Etsy SEO tools have had the biggest impact on improving the performance of my products, yet in a survey I did, 56% of Etsy sellers don’t use any tools at all! This stat blew my mind as whilst Etsy SEO tools used to be crappy, they are now really excellent and much more affordable than you might think.
The range of SEO tools for Etsy sellers is much smaller than for Amazon or Amazon Handmade, but that is changing really quickly. New players are coming into the market all the time with innovative software tools to help Etsy Sellers, and in this article and video, I am reviewing the favorites that I have tested, and some that are completely free! So let’s dive in.
What is Etsy SEO?
Etsy SEO (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing product listings on Etsy to make sure they appear in the Etsy search results. Etsy is essentially a search engine, just like Google or Amazon Handmade, and just like these other search engines, where you appear on the page has a huge impact. Each keyword, or search term, has its own organic rank, and potential buyers will search for keywords in order to find your products.
Where you appear on the page is called the organic rank, and the reason this is important is you need to appear as high up the organic ranking as possible, as the nearer you are to the top of the page, the more likely a potential customer is going to click on your product and buy it.
The way Etsy decides which products appear at the top of the rank is not entirely known, as it is a secret Etsy keeps. However, one thing we do know is that there are three main factors that determine your organic rank, which are relevance, recency, and quality.
Relevance refers to how well a product listing matches a user’s search query. This sounds obvious, but an example is if a customer searches for ‘personalized name jewelry’, they would expect to see personalized name jewelry in the search results.
Now there are a lot of different keywords you can target for your products, in the same example a customer might search for ‘gold personalized name jewelry’ or ‘cheap personalized name jewelry’. In order to appear in relevant searches, you need to do keyword research to identify the most popular and relevant keywords for your products. More on this in a bit.
Etsy also considers recency, which is how recently your product was added or updated. This is why it is useful to update your listings often.
The last factor is quality. Etsy SEO looks at things like the quality of the description, the images and the product and store reviews. Etsy wants customers to have a great experience, so they are more likely to show good quality products to their customers.
All of these factors have an impact on where your products appear in the rankings, and there are some software tools that can help you here.
Benefits of Using Etsy SEO Tools
The first benefit of these tools is that they can help you to find relevant keywords for your products, which should be the first part of your SEO strategy. If you haven’t used the tools before, you might think that customers just use quite basic terms in the searches, for example if you sell hats then a customer might just search ‘hats’. However, there are loads of ways a customer might try to find the right hat for them, and Etsy SEO tools help you find the keywords that customers are actually using.
My favorite tool in Etsy software is competitor analysis. I love using these tools to get an idea of how many sales my competition is making. The reason for this is it helps me to identify gaps in the market so I can launch new products. For new Etsy sellers, this can be a game changer as it will help you launch products with less risk of losing money.
Some Etsy keyword research tools also help you write listings too, and can help you to choose the best tags, titles and even use AI to write descriptions for you. This can help you improve your conversion rate and increase your overall ranking and sales.
In short, Etsy tools are amazing and you should definitely be using them in your business. The only downside to Etsy tools is that they cost money, but some of my favorites start at around $5 a month, and some are even free. Let’s have a look now at the tools I use in my business.
The Best Etsy SEO Tools
There is a wide range of Etsy tools out there with a wide range of features, and I have tried most of them. There are a few that stand out for me which are either the most professional with a great user interface and really accurate data, or they come in at an affordable price point. Each of these keyword research tools works in a slightly different way, and you might find you prefer one tool to another.
My favorite Etsy SEO Tools
There are a lot of tools in the market now, but a lot of them are expensive. Below I have listed all the SEO tools that I actually use, or have used, in my business. I have ranked them in order of favorite to least favorite. Most of the tools have different pricing plans and many offer a free trial, so you should be able to find one that works for you, but all of them will give you a competitive advantage.
Alura
Alura is such a powerful tool, as it includes all my favorite features for Etsy sellers. This is the tool that I use most days in my business, as I love the interface and the way it presents the data, it is a really nice customer experience. There are 3 main features I use, but there are 7 features included. These are all the features:
- Keyword finder
This keyword research tool allows you to see really helpful data about particular keywords. The tool also tells you how much competition there is for those keywords so you can work out if it is a keyword you should be targeting. I like using this feature to find new product ideas, create tags for my listings. If you have the top plan you get unlimited searches, but you probably don’t need that until you have grown a bit.
Alura extension
I use this product research tool the most as it is so easy to use, and with one click you can see how many sales your competition is making. This makes product research so quick, and it is great if you’re feeling a bit nosey and you want to spy on your competition.
Product seeker
The product seeker allows you to filter through products by the level of competition, the number of searches and the different niches. This tool quickly allows you to make decisions about whether to launch a new product or not.
