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Top Keywords on Etsy: August 2024

Top Keywords on Etsy: August 2024

14 min read

Image of the Statue of Liberty in a circle surrounded by doodles of eagle head, star, flag, and squiggle line.

Here at eRank, we’re back again with the top keywords on Etsy now. Let us take the guesswork out of your Etsy SEO and product research. We’ll show you the most popular search terms with US shoppers. Then we’ll analyze what these trending keywords tell us about what’s selling best on Etsy now.

Tip: See what the most searched keywords on Etsy were yesterday, as well as on dozens of other marketplaces like AmazoneBay, and Google Shopping.

Reading time: 14 minutes

August’s Top 20 most searched keywords on Etsy in the US

1. wall art

2. halloween

3. tshirt

4. stickers

5. earrings

6. shirt

7. dorm

8. birthday gift for her

9. rings

10. furniture

11. ring

12. poster

13. womens clothing

14. necklace

15. pokemon

16. kamala harris

17. jewelry

18. kamala

19. cat

20. halloween shirt

Warning: Beware of trademarked terms. This report may contain keywords that are trademarked. USPTO Trademark Database

Phew! Sanity has been restored! Back in July, the US Top 20 had an unprecedented five screamers, including all Top 4! Welp, here’s what July’s No. 1 “bruno mars” looks like in Keyword Tool now.

On the left, a line chart depicting 15 months of Etsy US shopper search history for “bruno mars.” The pie chart shows the global distribution of Etsy shoppers using this keyword. NOTE: All search-volume figures in this report are based on eRank’s best estimates.
On the left, a line chart depicting 15 months of Etsy US shopper search history for “bruno mars.” The pie chart shows the global distribution of Etsy shoppers using this keyword. NOTE: All search-volume figures in this report are based on eRank’s best estimates.

Month on Month, “bruno mars” is down 99%. It provides an ideal object lesson illustrating why sellers need to wait and watch a sudden spike. Add it to a Keyword List. Let that monitor it for you for awhile.

These top Etsy searches climbed highest the fastest in August 

“Climbers” are what we call current Top 20 keywords that didn’t make the previous month’s Top 20 list. We like to focus on these because they’re the hottest of the top keywords on Etsy now. Back in July, we had 10 climbers and half of them were “screamers.” (So-called because they seem to scream into the Top 20 out of nowhere.) Having ten meant a higher-than-normal rate of turnover. And we do not recall the US list ever having five of them be screamers.

To our relief, in August it simmered down. We have eight climbers: an ideal rate of change to keep things fresh. And all of August’s top Etsy searches make sense. Also: no screamers!

So let’s get right to them, shall we? Here are August’s eight climbers, listed in order with their current rank first.

#8 birthday gift for her, up from #885 (now, that’s some climbing!)

#10 furniture, up from #22

#11 ring, up from #26

#15 pokemon, up from #23

#16 kamala harris, up from #38

#18 kamala, up from #47

#19 cat, up from #169

#20 halloween shirt, up from #62

Let’s do the seasonal searches first. Because of course we’re ramping up for Halloween (always HUGE on Etsy). And we’ll do the two that are quadrennial – every four years, that is. Like the Olympics. Only now it’s the US Presidential elections. And already this one’s been a doozy! But there is profit to be made by careful sellers. (More on that in a bit.)

Ranking 16th: kamala harris, up from #38

Typically, the names of famous people are protected intellectual property (IP). We here at eRank are data geeks, not attorneys. Which means we are not qualified to give you legal advice. But psst! “Warning: Beware of trademarked terms. This report may contain keywords that are trademarked. USPTO Trademark Database.”

As a keyword, “kamala harris” already ranked 38th back in July. Here’s August.

On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “kamala harris” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.
On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “kamala harris” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.

That bright-green banner shows this search has been popular on Etsy this past week (through Sep. 3). In August, it climbed to 34,840. And its Average CTR (Click Through Rate) indicates excellent purchase intent*. And remember, that figure is a 12-mo average; with only two months of search volume, 110% is excellent! Calculated just for the month of August, it’s 112%.

*Quick tutorial: “purchase intent”

New to online selling? Click data reflects how many times shoppers using a given keyword clicked listings in their search results. We care about these stats because clicks and CTRs signal purchase intent. That is, a shopper who’s searching with the intention to purchase (as opposed to one just browsing). 

* New! So far, we’ve done a roundup of high CTR keywords in our Amazon and eBay trend reports. Starting this month, we’ll close our US report with one for Etsy. Let us know if you like it!

Ranking 18th: kamala, up from #47 

Ranking nearly as high as “kamala harris” is “kamala.”

On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “kamala” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.
On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “kamala” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.

No green “trending now” banner. But on the other hand, “kamala” has an even better Average CTR: 128%. And when calculated just for the month of August? It’s a sky-high 150%!

And so is the August CTR for this next climber.

