Getting found in organic search on Etsy is the single best thing you can do for your shop on the platform due to the high number of shoppers coming to Etsy ready to buy every single day. So when should you update your SEO on Etsy? It’s probably a lot less often than you think.
What is SEO?
First, what even is SEO on Etsy? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and it’s how Etsy decides where your listings should rank in the searches that buyers are completing on the platform. If you can take advantage of this algorithm, you can rank on the first page of search results and get traffic without relying on marketing and social media.
What’s included in the Etsy algorithm?
There are a lot of factors included in Etsy’s SEO algorithm. Some you have control over and some you don’t. The factors that you don’t always have direct control over included in the algorithm are:
- Your sales and review history
- How often you’ve been favorited by etsy shoppers after they do searches on the platform
- Shop location
While your sales history and review rating are included in the algorithm, don’t let that discourage you. Every shop starts with 0 sales, so you if you’re just starting out remember that there are factors that are more important.
The biggest factor in the algorithm is the relevancy of your keywords to the buyers search. The way you increase your relevancy is to find the keywords your buyers are actually using through your keyword research process and formatting your tags, titles, and descriptions to help Etsy know you’re important for those specific keywords.
How often should you update your Etsy SEO?
After you have the process for keyword research and formatting down, you’ll start getting found more in search results. If you want to stay relevant, how often should you be updating your SEO?
The algorithm adapts slowly, taking up to 90 days to determine where you should be ranking for phrases after you make changes. Because of that, you want to update your SEO once a quarter at most.
Here are some other things to consider when trying to decide how often to update your SEO:
- Listings that are getting a lot of traffic should be updated infrequently (and very carefully)
- Never update all of your listings all at once
- Seasonal keywords can be changed more often if needed (holidays, for example, won’t be searched for any longer after the holiday has passed)
What else you can do to improve SEO on Etsy
If you’ve updated your listing and need to wait the 60-90 days needed to see if you’ll be ranking for some new keywords, you don’t have to sit around and do nothing. Adding new listings to fill up product lines can be a great way to test new keywords without affecting listings that have already been updated.
To sum it up…
Your Etsy SEO should only be updated once a quarter at most. To make sure you have the best chance of ranking for keywords organically you’ll want to start with a good keyword research process, make sure you’re formatting your listings according to Etsy best practices, and fill your product lines to improve rank and conversion rates.
Need help with your SEO strategy? I make it easy in my membership, the Seller Collective. Learn more about my process and how to join here.
