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Etsy SEO – Marmalead vs Google Keyword Planner

Marmalead outperforms Google Keyword Planner for Etsy SEO

Etsy SEO can be confusing. Many Etsy sellers have turned to tools like Google’s Keyword Planner for help in finding which search terms shoppers engage with.

Over the past 6 months, we have been running a study to collect actual search terms from actual Etsy shoppers. This is an important first step in developing Marmalead and vetting it against other Etsy and non Etsy SEO tools on the internet. Here are the 50 most popular search terms we’ve collected over the past 6 months:

Etsy SEO: Top 50 Shopper Searches

  • gift for her
  • christmas gift
  • coral bracelet
  • handmade doily
  • necklace
  • jewelry
  • wall art
  • nursery decor
  • statement necklace
  • earrings
  • iphone 6 case
  • bracelet
  • home decor
  • infinity scarf
  • dangle earrings
  • gift
  • printable art
  • bridesmaid gift
  • nursery art
  • digital paper
  • boho necklace
  • soap
  • personalized baby blanket
  • scarf
  • baby blanket
  • christmas
  • gifts for her
  • wedding invitation
  • beaded bracelet
  • planner stickers
  • initial necklace
  • wedding gift
  • inspirational quote
  • handmade soap
  • art print
  • wedding invitations
  • headband
  • stud earrings
  • gemstone necklace
  • baby shower gift
  • bohemian jewelry
  • bar necklace
  • printable
  • christmas ornament
  • boho headband
  • coffee mug
  • lip balm
  • boho bracelet
  • boho jewelry
  • christmas cards

Armed with these keywords, let’s dive into a comparison of Google Keyword Planner and Marmalead in order to see which tool performs better in predicting shopper engagement to achieve the strongest Etsy SEO.

Google Keyword Planner

The first thing we did was dump these keywords into Google Keyword Planner to see what the global Google Search volume looks like:

Search Phrase Google Avg Monthly Searches
gift for her 5,400
christmas gift 18,100
coral bracelet 880
handmade doily 30
necklace 135,000
jewelry 368,000
wall art 165,000
nursery decor 9,900
statement necklace 14,800
earrings 201,000
iphone 6 case 301,000
bracelet 135,000
home decor 135,000
infinity scarf 40,500
dangle earrings 4,400
gift 165,000
printable art 1,300
bridesmaid gift 2,900
nursery art 2,400
digital paper 5,400
boho necklace 1,600
soap 246,000
personalized baby blanket 2,400
scarf 110,000
baby blanket 14,800
christmas 1,220,000
gifts for her 90,500
wedding invitation 90,500
beaded bracelet 1,900
planner stickers 9,900
initial necklace 22,200
wedding gift 18,100
inspirational quote 27,100
handmade soap 9,900
art print 5,400
wedding invitations 368,000
headband 90,500
stud earrings 18,100
gemstone necklace 1,000
baby shower gift 4,400
bohemian jewelry 4,400
bar necklace 9,900
printable 12,100
christmas ornament 6,600
boho headband 590
coffee mug 22,200
lip balm 74,000
boho bracelet 320
boho jewelry 5,400
christmas cards 165,000

It’s important to note that Google uses search volume to indicate engagement in keyword searches. While they may seem like an omnipotent Big Brother sort of character at times, Google doesn’t have a window into every site that is served up in their search results. For this reason, search volume is the deepest reliable way for Google to determine engagement.

Etsy Search Data

Etsy, however, shares view and favorite information with us.  This gives us a much better picture of buyer engagement (and helps Marmalead give you a leg up in Etsy SEO!).

Here are our same 50 keyword phrases matched up with the average number of views and favorites per week for each relevant listing returned by Etsy:

Search Phrase Etsy Results Etsy Views/Wk Etsy Favs/Wk
gift for her 728,614 759 84.4
christmas gift 1,228,215 599.5 70.3
coral bracelet 22,465 7.9 1.3
handmade doily 32,439 10.3 7.9
necklace 3,500,180 656 72.9
jewelry 10,528,747 407 53.4
wall art 1,617,250 252.5 32.1
nursery decor 480,707 184.1 28.8
statement necklace 208,792 152.3 21.6
earrings 2,243,580 280.2 49.4
iphone 6 case 145,035 616.8 70.8
bracelet 145,035 828.8 71.7
home decor 3,995,076 273.2 43.3
infinity scarf 142,372 204 36
dangle earrings 932,827 90.2 17.8
gift 6,774,105 750.2 80.4
printable art 453,875 105.6 18.7
bridesmaid gift 461,135 442.2 48.2
nursery art 405,168 101.2 13.9
digital paper 432,600 69.1 11.5
boho necklace 191,950 85.2 17.1
soap 234,877 201.1 23.6
personalized baby blanket 19,525 115.2 10.6
scarf 611,613 566.6 66
baby blanket 184,882 149.1 14.7
christmas 2,652,756 1701.4 95.5
gifts for her 728,485 771 87.8
wedding invitation 266,893 204.8 13.3
beaded bracelet 694,711 87.6 11.1
planner stickers 119,147 286.9 29.2
initial necklace 118,724 288.1 24
wedding gift 1,262,178 346.9 33.2
inspirational quote 150,271 116.1 14
handmade soap 201,438 86.3 12.7
art print 2,311,877 176.3 22.7
wedding invitations 266,888 212.4 16
headband 627,734 437.6 32.8
stud earrings 286,374 226.1 43.9
gemstone necklace 278,100 73.4 10
baby shower gift 486,509 87.6 10.1
bohemian jewelry 281,894 97.8 20.9
bar necklace 46,681 445.9 29.2
printable 1,100,848 272.7 26.1
christmas ornament 449,083 203.4 25.6
boho headband 32,894 50.6 8
coffee mug 121,436 488.6 64.6
lip balm 31,554 76.1 9.7
boho bracelet 139,117 40.6 13.5
boho jewelry 505,365 102 22.3
christmas cards 222,410 340.9 29.9

Let’s look at an example. One of the top 50 search phrases is “coral bracelet.” In fact, we found that Etsy shoppers used it a total of 126 times in our study. BUT looking at the view and favorite information from Etsy, we can see that very few shoppers actually engage with listings found in this search (7.9 views per week and 1.3 favorites per week on average).

So which is better?

When we match up the shopper engagement data provided by Google’s Keyword Planner to Etsy’s view information, we get this:

Etsy SEO: Google Keyword Planner does not match Etsy views

If Google Keyword Planner were a good predictor of which searches enjoy the most buyer engagement on Etsy, these two graphs would closely overlap. It’s easy to see in this chart that the keywords flagged by Google Keyword Planner as being more popular are NOT the same ones that shoppers are actually engaging with on Etsy. Now let’s compare the same Etsy views with how we measure shopper engagement within Marmalead:

Etsy SEO: Marmalead strongly matches Etsy views

Perhaps unsurprisingly (since we’re getting our data straight from Etsy), Marmalead is spot on for seeing which keyword searches have the highest engagement from shoppers – and will allow you to reap the best Etsy SEO for your listings.

Perhaps Google Keyword Planner is a better predictor of which searches will have more favorites on Etsy? Let’s look:

Etsy SEO: Google Keyword Planner does not match Etsy favoritesAgain, it’s easy to see there really isn’t a strong correlation here between which searches Google thinks have strong engagement and which actually demonstrate engagement on Etsy. Here’s the Marmalead data for the same set of searches:

Etsy SEO: Marmalead strongly matches Etsy favorites

Looking at these charts should make it clear to see that using Etsy’s own data to determine engagement is MUCH more reliable than using Google’s data.

Want to learn more about Etsy SEO and why Google’s numbers are so different from Etsy’s? Tara Jacobsen, a 14-year SEO veteran put together a fantastic guest post which is riddled with great information!

Etsy SEO can be confusing. Many Etsy sellers have turned to tools like Google’s Keyword Planner for help in finding which search terms shoppers engage with.

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5 replies on “Etsy SEO – Marmalead vs Google Keyword Planner”

This is wonderful. I have been struggling with Seo and it looks as though one of the keys is that I have been using too specific words.
More general words are better?

I believe the sweet spot is a keyword that is specific enough to effectively describe your listing but not too specific that a shopper probably would never think of. Stay away from jargons too; words/terminologies that an average shopper would not know.

I have successfully used Google Keyword Planner for keyword research for several hundred Etsy shops including a few of my own shops. I have used quite few keyword research tools in the past 12 years as a professional SEO and find that Google Keyword Planner provides the most valuable information.

With Keyword Planner it is possible to find keywords that are popular with shoppers that other Etsy sellers are not using. Using keywords like this is the best way to stand out in a vast sea of very similar listings.

There many ways to get keyword ideas including the Marmalead tool, but I would always research further with a tool like Keyword Planner and look for keywords that other sellers have not discovered and are not using. They are, after all, your competition.

Why do you want to be like everyone else when you can stand out?

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