SEO for Etsy digital products is the method of adding keywords or phrases that customers are searching for within the Etsy search bar into your product's titles descriptions and tags. This means that when a customer searches for a product within Etsy your product is more likely to appear which increases your chances of making a sale.
How to get found on Etsy?
As you know Etsy is a marketplace. Etsy has thousands of sellers selling their own products on Etsy. A common belief is that Etsy is a saturated place to sell because of the amount of digital products being sold on Etsy.
However, with the right SEO strategy, you can get your digital products ranking on page one of Etsy. In 2024 you do need to be clever in the keywords and phrases that you were adding to your products to make sure that they rank in areas that have high search volume but low competition.
This means using SEO in your digital product titles and product descriptions to make sure that your digital products appear in front of people who are actively searching for the types of products you sell on Etsy.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It is the method of adding the same keywords or phrases that a customer would use in the Etsy search bar to find the types of products that you sell into your product titles and descriptions.
An example of this is a customer looking for a digital planner.
The types of words or phrases that a customer might use if they were looking for a digital planner could be:
- digital planner
- 2024 digital planner
- pink digital planner
- digital planner for iPad
So SEO is essential using the same phrases the customer would use within the Etsy search bar and implementing those phrases into your digital product titles, descriptions and product tags.
Why Etsy SEO is so important for digital products?
The truth is that in 2024 if you are not using SEO on your digital products on Etsy then your products are going to remain unfound.
Etsy has hundreds of thousands of sellers selling digital products on Etsy.
So you need to use SEO on your products to make sure that your products are getting found by people who are actively searching for the types of products that you are selling on Etsy.
When it comes to keywords such as calendars, planners, templates, flyers etc Etsy is saturated and if you are a new store then it will be impossible for you to get your products onto PG1 of Etsy.
Which is why SEO is so important. SEO research helps you find keywords that are unsaturated so that you can get your digital planners onto PG1 of Etsy.
What SEO keywords shouldn't I use for my digital downloads?
One-word keywords are saturated & should not be used for your digital products.
These one-word keywords which could be: planner, template, calendar & diary are all extremely saturated and are too broad.
This means that the competition level on these keywords is way too high. This means that you are unlikely to get found on Etsy if you use only these keywords in your product title, descriptions and tags.
Example:
Let's take the word planner. When searched for on Etsy the word planner has over 1 million search results. Meaning that if you were to create a digital planner and then call it
"Planner, 2024 planner, digital planner, downloadable planner"
There is no chance your product will appear within the search results of Etsy because the keywords that you are using our way too broad & too saturated.
This means you need to turn these broad keywords into what are called long-tail keywords.
How to use long-tail keywords
What are long tail keywords?
Long-tail keywords consist of 3+ words. It is a seeking abroad keyword like the word planner I'm turning it into a longer version of itself.
Examples of a long-tail keywords are:
- Planner For Beauticians
- Planner for website designers
- 2024 Pink Planner With Cats On
- Planner For Remarkable Tablet
Examples of using long tail SEO keywords
What I've done above is I've taken the word "planner" which was extremely saturated and added in some extra keywords to make it a long-tail keyword.
What now happens is that the competition level on the Etsy results page drops significantly.
When we searched for the word "planner" we saw there were over 1 million search results however if I were to now search for "planner for website designers" for example there would only be 233 search results on Etsy.
This means your chances of making a sale increase significantly.
Why? Because you are no longer trying to compete with over 1 million other listings instead you are only trying to compete with 233 other listings. This means your chances of making a sale have increased significantly!
What are the benefits of using long tail SEO keywords for digital products?
Apart from the obvious which is that there is far less competition if you were to use a long-tail keyword rather than a broad keyword here are a few other benefits of using long-tail SEO keywords for your digital products.
You are getting a very specific customer who is much more likely to convert.
When somebody goes to search for the word "planner" for instance they are normally in what is called browsing mode.
The customer knows that they want to purchase a planner but they don't know what type of planner they want because they haven't been specific enough in their search intent.
When a customer types in the word "planner" into the Etsy search bar and sees that there are over 1 million search results what would normally happen now is that they will get overwhelmed by the choice that appears. There are too many options.
This is where the customer gets much more specific. The customer will think about their specific needs and what it is they need a planner for.
Let's pretend this customer is a website designer and they want to buy a planner to help them organise and plan out their website designs for their clients
They will now search for "planner for website designers"
Instead of the 1 million results, they are now going to see 233 results.
The customer can see exactly what they have been looking for and they are now much more likely to make a purchase.
