Etsy's free native Stats tab (Shop Manager → Stats) shows visits, views, favorites, conversion rate, and — critically — 'How shoppers found you,' broken down by Etsy search, Etsy app, social, and ads. Fix or expand on what's already working before guessing at new keywords blind. Inside Stats is also a nested keyword tool called Marketplace Insights, showing real buyer search volume and trends for free (15 searches/week; unlimited for Etsy Plus subscribers at $10/mo).

General keyword tools don't understand Etsy's specific search behavior. eRank's free tier (5 keyword lookups/day, 5 listing audits/day) shows search volume, competition, and 'Etsy Rank' scoring for a shop's existing listings — enough to find 5-10 realistic long-tail keywords per listing without paying anything upfront.

Etsy gives you exactly 13 tags per listing — use all 13, and never waste one repeating a word already in your title (Etsy's algorithm already reads your title). Mix broad terms ('leather wallet') with specific long-tail phrases ('mens slim bifold wallet gift') to cover both high-volume and low-competition searches.

Etsy's category-specific attribute fields (color, size, material, occasion, 'who it's for') are used as search filters — a listing missing these effectively opts out of every shopper who filters by them. This is a 10-minute checklist most sellers skip entirely.

Etsy search trends shift with seasons (holiday gifts, wedding season, back-to-school). Revisit your top listings' Stats once a month, swap out underperforming tags, and double down on the search terms that are already converting.