Etsy SEO can be confusing. Many Etsy sellers have turned to tools like Google’s Keyword Planner for help in finding which search terms shoppers engage with.
Over the past 6 months, we have been running a study to collect actual search terms from actual Etsy shoppers. This is an important first step in developing Marmalead and vetting it against other Etsy and non Etsy SEO tools on the internet. Here are the 50 most popular search terms we’ve collected over the past 6 months:
Etsy SEO: Top 50 Shopper Searches
- gift for her
- christmas gift
- coral bracelet
- handmade doily
- necklace
- jewelry
- wall art
- nursery decor
- statement necklace
- earrings
- iphone 6 case
- bracelet
- home decor
- infinity scarf
- dangle earrings
- gift
- printable art
- bridesmaid gift
- nursery art
- digital paper
- boho necklace
- soap
- personalized baby blanket
- scarf
- baby blanket
- christmas
- gifts for her
- wedding invitation
- beaded bracelet
- planner stickers
- initial necklace
- wedding gift
- inspirational quote
- handmade soap
- art print
- wedding invitations
- headband
- stud earrings
- gemstone necklace
- baby shower gift
- bohemian jewelry
- bar necklace
- printable
- christmas ornament
- boho headband
- coffee mug
- lip balm
- boho bracelet
- boho jewelry
- christmas cards
Armed with these keywords, let’s dive into a comparison of Google Keyword Planner and Marmalead in order to see which tool performs better in predicting shopper engagement to achieve the strongest Etsy SEO.
Google Keyword Planner
The first thing we did was dump these keywords into Google Keyword Planner to see what the global Google Search volume looks like:
| Search Phrase | Google Avg Monthly Searches |
| gift for her | 5,400 |
| christmas gift | 18,100 |
| coral bracelet | 880 |
| handmade doily | 30 |
| necklace | 135,000 |
| jewelry | 368,000 |
| wall art | 165,000 |
| nursery decor | 9,900 |
| statement necklace | 14,800 |
| earrings | 201,000 |
| iphone 6 case | 301,000 |
| bracelet | 135,000 |
| home decor | 135,000 |
| infinity scarf | 40,500 |
| dangle earrings | 4,400 |
| gift | 165,000 |
| printable art | 1,300 |
| bridesmaid gift | 2,900 |
| nursery art | 2,400 |
| digital paper | 5,400 |
| boho necklace | 1,600 |
| soap | 246,000 |
| personalized baby blanket | 2,400 |
| scarf | 110,000 |
| baby blanket | 14,800 |
| christmas | 1,220,000 |
| gifts for her | 90,500 |
| wedding invitation | 90,500 |
| beaded bracelet | 1,900 |
| planner stickers | 9,900 |
| initial necklace | 22,200 |
| wedding gift | 18,100 |
| inspirational quote | 27,100 |
| handmade soap | 9,900 |
| art print | 5,400 |
| wedding invitations | 368,000 |
| headband | 90,500 |
| stud earrings | 18,100 |
| gemstone necklace | 1,000 |
| baby shower gift | 4,400 |
| bohemian jewelry | 4,400 |
| bar necklace | 9,900 |
| printable | 12,100 |
| christmas ornament | 6,600 |
| boho headband | 590 |
| coffee mug | 22,200 |
| lip balm | 74,000 |
| boho bracelet | 320 |
| boho jewelry | 5,400 |
| christmas cards | 165,000 |
It’s important to note that Google uses search volume to indicate engagement in keyword searches. While they may seem like an omnipotent Big Brother sort of character at times, Google doesn’t have a window into every site that is served up in their search results. For this reason, search volume is the deepest reliable way for Google to determine engagement.
Etsy Search Data
Etsy, however, shares view and favorite information with us. This gives us a much better picture of buyer engagement (and helps Marmalead give you a leg up in Etsy SEO!).
