by your target market.

Etsy takes a holistic view when ranking products against one another, taking into account metrics like customer service rankings, product reviews, how well optimised your "about" section is and whether you have a returns policy. Follow Etsy’s guide to make sure your store ranks well across all metrics.

Negative aspects that can hinder your store’s visibility

If your store has had outstanding customer complaints or issues with intellectual property infringement, Etsy may show your product listings less. As long as you deliver good quality customer service and make original products, your store shouldn’t run into these problems.

Does having Etsy Plus help my visibility?

Etsy currently doesn’t factor in whether stores have an Etsy Plus subscription when determining search results, helping to make sure customers see search results based on the quality of seller keywords matches.

Grow your Etsy presence internationally and save money

With more than 81 million active accounts across the globe, Etsy has a truly international customer base that small businesses shouldn’t ignore. Fortunately, it’s never been easier for small businesses to expand into new foreign markets by accepting local currencies – all they need is a multi-currency account.

If you’d like to start offering your bespoke goods across borders, WorldFirst offers competitive  transfer fees and enables you to accept and transfer more than 60 different currencies at speed.

Find out more about our products or call 0207 801 1065.