Ranking 19th: cat, up from #169 

We do not recall ever seeing “cat” make a Top 20 list. Curious! A year ago in August, it only ranked 54th and that was the highest it climbed ahead of Halloween. “Cat” then soared in search volume for the holidays. But given the holiday competition, it only ranked 56th in November and 40th in December. And that was its 15-mo peak.

On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “cat” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months. The bright green banner indicates this is one of the top keywords on Etsy now.
On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “cat” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months. The bright green banner indicates this is one of the top keywords on Etsy now.

So why is it trending so high now, together with a “popular now” banner? And check out that 12-mo Average CTR: 145%! (And as we said, calculated just for August, its CTR is 150%). Just like No. 18 “kamala.” Hmm. This is not looking like a Halloween-related search. Nor a random gift search. What else could it be then?

One cat-related keyword 

Being, as mentioned, incorrigible data geeks, we took a deeper dive. Seven searches with the word “cat” made August’s list of top keywords on Etsy now. Among them, ranking #373, was an interesting find.

Screenshot of eRank’s Keyword Tool showing “childless cat lady” as the search. On the left, the bar chart has its Etsy US keyword stats. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.
Screenshot of eRank’s Keyword Tool showing “childless cat lady” as the search. On the left, the bar chart has its Etsy US keyword stats. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.

Currently, “childless cat lady” is down slightly (by just 10 searches) from July’s spike. Still, it’s a useful example of how both shoppers and sellers can jump on a pol’s random utterance.

On the bar chart we see that this two-mo search has a 12-mo Average CTR of 110%. And notice that “yellow for caution” stat just below it? Already there are 26,686 US Etsy listings using this search term! Has anyone copyrighted or trademarked it yet? We bet canny sellers that leapt on it right away made hay.

Exactly the type of opportunity we meant when we mentioned profits to be had if you’re careful. And quick! Because we’d be surprised if someone hasn’t already applied for IP protection for this and related phrases.

And with that, let’s get back to our Top 20 seasonal climbers; it’s the last of these.

Ranking 20th: halloween shirt, up from #62 

Wow: now, this is unexpected!

On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “halloween shirt” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.
On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “halloween shirt” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.

The question is whether it’s way down now – or was last year actually way up? Our line graph only shows 15 months of search trend data, but we have some stowed away. So let’s look back two years to August 2022. Back then, “halloween shirt” ranked 24th with about 70,000 searches. (And the plural “halloween shirts” ranked #688 with another 11,740.) Which means yes, that Aug 2023 peak we see above was indeed way up Year on Year over 2022.

But even 2022 dwarfs this search this year. With 31,840 searches, 20th-ranked “halloween shirt” barely squeaked into August’s Top 20. That’s less than half of what it garnered two years back. And compared with last year? It’s down 71%. And unlike August 2022 and 2023, the plural form “halloween shirts” didn’t even crack the Top 1000. Huh.

We’re mostly just surprised because Halloween is such a months’ long major trend on Etsy. Google “halloween shirt.” What you see are tshirts printed with everything from creepy bats and “Boo!” to all things witchy and clever. And that stuff is so popular on Etsy!

Could it be the election?

The election might be diverting some of the Halloween shirt traffic. Let’s see. There are 44 searches with the word “shirt” in this past month’s Top 1000; same as last August. Of these, five shirt searches this month are related to the election and/or candidates. Last year, two were but they both ranked far lower than do these five now.

One thing is certain: all things election will continue to climb, and to poach shopper dollars from other niches. So just keep that in mind, and don’t be too disheartened. It will hopefully be over soon!

The rest of this month’s climbers

The remaining four climbers are all top Etsy searches year round. Some are what we call “frequent flyers:” popular search terms that reach the Top 20 fairly often. Some just get pushed out by a month with a crazy number of climbers and screamers. (As this past July was!)

Currently 10th-ranked “furniture” only needed to climb from 22nd place in July. Eleventh-ranked “ring” was 26th; 15th-ranked “pokemon” was 23rd. Therefore, the only one of these that performed remarkably is this next one.

Ranking 8th: birthday gift for her, up from #885

Quite a climb!

On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “birthday gift for her” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.
On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “birthday gift for her” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months.

And “birthday gift for him” is not far behind: that search ranks 23rd, up from #620 back in July. Have a look.

On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “birthday gift for him” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months. The green banner indicates it’s among the hottest of the top Etsy searches now.
On the left, a bar chart depicting US keyword stats for “birthday gift for him” on Etsy. The line chart shows its search trend performance over the past 15 months. The green banner indicates it’s among the hottest of the top Etsy searches now.

Anyone wondering what’s driving this? That’s easy!

CAPTION. Screenshot taken Sep 2, 2024 of Etsy’s US home page showing a Call to Action promoting birthday gifts.
CAPTION. Screenshot taken Sep 2, 2024 of Etsy’s US home page showing a Call to Action promoting birthday gifts.

Thanks, Etsy!

