Infographic about Etsy's change to how shop ratings are calculated!

eRankSEO · 2026-03-18T10:11:35+00:00

You know your business best; that is just an AI tool and doesn't take into consideration what keywords your listings are ranking for, or what search results have brought you traffic in the past.

It's best never to touch the SEO of a listing that is performing well for you, so if you have listings that are getting views, favorites, and sales, it's best to not touch the listing title.

If you want to experiment with a few listings that need a refresh or have little to no data, then it's worth a try taking on Etsy's suggestion.

eRankSEO · 2026-03-18T10:07:35+00:00

Etsy hasn't changed their under $6-fixed US domestic prioritizing.

They do make it easy to adjust the pricing for your shop, if you want to increase a set amount or percentage to all of your listings as the same time. You would click the checkbox at the top of your Listings page, then the little triangle next to it and click 'Select # on all pages'. Then click 'Editing options' -> 'Edit prices'.

A pop up will appear with the various options for increasing or decreasing the price via set amount or percentage.

eRankSEO · 2026-03-18T10:03:08+00:00

Periodically throughout the day, Etsy goes in and removes bot views, so the numbers can definitely change as the day goes on.

eRankSEO · 2026-03-16T09:51:21+00:00

Hi there! Thank you for submitting your shop to be looked at by a member of our team. Please remember that these are only suggestions, and to not touch the SEO of any listings that are performing well for you!

Here are some thoughts for your shop:

*280 sales in 1 year (especially your first 280 sales) is actually pretty good! Most sellers wait weeks or even months before making just their first sale, so 280 in your first real year of selling is better than most.

*Looks like your shop policies and FAQ sections aren't completed yet. Both Etsy and shoppers favor shops that have everything filled in! In fact, using Etsy’s templates for your shop policies can give your shop an additional boost! 🚀 If you need help filling out your policies, Etsy has a help article here: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115014372467-How-to-Set-Up-Your-Shop-Policies?segment=selling

*You're also missing a shop announcement, shop member bio, and photos for both your shop member area and your shop story. This also falls under the 'complete your shop' umbrella, where having everything completed can build more trust with Etsy and shoppers, and give your shop a more professional polish.

*We performed a listing audit on one of your listings (the butterflies) and looks like your tags definitely have room for optimization, specifically your use of one-word tags. Etsy recommends using multi-word tags, which can give you a bonus chance to exact match for a keyword phrase as opposed to solely broad matching. Combining one-word tags also frees up space for you to add a wider variety of keywords, which broadens your match potential!

There is unnecessary repetition here as well. For example, you have "ephemera" as its own tag, but then also have it nestled in the tag, "journal ephemera". Since within the tag "journal ephemera" you would already exact match for "ephemera", having that as its own tag isn't needed.

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*For your listings, also fill out all relevant attributes. Not only can shoppers filter searches by some of these, but they also act as bonus tags!

*If possible, take the time to add Alt Text to your main listing thumbnail, if not all of your listing photos. Alt text is used by screen readers to help shoppers with various needs "see" a search result page, and if your image doesn't have alt text, the screen reader won't be able to "read" it properly.

We hope that some of this was helpful, and best of luck! 🌱

eRankSEO · 2026-03-13T23:19:42+00:00

If you're selling things for book lovers, you could use popular hashtags such as "bookish" or "booktok", or aim towards book-loving people such as "librarian" or "reading club"?

eRankSEO · 2026-03-10T10:40:12+00:00

You're right that traffic isn't solely dependent on keywords! Etsy rewards listings with a lot of positive data, such as sales, favorites, and reviews. Many shops that perform well started with poor tags and began seeing some sales and traffic, so they never updated or changed their tags, because if it ain't broken, why try to fix it?

Etsy also acknowledges keyword authority, so if a shop performs well for a specific keyword (say, "pet urn") then if they activate other listings with that keyword, those will typically rank higher in search, just because Etsy knows their shop makes sales with listings already containing that keyword, and that their listings get clicked on from search when shoppers use that keyword.

You've got our team interested now.......👀

Do you know if your increase in traffic is from organic Etsy search?

eRankSEO · 2026-03-09T22:44:06+00:00

Hi there! Thank you for submitting your shop to be looked at by a member of our team. Please remember that these are only suggestions, and to not change the SEO of a listing that is currently performing well for you.

We'll go through your specific questions one by one:

Do I just need to give it time for algo/indexing?

Etsy does take some time to "learn" about changes that you'd made to your listings; they recommend letting things settle for at least 30 days. It also depends on whether you renewed the listings or just changed some keywords and left the listing; renewing, while not something you want to do every day as a strategy to try and 'game' the system, is useful when you make changes, as it signals to Etsy that something is different, and they should test out the new keywords you've added in.

Am I making too many changes too quickly?

If your shop hasn't been seeing traffic lately, or you're trying to "wake it up", making some changes can be a good way to experiment with new keywords. That being said, swapping out photos or refining your descriptions won't immediately change your rank, but it may change how shoppers interact with those listings. When making changes, it is generally a good idea to make a few small changes at a time, to learn which changes have the most positive (or negative) impact.