Shop analyzer
The shop analyzer gives you information about your competition, such as what keywords they are using, how many sales they are making, and some insights into how you can improve your store. The tool does a shop analysis so you can see where they are performing well and where there are opportunities for you. Using this tool can help loads with your shop management.
Listing helper
Listing helper studies your listings and gives you some tips to improve them based on Etsy’s own rules. I use it to speed up listing writing as I like to use some of the same copy in my Amazon and Etsy listings. There is also a very handy fee calculator in there, which should help you to work out profitability.
Follow up reminder
This is a very handy tool that automates sending follow up messages to your customers. You can customize the message and when it is sent, for example you can send a message with instructions for how to use an item, or how to keep it looking good. You can also ask for a review. This will save you loads of time.
Email sender
This tool is like the follow up tool but email based, rather than using Etsy’s messaging system. You can create follow up automatic emails and marketing campaigns, so it is great for getting follow on orders.
Overall, Alura is my favorite tool. It’s got a really intuitive layout and a great UI and there are loads of features that make it super easy to use. It isn’t the cheapest tool in this list, but it is really nice to use. There is a free version, but I would recommend getting the starter basic plan for only $19.99 a month, and you can cancel any time so it’s not too much of a risk for only 20 dollars. There is a trial plan too so you can cancel.
EtsyHunt
EtsyHunt has a lot of the same key features as Alura, but is a more affordable tool. I really like this tool and it is a great option for anyone starting out. The UI isn’t quite as nice as Alura, but it still has great features. EtsyHunt also has some really nice AI tools to help you write your listings, which makes it stand out amongst its competitors. For beginner sellers this is a really nice option.
Product database
The product database has a list of a lot of best selling products on Etsy and it shows you some great bits of data about them, such as the monthly sales, the number of reviews and the number of favorites. This is very useful if you are looking to launch new products. You can even use filters so if you are just browsing, you can change the search to fit the type of products you would like to see.
Product chart
This tool shows you trending products in different categories. It is useful for inspiration but I don’t use this one too often. It is quite good for seeing product trends as you can see which products are selling well over time.
Amazon Handmade products
This tool is very useful as it shows you the data for products using Amazon Handmade. I love this tool and it makes EtsyHunt stand out from the competition. There aren’t many tools around for Amazon Handmade sellers, which is why I recommend Helium10 so much.
Keywords
If you are looking for keywords then this keyword search tool will really help you out. It basically does the same work as Marmalead, but for a fraction of the cost. If you were thinking of getting Marmalead, it is much better value to get EtsyHunt instead. It is a keyword research tool like marmalead, plus all the other features. Plus it is loads cheaper. You type in the seed keyword, and the tool will show you useful information such as the keyword search volume and the keyword competitiveness.
Listing Optimizer and EtsyGPT
These tools help you to write amazing listings, and the EtsyGPT function uses AI to help you create a listing with just a click of a button. There are some ChatGPT prompts built into the tool to help you to create a perfect listing. This is a really cool tool and I found it to be really helpful.
Tracking
Use this tool to track the performance of your products, or input some of your competition so you can track their sales. This is a great tool for competitive analysis.
Overall, EtsyHunt is an excellent tool when you are starting out, and it is such good value. I use the EtsyGPT function and the Product Database the most. Another benefit is the tool works for Amazon Handmade, so if you are using Amazon Handmade too you can use EtsyHunt too.
eRank
eRank is one of the original Etsy SEO tools, and it probably has the largest user base of all the tools. The tools on eRank are more specifically focused on SEO rather than product research, and I really love using their calculators to work out things like profitability and fees.
eRank also has a free version of the tool, so you might as well sign up to see if you like using it. If you are just starting out, eRank and EtsyHunt are probably my two favorite tools to start exploring Etsy SEO.
Keyword tool
This keyword generator handily shows you the search volume for keywords and the clicks and competition. The best thing about the keyword tool is the data is nicely presented so it is easy to understand.
Calculators
eRanks calculators are amazing, and they really show you the profitability for the products you sell on Etsy. It is definitely the best calculator I have found, as it factors in your time to make the product and the materials. eRank is worth signing up for this tool alone in my opinion!
Listing checker
eRank has a number of tools that help you check the quality of your listings. You can see if there are any missing attributes in your listings that could be holding them back. The tools can also check your inventory, sales and traffic to give you really good insights into the performance of your store.
Everbee
Everbee is a chrome extension that gives you insights into the sales of the competition. When you are on a page on Etsy, you can click the extension and a little window will pop up which will break down the sales and you can favorite any products. This is great if you are planning on launching a few different products.
Like eRank, there is a free version so you might as well try it out. Alura and EtsyHunt can give a similar amount of data, so I don’t use Everbee as much in my business. However, it is really handy when you’re browsing around Etsy and you have a good product idea, you can quickly go in and see how many sales a shop is making. Its a great time saver, so I find it really useful. It is also quite fun to just have a quick look at the competition’s sales!
