The Complete Guide to Etsy Keyword Research in 2026

Finding the right keywords is the single most important thing you can do for your Etsy shop. Great products fail when nobody can find them, and keyword research is how you make sure buyers discover your listings.

In this guide, we'll walk through a practical keyword research workflow using PeekCraft's free Keyword Explorer tool.

What Makes a Good Etsy Keyword?

A good keyword has three qualities: people are searching for it (demand), not too many sellers are competing for it (low saturation), and the market isn't dominated by a handful of mega-sellers (low concentration).

That's exactly what PeekCraft's Blue Ocean Score measures. It combines four signals into a single 0-100 score:

• Demand Signal — Based on average views and favorites across top listings
• Saturation Signal — How many total results exist for this keyword
• Concentration Signal — Whether sales are spread across many sellers or hoarded by a few
• Freshness Signal — What percentage of listings were created in the last 90 days

A score of 60+ is a "Blue Ocean" — strong demand with room for new sellers. Below 35 is a "Red Ocean" — crowded and hard to break into.

Step-by-Step Keyword Research

Step 1: Start with seed keywords. Think about what your product IS and what problem it solves. If you make handmade candles, your seeds might be "soy candle," "scented candle," "aromatherapy candle."

Step 2: Analyze each keyword. Run each seed through the Keyword Explorer. Look at the Blue Ocean Score, but also pay attention to the individual signals. High demand + high saturation = red ocean. High demand + low saturation = opportunity.

Step 3: Check the top listings. Scroll down to see the top 20 competing listings. What are they priced at? How many views do they get? This tells you what "success" looks like in this niche.

Step 4: Go deeper. Take the best-performing listings and look at their tags using the Tag Analyzer. What tags are they using? Which pairs appear together most often?

Step 5: Validate with pricing. Use the Price Analyzer to understand the price distribution. If the sweet spot is $15-25 and your cost of goods is $20, that niche might not work for you.

Common Mistakes

• Too broad: "jewelry" has millions of results. Try "minimalist gold necklace" instead.
• Too narrow: If there are fewer than 100 results, there might not be enough demand.
• Ignoring freshness: A niche with lots of old listings and few new ones might be declining.
• Only looking at score: The individual signals tell a richer story than the composite score alone.

Next Steps

Ready to start? Head to the Keyword Explorer and try a few product ideas. Sign up for a free account to get started.