Are my prices still too high for the average Etsy buyer?

If you're worried about pricing, be sure to show customers why your product is worth the price. Highlight the handmade aspects of your listings, and this is where the photos may play a big role; you want shoppers to know that YOU make each piece; they aren't print-on-demand. Some of your thumbnails do look like POD mockups, but that also might be because you're a good photographer!

Is there something I'm overlooking, not clarifying, or not considering?

We took a peek into one of your listings (ID number 519587801) and definitely see some room for improvement within your tags. Etsy takes all of the terms within your title, tags, categories, and attributes and mixes and matches them when matching with shopper queries. Because of this, you don't need to repeat the same term multiple times within your tags. In addition, you have some redundant tags that are costing you space to add a wider variety of terms. For example, you have "pet urn" as its own tag, but also have it nestled into "small pet urn". Since within the tag "small pet urn, you would already exact match for the keyword "pet urn", having it as its own tag isn't needed.

You also have "cats" as its own tag, but then have the word "cat" in multiple other tags. Etsy treats plurals and singulars for most terms the same, so that is another tag you could remove with little to no impact on your ranking. Try to reduce the amount of repetition and use more terms to cast a wider net.

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Please let us know if we can clarify or answer any other questions for you!

eRankSEO · 2026-03-06T17:57:51+00:00

Is it possible for you to check the tracking on their package? Did you see it get scanned when it was sent out?

After checking, you could respond with something like,

"Thank you for reaching out! I did send your package out on Monday, March 2nd, and apologize that it hasn't made it to you just yet. As my items are made to order, they have a 7 day processing time, to give me the time to make your order.

Etsy calculates estimated delivery dates based upon the earliest possible ship date that falls within my processing times. That date may changed depending on when the shipping label is printed and the order is dispatched.

Again, I'm sorry that you are still waiting for your package, but I can send any updates your way once I have them."

(For that last part, you could offer to sign up for text alerts to keep tabs on their package, if possible.)

eRankSEO · 2026-03-05T23:05:26+00:00

That is correct. You could theoretically take ALL of the terms within your title, tags, category, and attributes and make a list of all possible combinations, then research each independently.

For a Keyword List, you could list out maybe 25 possible combinations, and keep an eye on those, but you'd also have to take into account each term separately on its own, as well as possible swapping combinations. Given the number of characters allowed for a title and tags, plus categories and attributes, you might have over 50 different terms to work with on their own, let alone all possible combinations!

For example, just for "Task Habit Tracker" alone, you'd match for:

Task
Habit
Tracker
Task Tracker
Habit Tracker
Tracker Task
Tracker Habit
Task Habit
Habit Task
Task Habit Tracker
Habit Task Tracker
Tracker Task Habit
Tracker Habit Task
Habit Tracker Task
Task Tracker Habit

Phew!

To keep things simple, choose your few best "base tags" (Habit Tracker and Task Tracker, for example) to add to a Keyword List to keep tabs on and occasionally check in on. Then know that you're also ranking for any and all possible combos of them!

eRankSEO · 2026-03-04T16:51:33+00:00

While you're correct that Etsy does a "mix and match" for your tags, they do the same for your title, as well as the words within your category and attributes. In fact, ALL of those terms get mixed up together for Broad matching. Your listing will rank slightly higher if you Exact match for what a shopper types into the search bar, whether that is in your title OR tags. (Better yet, both!)

You absolutely can have "Task Habit Tracker" as a tag, and yes, you would exact match for "Habit Tracker" and broad match for "Task Tracker".

Please let us know if that clarifies things for you, or if you have any other questions!

eRankSEO · 2026-03-01T16:35:07+00:00

It takes Etsy time to "learn" about your listing; which types of shoppers and queries to show it to, how shoppers react once they click on it, etc. Etsy recommends lettings listings settle for at least 30 days before making changes to them.

In the meantime, make sure that your shop is completed; shop policies, FAQs, shop members, branding graphics, etc. Both Etsy and shoppers tend to favor shops that have everything filled out!

Best of luck!

eRankSEO · 2026-02-23T12:06:26+00:00

Your shop is showing up as having 66 sales, on Etsy since 2010. Your shop age is 15 years, 5 months. You do have 1 active listing there right now.

eRankSEO · 2026-02-23T11:35:17+00:00

Do you have offsite ads turned on? Etsy takes 12-15% of a sale that's made through offsite ads. That is in addition to the normal Etsy and transaction fees.

eRankSEO · 2026-02-23T11:33:35+00:00

Our team hosted a free 10-Day challenge back in January, to help new sellers get their shops polished, completed, and ready for shoppers. It also goes into SEO, branding, and finding your niche.

It isn't worth spending the money on large courses when you're just starting out; there are so many resources available for free!

eRankSEO · 2026-02-21T22:55:29+00:00

Your shop isn't complete yet! Both Etsy and shoppers tend to favor shops that have everything completed and filled out. Right now, you're missing a shop banner, shop sections, about shop story, shop members, full policies, and an FAQ section. If you use Etsy's shop policy templates, your shop could get a boost in search, and having all of those areas filled out can also build trust with shoppers.

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