If you’re on a budget or you’re just starting out on Etsy, you probably don’t want to spend more money than you have to. If you landed on this post, you’re most likely aware of how important Etsy SEO (search engine optimization) and choosing the right keywords is to your success on Etsy.
The good news is that there are plenty of ways Etsy sellers can do keyword research that don’t involve a paid subscription or product. This post will show you have to do free Etsy keyword research for free by using the Etsy search bar as well as some handy tools!
How To Find Etsy Keywords For Free
Etsy keyword tools are definitely helpful, but there are usually limits on how much research you can use them for free. And it’s actually not necessary to use them to do effective keyword research.
You can actually just use Etsy’s search bar!
When you search on Etsy’s marketplace, you may have noticed that the search box contains suggestions when you begin to type in keywords. Search engines usually have autocomplete suggestions, which are keywords that potential buyers commonly search for. The search bar won’t tell you how much monthly search volume a particular keyword gets, but it is a sign that it’s a more popular search term.
UPDATE: Etsy no longer shows how many listing results a particular search term gets if there are over 1000 results. Here’s how you can view the number of results:
- Right click on the page and select “View Page Source”
- Click the checkbox that says “line wrap”
- Command/Control+F to search for the term “organic_listings_count”
Once you have found a search suggestion, hit enter and take a look at how many search results there are. It’s ideal to try and aim for fewer results; the key to finding keywords you can rank for is to find ones that are frequently searched but have low competition.
The search term “knitting patterns” yielded over 355,000 results! The chances of ranking for that particular keyword are very slim, but what if you added a few more words onto that seed keyword?
Take a look at the related searches section. These are more relevant keywords to check out because they are usually ones that real Etsy buyers are searching for.
As you can see, all of the search terms have the main keyword “knitting patterns” in them. These are what are called long-tail keywords, which are keywords that are more specific and may have a bit less search volume, but potential customers that are searching for more specific items are usually more inclined to purchase an item. You can try out some of these search terms to see if they have fewer results.
The term “knitting patterns for babies sweaters only has about 17,000 results, which means the competition is much lower! This may be a good keyword to include in your product listings, but if you keep searching you may be able to find one with even lower competition.
You can also add words before or after the root keyword to see what else Etsy autcompletes. “Cardigan knitting patterns for women” yields just under 20,000 results. That’s a bit more competitive, but it has way less competition than “knitting patterns”.
If you’re stuck and need even more keyword ideas, you can also do an alphabet search. Place the root keyword (main keyword) in the search bar and go through the alphabet to see what terms come up in the autocomplete.
The best keywords to aim for would be ones that have under 10,000 Etsy search results.
Free Etsy Keyword Research Tools
Another effective way to do keyword research is by using keyword research tools. Most of these tools have a paid plan, but a lot of them do offer a basic plan that is a more limited version of the tool for free, which can be enough to get you started in your research.
I’m only including tools that you can use without having to sign up with a credit card. You may have to make an account, but these tools have free basic plans that have quotas and limitations instead of free trials!
Erank
Erank is a comprehensive keyword research tool that allows you to research keywords, find trending searches, track Etsy listings after you’ve made changes, and create a keyword list. Overall, it’s a great way to do product research. This powerful tool is the one I use the most, and in my opinion, it’s one of the best Etsy SEO tools.
Erank gives you the ability to connect your Etsy shop so that you can view listing audits, which will grade your listing SEO and give you guidance on how to improve your SEO.
The free plan allows you to connect up to 2 shops and research up to 50 keywords a day, which is quite generous compared to a lot of other tools.
You can read more about the free version here and start on a free plan today.
Google Keyword Planner
Google keyword planner is another valuable resource when it comes to finding the most searched terms. Even though it’s not directly showing data from Etsy, a lot Etsy items may still turn up in a google search, so it’s a great free keyword research tool to get valuable information from. This tool will also show you tons of keyword data and give you lots of suggestions for long tail keywords and all you need is a google account.
Free Etsy Keyword Generators
Keyword Tool Dominator
This particular Etsy keyword generator is limited to 2 searches per day with the free version, but it will generate ideas and related keywords that are popular on Etsy.
Visit keywordtooldominator.com to check it out.
Etsy Check
This tool has a bit more than just a keyword generator. It also has a free title generator as well as a description, keyword, and tag generator tool. The free version is somewhat limited but it will still give you a few ideas for your SEO.
The title and description generators allow you to enter keywords you want to use for the item that you’re selling. Using AI, it will generate a title or description.
Visit Etsycheck.com to check it out.