Two marketplaces, two languages, one method for both
Etsy buyers type feelings and occasions: 'personalized gift for mom', 'boho wall art', 'minimalist gold necklace'. eBay buyers type specifications: brand, model, size, year, condition. The same product needs a different title on each site, and research done on Google serves neither.
Brainito has a keyword tool for each marketplace, pulling that marketplace's own suggestions with monthly volume, twelve-month trend and CPC. This guide shows how to use both: how to fill Etsy's 140-character title and 13 tags, how to spend eBay's 80 characters, and how to check demand before you make or source the next item.
Free account. A search is 5 credits, cached for 30 days. Plans from $20 a month.
- Separate tools for Etsy and eBay, each with its own suggestions
- Monthly volume, trend and CPC per phrase
- Filters for occasion, material, brand and condition
- 5 credits a search, cached for 30 days
The title is the whole SEO strategy on a marketplace
On a website you have headings, body copy, links and schema. On Etsy you have a title, 13 tags, attributes and a description. On eBay you have 80 characters of title and item specifics. Most of what a marketplace search engine knows about your listing comes from a handful of fields, so the phrases in those fields decide whether the item appears at all.
That makes the research simple to apply. Search the product type on the right tool, filter to the angle your item honestly fits, sort by volume, and put the top phrases where the character limits allow. On Etsy, spread the long tail across the tags. On eBay, pack the title with the specifications buyers filter by and leave the adjectives out.
- A title written once and never checkedA title built from the phrases with the highest volume this year
- Thirteen Etsy tags that repeat the titleThirteen tags that each add a new long-tail phrase
- An eBay title with 'beautiful' and 'rare'An eBay title with brand, model, size and condition
- Stock made on a hunchDemand checked before the first unit is made or sourced
What the Etsy and eBay keyword tools give a seller
Etsy buyer suggestions
Up to about 700 phrases from Etsy's own search box: gift, occasion, style, material and recipient phrases, with monthly volume, trend and CPC where available.
eBay buyer suggestions
Up to about 700 phrases from eBay's own search box: brand, model, size, year, part number and condition phrases, with volume, trend and CPC where available.
Volume and trend before you list
See how many buyers search a phrase each month and whether it grew over the past year. Seasonal gift phrases show their shape, so you list before the peak.
CPC as a demand signal
What advertisers typically pay per click on the phrase. On Etsy it guides Etsy Ads, on eBay it guides Promoted Listings, and on both it marks the phrases that convert.
Filters for the listing's angle
Include 'personalized' or 'vintage', exclude brands you do not sell. Read the combined volume of your angle. When an include term is thin, one extra search runs for it, labeled with its cost.
Tags from the long tail
Etsy's 13 tags are 20 characters each. The lower-volume phrases in the filtered list are the tags, one new phrase per tag rather than repeats of the title.
Country by marketplace
Research the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia or Germany separately, since gift phrases and spelling differ and the volumes with them.
Etsy and eBay keyword research in four steps
Using a handmade leather wallet on Etsy and a used camera lens on eBay as the worked examples.
Seed with the product type on the right tool
On the Etsy page search 'leather wallet' for the United States. On the eBay page search the lens model, say 'canon 50mm'. Each tool returns that marketplace's own phrases with volumes.
Filter to what you actually sell
Etsy: include 'personalized, minimalist' with 'any' matching and exclude 'pattern' if you sell the finished item. eBay: include '1.8' and 'used', exclude 'lens cap' and 'hood'. The header shows the demand for your exact angle.
Spend the characters by volume
Etsy: the top two or three phrases open the 140-character title, the next ten to thirteen become tags. eBay: brand, model, aperture, mount and condition in 80 characters, ordered by volume, no adjectives.
Check demand before the next item
Before making a new design or sourcing another lens, search it first. A real volume with a rising trend and a modest CPC is the green light. Returning to a seed within 30 days is free from the cache.
Goes with
- Etsy keyword research toolRun the Etsy searches in this guide.
- eBay keyword research toolRun the eBay searches in this guide.
- Free keyword research toolThe hub: all fifteen platforms and what each one shows.
- Amazon keyword researchThe same method for Amazon sellers.
- Long-tail keyword generatorInclude filters plus an automatic second search for the long tail.
- Pinterest keyword research toolWhere Etsy buyers often start looking.
Search the product type. Write the title from the list.
Each marketplace tool is 5 credits a search and returns up to 700 buyer phrases with volume, trend and CPC. Plans from $20 a month, cancel any time.