How to Audit an Etsy Shop SEO in 15 Minutes

A quick audit finds most of the problems holding an Etsy shop back in search. Set a timer, open your shop and work through this list. Start with your five best-selling or most-viewed listings, since fixing them pays off most.

Minutes 1-3: Shop Stats

• Open Stats and look at the search terms bringing visitors. Are they the words you'd expect?
• Note listings with many views but few sales, and listings with almost no views.

Minutes 4-7: titles

• Does each title start with what the item is, in a shopper's words?
• Is it clear and readable, rather than a list of keywords?
• Are words repeated? Repetition doesn't help.

See writing Etsy titles.

Minutes 8-10: tags and attributes

• Are all 13 tags used?
• Are they multi-word phrases shoppers type, rather than single words?
• Do any just repeat the category or attributes? Swap those for new phrases.
• Are all relevant attributes filled in, such as color, material and occasion?

Compare with top listings for the same product. Etsy Keyword Extractor shows every tag on a listing, with Copy All and CSV download. See seeing all 13 tags.

Minutes 11-12: photos

• Is the first photo clear, well lit and recognizable as a small thumbnail?
• Do the other photos show scale, details and the item in use?

Minutes 13-14: shop basics

• Shop policies complete: returns, processing time, shipping.
• Shipping priced competitively; in the US, free shipping on orders over a set amount can help in search.
• About section and shop announcement filled in.
• Listings in the right categories and shop sections.

Minute 15: pick three fixes

Choose the three changes likely to matter most, usually titles and tags on your top listings, then a weak first photo. Make them today, and note the date so you can compare stats in a few weeks.

Common problems the audit turns up

• Titles stuffed with every keyword, which read badly and don't rank better.
• Fewer than 13 tags, or tags that repeat words already in the title.
• Missing attributes, which hide listings from filtered searches.
• Old listings never updated since the shop opened.

Repeat every few months

Search and competition change. A regular audit keeps listings current. For deeper research, see Etsy keyword research for beginners and what affects Etsy search.