There are 36 searches with the word “gift” or “gifts” in this month’s Top 1000. We hope sales are starting to climb for all of you! So, although you know we could go on and on, we won’t: we know you’re busy. Instead, as we mentioned up top, we’ll end with that insider’s roundup of the most promising keywords. That is, a list of the most-searched keywords on Etsy that also have the highest CTRs.

Roundup! Top Etsy searches with 125%+ CTRs in August 

Here to discover what to sell on Etsy? Then this is for you! We’ll do a lightning round of Etsy’s most popular search terms that had the highest CTRs in August. Now, even on Etsy (which has the highest CTRs of our top marketplaces), CTRs above 125% are rare. And that in turn should mean these keywords have the most shopper “purchase intent” we talked about.

Note though that most of these shopper searches will be too broad and/or competitive for mere mortals to rank for. So if you’re researching products to sell, just niche down from these.

Are you new to eRank? “Niche down” means identifying products you can rank for high enough in search for yours to be found. Here’s how to niche down. Enter a broad keyword (say, “wall art”) in Keyword Tool, then scroll down to the Keyword Ideas table. There you’ll find lots of ways to filter and sort your results to reveal opportunities. Here’s a short YouTube video we made to show you how.

And finally, note that these calculations are drawn from their August search volume and clicks. Which means that regardless of what their 12-mo CTRs may be, these keywords are hot right now. We hope some prove to be profitable leads for you!

Highest CTRs in the Top 250 most-searched keywords on Etsy now 

Before we begin, we’ll just mention this one more time. Some of these popular search terms could well cause an Etsy seller problems. Whether it be prohibited by Etsy or protected by intellectual property rights, please look before you leap!

Ranking 1-50

The Top 20 has five keywords with CTRs exceeding 125%. The first is #6 shirt with 136%; #9 rings has 150%; and #11 ring (singular) has 130%. Then #18 kamala and #19 cat both have 150%. (From here on, we’ll only shout out specific CTRs if they reach 150%.)

Next, we have three in a row. #34 custom; #35 candles; and then #36 keycaps; it has 150%. Finishing out the Top 50 are two more in a row that both have 150% CTRs: #48 harris and #49 charm.

Ranking 51-100

Starting off this group are four with 150% CTRs. #51 dice, #54 vtuber, #56 embroidery, and #62 t shirt. Following those are #74 lanyard; #79 svg (with 150%!); and #83 rug. And the final three in this group all have 150% CTRs: #92 one piece, #98 vtuber model, and #100 raccoon.

Ranking 101-150

Another three in a row! #101 halo; #102 chrome hearts (150%); and #103 harris walz yard sign. Next, at #106 hoodies; and at #110 journal. After them are four with 150% CTRs: #111 shelves; #114 runescape; #115 dnd; and #125 pearl. Then we have #126 horror; and #130 stamps. And after them, three more with 150%: #131 heart, #132 gold, and #135 pin. Next is #137 star wars; #146 mousepad (150%!) and at #150 coffee.

Ranking 151-200

Like the previous two, this group starts out right at the beginning with #151 amethyst. And after that are eight in a row with 150% CTRs! They are #152 wolverine; #156 fursuit; #157 midsommar shirt; #158 kirby; #159 flower; #163 tarot cards; #168 corset; and #170 weed. Then at #172 we have pickleball. Immediately following that one are another four in a row with 150% CTRs. #173 cufflinks; #182 roblox; #191 dress; and #194 floating shelves. Finishing out the Top 200 are #197 jewelry box; and #198 fidget.

Ranking 201-250

Our final fifty begins with #203 lamp. Then three in a row with CTRs of 150%: #206 red, and (coincidentally enough), #207 green; and then at #220 leather. Next is #223 phone charm.

And yay! We finish out the Top 250 with a flourish: nine in a row with 150% CTRs. They are #228 bags, #229 barbie, #230 leaf, #232 world of warcraft, #234 alien, #235 gundam, #236 croc charms, #237 space, and (last one!) #238 pants.

And with that, we’re off to see what’s trending in our other top Etsy countries

And even if you only sell within the US, you might want to stick with us. We always discover more about US trends as we research what’s popular in the UK, Canada, and Australia. Parlez vous français? You can read our monthly reports covering French Etsy shopper trends here.

As always, we love hearing what you think. Got questions or suggestions? You’re welcome to join us in eRank’s private Facebook group. With over 28,000 members from around the world, someone friendly is always up and about. And don’t miss our weekly live Q&As on YouTube, where you’ll also find dozens of eRank tutorials, demos and more! For instance, we just added a new weekly series of eRank tool tutorials every Tuesday. And here we are on TikTok with lots of fun and quick how-tos.

RESOURCES: eRank’s Trend Buzz and Keyword Tool have 15 months of historical Etsy search data to help you understand trends in what’s selling on Etsy now, what did well this time last year, and to help you spot what’s new. Together, they are the best way to track what’s popular with Etsy shoppers now.

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