It also has a free trial, so you might as well sign up for the free version so you can see if you like it.
Here you can see what it looks like before and after I load it when looking at sales of sofa beds:
Marmalead
Marmalead is, along with eRank, one of the original Etsy SEO tools. It is mostly a tool for finding keywords and tags for your listing, and whilst it is good and quite easy to use, it is expensive for the limited tools it offers.
The best thing about Marmalead is they have a free trial, so if you are trying to get some keywords for your listing, it could be a good tool to try out. However, the features are the same as what is offered in Alura and EtsyHunt, so I wouldn’t recommend only using Marmalead as it is expensive for what it is.
Helium 10
This is a wildcard entry, as Helium 10 is an Amazon tool, but it is by far my favorite tool to use for keyword research. It is quite pricey, but it gives so much value. I use this tool literally every day in my business on Amazon as I use it for finding new products, finding new keywords and spying on my competition to see how many products they are selling.
The main tools I use are X Ray and Cerebro. X Ray tells you all the sales that your competition is making, and you can use it directly on the product search page. For example here, I have gone into the Amazon Handmade category and searched for handmade candles. As you can see it is giving me the sales of all the products on the page. There are some great sales there!
Cerebro allows you to put a listing into the search, and the system will show you all the keywords that the product is ranking for on Amazon. This is a truly amazing function, and will save you so much time in research. As I mentioned, Helium 10 is quite pricey, but it would be worth testing it out tools as I have a really good discount in here.
Also, you can use it just for a month to do your research then stop using it if you like. It is 100% worth it if you’re a serious seller.
Free Etsy SEO Tools
Keyword Tool Dominator
SEO Keyword tool dominator is a free tool that helps you to find basic keyword ideas across different platforms. It isn’t a specific Etsy keyword tool so whilst it doesn’t have keywords directly from Etsy, it does show valuable keywords from other platforms such as eBay, Amazon and Google adwords. The data should be quite similar across platforms, so it is a good place to start. It is a good tool for finding long tail keyword suggestions to rank for, and I have found it particularly helpful for running ads on Amazon.
The tool is free, so don’t expect it to be as good looking as Alura or Helium 10, but the data is pretty solid, and it is free so it isn’t a bad place to start. The main downside is that the data isn’t Etsy data, so you will need to double check any keywords you find on Etsy to make sure people are searching for the keywords there too.
The free version limits how many uses you are allowed each day, but the paid version is only $35 dollars one off for unlimited searches, so it isn’t too expensive. I would only really recommend this tool to people who are just starting out understanding keywords, or people on a super tight budget. It would be better to save your money and wait until you could afford a better tool, in my opinion.
Google Keyword Planner
Google keyword planner is another tool that isn’t designed for Etsy sellers, but it still shows some great keyword information. The data comes directly from Google, so you know it is trustworthy. The data in Keyword Planner is the data that Google users have searched for over the last time period you select. I find it is a good tool to use if I am translating a listing into another language, and I want to find the longtail keywords in that language.
It is also helpful if you are trying to get your products ranking on Google. Remember, your products will be shown in Google searches sometimes too, so it is worth optimizing your listings for Google if you can!
Google Keyword Planner is completely free, but it is limited to Google searches only.
Keyword.io
Keyword.io is a very similar tool to Keyword Dominator, and you get a few searches per day on the free version and some more if you pay. I use the tool sometimes when I am finding keywords for ad campaigns, or I am looking to sell my products on other platforms.
How to use Etsy SEO Tools effectively
Etsy SEO tools are a big help in my business and I use them every day to update my listings and improve their ranking on Etsy. These are the steps you can use to get the most out of the tools, because if you are paying for them you want to make sure you are using them correctly!
Perform Keyword Research
The most important part of SEO is keyword research, and most the SEO tools can help you to choose the best keywords for your products. The tools can help you to find long tail keywords too, which are usually less competitive. The best SEO tools to find keywords are EtsyHunt and Alura, as both of them make recommendations for your products, so they save you time.
Analyze Competition
Make sure you are looking at your competition and how they are writing their listings and what tags they are using. All the tools about, apart from Marmalead, will show you how many sales your competition is making. If they are making sales there is a good chance that they have written their listings well and they are using good keywords. Use the tools to check out their tags and keywords to help you with your listings.
Improve Product Descriptions
Your product descriptions need to be descriptive of the products, use language that encourages customers to make a purchase and also incorporate keywords so customers can find the products in the first place.
EtsyHunt and Alura both have AI tools that can help you to write perfect descriptions quickly. One thing to note about AI descriptions, is make sure you are proofreading and editing them, as they aren’t always perfect the first time.