Add the most specific and accurate category available to your listings. It helps us create more ways for buyers to browse Etsy and filter and explore search results, helping them find your items. Now, when you add a category to new listings or update your existing listings, you can search all of Etsy’s listing categories to find just the right home for your item.
Choose the most specific term from the list and we’ll automatically include all the categories that category is nested within. We’ll even offer suggestions based on the categories you use frequently. You’ll also see all the categories buyers can find your item in when they’re browsing on Etsy.
Getting specific with your categories gives you:
- Greater visibility on Etsy. The more specific your subcategory, the more places we can display your listing, including category pages and filtered searches.
- More tags. The categories you choose act as tags. By including subcategories, you’re giving shoppers, and Etsy’s search algorithm, more information about your listing and freeing yourself up to add more variety to the 13 short, descriptive tags you add yourself.
- Access to more specific attributes. More specific subcategories mean you’ll have the option to add more category-specific attributes where available, giving shoppers even more details about your products and helping your listings appear in more relevant searches.
- Improved SEO off Etsy. Search sites like Google look at the text on your listing page to understand what the page is about. Selecting more specific categories and attributes can increase the amount of searches your listing appears in, and can improve your placement in those searches.
What’s next
This new tool is available for you the next time you add a new listing or update the categories on an existing listing, but there’s nothing new you need to do as a result of this change.
4 Myths about how categories work on Etsy
Since we’re talking categories, we thought we’d bust a few myths about how categories are used on Etsy. Here’s the reality behind four common myths about categories:
Myth #1: Using the most specific category means my listings will appear in fewer searches.
Truth: When you add specific categories to your listings, your items are included in all the categories that category is nested within. For example, listing your handmade kite in the “kite” category means it’s also listed in “Toys & Games” and “Kites & Pinwheels” – meaning it’s discoverable both by shoppers who know they’re on the hunt for a kite and those who’re just browsing “Toys & Games” for something fun. If you had not listed it down to the kite category, you’d be excluded from buyers who use search filters to browse the “Kites & Pinwheels” category.
Myth #2: Categories aren’t important because only buyers who shop using the navigation see them.
Truth: The category navigation is only one way we use categories to help shoppers find your items. Categories can also be used by shoppers to filter more generic searches, highlighting more products. Categories also act as tags, helping you match with more relevant searches. Using the most specific category can also give you access to more category-specific attributes. We use attributes to match your listings to shoppers’ searches, giving you more opportunities to be found.
Myth #3: Using broader categories is more accurate for my products.
Truth: Choosing subcategories that accurately describe what your product is makes it easier for shoppers to find exactly what they’re looking for.
Myth #4: I don’t see this category when I browse Etsy as a shopper, so I shouldn’t bother adding it to my listing.
Truth: Adding the most relevant categories for the product you’re listing gives us the most accurate information about your listing – information we use to display your items in more places. For example, we’ll show a wedding band listing in the both the wedding and engagement subcategory of the jewellery category and in the rings subcategory of the weddings category, helping shoppers discover the listing whether they start browsing in jewellery or weddings.
Words by Taylor Combs
