Publication date: April 30, 2024
Reading time: 5 minutes
What is a Superstar Keyword and how important is it for your shop’s SEO?
A Superstar Keyword is the main keyword phrase that accurately describes your item for what you wish that item to be known. It is most commonly a long-tail keyword, a multi-word phrase that describes your product. This phrase allows Etsy’s search algorithm to show your listing to shoppers browsing for this specific item.
Shoppers that find your item through a long-tail keyword are usually more intent on making a purchase, while shoppers who use shorter, less targeted search terms (ex: bracelet or sweater) tend to be unsure of what they want and less inclined to make a purchase.
These powerful long-tail keyword phrases also result in Etsy’s algorithm broad matching your listings for shoppers’ less specific searches. For example, using the phrase blue macrame bracelet to describe an item also matches it with searches for blue bracelet, macrame bracelet, and blue macrame.
What are the best methods to find superstar keywords for your items? eRank has several tools to assist you as well as helping you to utilize them in your titles, descriptions, and tags to make the most out of your listings’ SEO.
Finding Superstar Keywords
Spotted on Etsy
eRank’s Spotted on Etsy Feature is a great place to start hunting for the perfect superstar keyword phrase for your SEO. This feature is found under the SHOP INSIGHTS section of eRank’s main menu and is also linked on your eRank Dashboard.
Spotted on Etsy displays search results stripped of shoppers’ personalization and paid ads. Use this tool to see which of your listings eRank currently finds among the first 100 search results for specific keywords. Spotted on Etsy also lists for which keywords shoppers are finding your listings in Etsy search. The data table indicates how popular each keyword is and how your item rank for each keyword has changed over the past 14 days.
Please note that in order for eRank to show you which keywords brought shoppers to your listings, you need to connect a Google Analytics account to your Etsy shop. Not sure how to do this? Learn how to HERE.
Scroll the data table for Spotted on Etsy and pay special attention to the PAGE, POSITION, and RANK columns. Do you see any relevant keyword phrases for which you want your item to be known? Has one or more of your items been maintaining a relatively high rank for a certain phrase? If so, you may have found your first superstar keyword!
It is advised that you also add your own terms to monitor using the field at the top of the page. You can monitor up to 20 keywords, and this is a good way to keep tabs on any relevant keyword phrases that you find in the next feature discussed.
Traffic Stats
To see how shoppers have found your listings through Etsy and other platforms over the past 15 months, check out eRank’s Traffic Stats Feature. Just like the previous feature, it is found both in the SHOP INSIGHTS section in eRank’s main menu as well as linked on your Dashboard. You need to have a Google Analytics account connected to your shop to use this tool as well.
Traffic Stats displays all of the terms that Etsy shoppers used to find your listings. It displays visits from both organic traffic and paid ads, providing you with a wide variety of worthy keyword options to implement into your shop’s SEO. With over a year of traffic data to browse, you are sure to find some winners!
Use the dropdown menu at the top to select the date range for which to analyze the traffic. Click any keyword to view all the listings that were visited for that term. Which listings received the most visits for the term? You may have just found a new superstar keyword.
Click the blue VIEW TRAFFIC STATS button under any listing to view four different keyword reports. The Organic Search and Etsy Ads Reports list all the keywords shoppers used to find your listing during the specified timeframe. It shows how many visits the listing received for each term and the date of the most recent visit.
Terms that shoppers have used to find your listings recently may be trending. Plug them into the monitor in Spotted on Etsy to find out.
These reports also indicate if you are already using the terms in the your listings title and tags. eRank recommends not touching any terms that are bringing in significant traffic during your revisions. It may not be the keyword you wanted to rank for, but it is doing its job and earning its keep, right?
Using Superstar Keywords
The Listing Audit Feature in eRank performs a comprehensive audit of any listing to see how well it complies with the guidelines in Etsy’s The Ultimate Guide to Etsy Search and Google Search Essentials. This tool makes it easy to “check in” on any listing’s SEO and find ways to improve it. The Listing Audit is found under the LISTING OPTIMIZATION section on the main menu. Listing Audit provides a thorough analysis of a listing’s title, stats, attributes, tags, description, and more. Check out our video tutorial on the Listing Audit tool.
The Superstar Keyword section of the Listing Audit allows you to plug in the relevant phrase that best describes your item and generate SEO tips to improve your listing. Simply type your superstar keyword into the “Enter Keyword” field and click “Add Superstar Keyword” to see where the words in this phrase appear currently in your title, tags, and description. All instances of these words are highlighted in yellow. If any of these sections are missing any part of your Superstar Keyword, the Listing Audit flags that section and provides SEO recommendations to incorporate to increase your item’s visibility in search.
Level-up Your Listings
By following these steps, you can identify superstar keywords that may work—or are already working!—for your listings. Adding these powerhouse terms to your SEO helps Etsy learn exactly what your items are all about, helping you to generate more targeted traffic within your brand’s niche. Targeted traffic on Etsy allows you to find enthusiastic repeat customers who hopefully support your business for many years to come!