Here are our same 50 keyword phrases matched up with the average number of views and favorites per week for each relevant listing returned by Etsy:
| Search Phrase | Etsy Results | Etsy Views/Wk | Etsy Favs/Wk |
| gift for her | 728,614 | 759 | 84.4 |
| christmas gift | 1,228,215 | 599.5 | 70.3 |
| coral bracelet | 22,465 | 7.9 | 1.3 |
| handmade doily | 32,439 | 10.3 | 7.9 |
| necklace | 3,500,180 | 656 | 72.9 |
| jewelry | 10,528,747 | 407 | 53.4 |
| wall art | 1,617,250 | 252.5 | 32.1 |
| nursery decor | 480,707 | 184.1 | 28.8 |
| statement necklace | 208,792 | 152.3 | 21.6 |
| earrings | 2,243,580 | 280.2 | 49.4 |
| iphone 6 case | 145,035 | 616.8 | 70.8 |
| bracelet | 145,035 | 828.8 | 71.7 |
| home decor | 3,995,076 | 273.2 | 43.3 |
| infinity scarf | 142,372 | 204 | 36 |
| dangle earrings | 932,827 | 90.2 | 17.8 |
| gift | 6,774,105 | 750.2 | 80.4 |
| printable art | 453,875 | 105.6 | 18.7 |
| bridesmaid gift | 461,135 | 442.2 | 48.2 |
| nursery art | 405,168 | 101.2 | 13.9 |
| digital paper | 432,600 | 69.1 | 11.5 |
| boho necklace | 191,950 | 85.2 | 17.1 |
| soap | 234,877 | 201.1 | 23.6 |
| personalized baby blanket | 19,525 | 115.2 | 10.6 |
| scarf | 611,613 | 566.6 | 66 |
| baby blanket | 184,882 | 149.1 | 14.7 |
| christmas | 2,652,756 | 1701.4 | 95.5 |
| gifts for her | 728,485 | 771 | 87.8 |
| wedding invitation | 266,893 | 204.8 | 13.3 |
| beaded bracelet | 694,711 | 87.6 | 11.1 |
| planner stickers | 119,147 | 286.9 | 29.2 |
| initial necklace | 118,724 | 288.1 | 24 |
| wedding gift | 1,262,178 | 346.9 | 33.2 |
| inspirational quote | 150,271 | 116.1 | 14 |
| handmade soap | 201,438 | 86.3 | 12.7 |
| art print | 2,311,877 | 176.3 | 22.7 |
| wedding invitations | 266,888 | 212.4 | 16 |
| headband | 627,734 | 437.6 | 32.8 |
| stud earrings | 286,374 | 226.1 | 43.9 |
| gemstone necklace | 278,100 | 73.4 | 10 |
| baby shower gift | 486,509 | 87.6 | 10.1 |
| bohemian jewelry | 281,894 | 97.8 | 20.9 |
| bar necklace | 46,681 | 445.9 | 29.2 |
| printable | 1,100,848 | 272.7 | 26.1 |
| christmas ornament | 449,083 | 203.4 | 25.6 |
| boho headband | 32,894 | 50.6 | 8 |
| coffee mug | 121,436 | 488.6 | 64.6 |
| lip balm | 31,554 | 76.1 | 9.7 |
| boho bracelet | 139,117 | 40.6 | 13.5 |
| boho jewelry | 505,365 | 102 | 22.3 |
| christmas cards | 222,410 | 340.9 | 29.9 |
Let’s look at an example. One of the top 50 search phrases is “coral bracelet.” In fact, we found that Etsy shoppers used it a total of 126 times in our study. BUT looking at the view and favorite information from Etsy, we can see that very few shoppers actually engage with listings found in this search (7.9 views per week and 1.3 favorites per week on average).
So which is better?
When we match up the shopper engagement data provided by Google’s Keyword Planner to Etsy’s view information, we get this:
If Google Keyword Planner were a good predictor of which searches enjoy the most buyer engagement on Etsy, these two graphs would closely overlap. It’s easy to see in this chart that the keywords flagged by Google Keyword Planner as being more popular are NOT the same ones that shoppers are actually engaging with on Etsy. Now let’s compare the same Etsy views with how we measure shopper engagement within Marmalead:
Perhaps unsurprisingly (since we’re getting our data straight from Etsy), Marmalead is spot on for seeing which keyword searches have the highest engagement from shoppers – and will allow you to reap the best Etsy SEO for your listings.
Perhaps Google Keyword Planner is a better predictor of which searches will have more favorites on Etsy? Let’s look:
Again, it’s easy to see there really isn’t a strong correlation here between which searches Google thinks have strong engagement and which actually demonstrate engagement on Etsy. Here’s the Marmalead data for the same set of searches:
Looking at these charts should make it clear to see that using Etsy’s own data to determine engagement is MUCH more reliable than using Google’s data.
Want to learn more about Etsy SEO and why Google’s numbers are so different from Etsy’s? Tara Jacobsen, a 14-year SEO veteran put together a fantastic guest post which is riddled with great information!
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— Marmalead (@marmalead) January 4, 2016
5 replies on “Etsy SEO – Marmalead vs Google Keyword Planner”
This is wonderful. I have been struggling with Seo and it looks as though one of the keys is that I have been using too specific words.
More general words are better?
I believe the sweet spot is a keyword that is specific enough to effectively describe your listing but not too specific that a shopper probably would never think of. Stay away from jargons too; words/terminologies that an average shopper would not know.
I have successfully used Google Keyword Planner for keyword research for several hundred Etsy shops including a few of my own shops. I have used quite few keyword research tools in the past 12 years as a professional SEO and find that Google Keyword Planner provides the most valuable information.
With Keyword Planner it is possible to find keywords that are popular with shoppers that other Etsy sellers are not using. Using keywords like this is the best way to stand out in a vast sea of very similar listings.
There many ways to get keyword ideas including the Marmalead tool, but I would always research further with a tool like Keyword Planner and look for keywords that other sellers have not discovered and are not using. They are, after all, your competition.
Why do you want to be like everyone else when you can stand out?
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