By using long-tail SEO keywords like "planner for website designers" what your store is doing is getting specific on who it is catering to.
This means that you are much more likely to make a conversion because you are attracting a customer who knows what they want.
Where can I research long-tail keywords for my digital products on Etsy?
My advice is to use a third-party application like the eRank or everbee to research long-tail SEO keywords for your digital products.
These platforms are going to provide you with a ton of data on what customers are actively searching for on Etsy and what phrases and words they are using within the Etsy search bar to find products that are similar to yours.
The goal of using these platforms is to try and find keywords that have a high search volume but low competition.
By using keywords that have a high search volume but low competition this means that when you use these keywords in your digital product titles and in your product descriptions you are more likely to appear on page 1 of Etsy.
By using these platforms to find keywords early it means that you were going to have the monopoly over that section of Etsy. This means that your store is much more likely to make sales over your competitors.
How to use tags on Etsy for my digital downloads?
When you create a product listing on Etsy you are going to be given the option to use 13 tags and these are super important for SEO.
It is important to use the same keywords that you were using in your product titles and your product descriptions in your product tags.
However Etsy tags only allow you to use 20 characters per tag.
So if you are using a long-tail keyword that has more than 20 characters what you can do is split that long-tail keyword into two tags.
Example:
Let's say you are selling a "2024 website design planner". This is too long to fit into one 20-character tag.
So what you can do is break it into two.
One tag can be "2024 website" & the other tag could be "design planner".
Etsy has confirmed that if you create two tags next to each other like this then this will not affect your SEO and Etsy will see it as a long-tail keyword.
Why Etsy shop sections are vital for Etsy SEO and digital products
Shop sections are a vital part of Etsy SEO.
Being specific with your shop sections helps boost your products within the algorithm
So again important to try and use longtail keywords for your shop sections.
Don't just call each section planners, calendars, templates etc
Instead, be specific with each of your shop's section title.
So instead of calling a section calendars instead call it "Calendars For Weddings"
And then put all of the products that relate to that shop section within that section of your Etsy store.
The power of duplicating products on your Etsy store
If you are a new Etsy store then a powerful SEO tactic that you can use is by duplicating products on your Etsy store and testing the keywords that you were using within your product titles and descriptions.
Essentially you are selling the same product but you are creating two separate listings for it.
In the product title of one of your digital product listings you would use one set of keywords and in the product title of your other digital product listing you would use another side of keywords.
This is a test to see which keywords work best for your store and it is it important part of any new Etsy store.
If you end up getting more traffic and more sales on one of your Etsy listings then you know that those keywords that you have used in the product title and product description are keywords that you should consider using for other products on your store.
Etsy SEO on the rest of your digital product store
Etsy SEO should not just be used on your digital products it should also be used on the rest of your Etsy store.
For instance, if you can you should try and name your store something which is related to the products that you are selling.
So if your store sells digital planners then you should try and call yourself something with the keyword in it like "Rose's digital planners"
Another important place is your shop title and this is different from the name of your shop. You have a set number of characters where you can input what you sell on your store and you should focus on using keywords that are related to the products that you sell.
So if you sell digital planners you should write something like
"digital planner for students, 2024 planners"
How I have managed to get all my digital products onto PG1 of Etsy
I have been an SEO expert for over 10 years and in 2024 I set up two Etsy stores to test how easy it was to sell digital products on Etsy in 2024.
I have managed to get all of my products onto page 1 of Etsy in as little as 24 hours after they have been created.
I have achieved this by implementing the same SEO strategies that I have described above, by using long-tail keywords in my project titles on my product descriptions.
This is me to start making daily sales as a brand-new Etsy store.
If you would like to learn more about my SEO strategies and implement the same strategies that I have used to get my products onto page one of Etsy and selling daily then check out my e-book
This comprehensive guide with all of the best SEO tips that best selling shops are using on Etsy in 2024.
Conclusion
Etsy SEO is a vital part of selling digital downloads on Etsy.
It ensures that your products are the first product to be found when a customer goes to the Etsy search bar to search for the type of product that you are selling on your store.
By using SEO strategies on your Etsy store to sell your digital products you are increasing your chances of your products being found on Etsy and making daily sales.
If in 2024 you are not using SEO on your Etsy store to sell your digital products then you are seriously damaging your store and decreasing your chances of making a sale.
Etsy SEO plays a huge role in making sure your digital products can get found on Etsy so that you can grow your Etsy store and turn it from a side hustle to a full-time job.
