We’re always refining and improving our search systems to help match your listings with the right buyers. Last year, we introduced the Etsy search visibility page to give you even more transparency into how your listings appear in search. We also regularly look at shoppers' feedback and behavior to better understand what they look for in a listing—and more specifically, what helps them feel more confident making a purchase.
Today, we’re sharing updated guidance for what makes a great listing title to help you write clear, buyer-friendly titles. We’re also introducing a new, optional tool that uses your current listing information to recommend titles that match this guidance—and helps you update multiple listings at once. The tool is here to give you a starting point—not a directive. You're always in control of what gets published, and you can try suggestions on a single listing before applying any changes more broadly.
Why clear titles matter
Buyers tell us that clear, easy-to-scan titles help them feel more confident when browsing and choosing what to buy. And when an item is unique or handmade, it can be hard to balance sharing important details with reaching a wide audience in search. In the past, Etsy’s search placed heavy emphasis on the title, pushing some sellers to pack in keywords. This often leads to longer, harder-to-read titles that make it more difficult for buyers to shop confidently.
Why should I update my listing titles now?
Our search system has evolved to take a more holistic view of your listing—including title, tags, attributes, descriptions, first photo, and even reviews—to help connect your items with the right buyers.
This means that while your title is still an important part of your listing and can impact both search results and buyer conversion, it doesn’t need to do all the work. You can focus on clarity and relevance in your listing titles, while moving other key details to listing tags, descriptions, and attributes. This will help you show up to interested buyers more easily and also help them feel more confident about making a purchase.
What makes a great listing title?
Here’s our new guidance, which better reflects the evolution of search as well as the feedback we’ve gotten from buyers over the years.
- Clearly state the item for sale, like “mug” or “dress”
- Include the most important traits upfront, like your item’s color, material, and size
- Streamline for clarity and scannability. Consider using less than 15 words when including the traits that make your item special.
- Only include holidays, special occasions, or recipient types if they’re essential to what the item is, like “birthday candle” or “Halloween costume”
- Move subjective words, like “perfect” or “beautiful,” to the description
- Try not to repeat words
- Don’t worry about adding info about price, shipping, or sales. Etsy helps take care of this by badging your items in Search.
New guidance
| Listing title trait or keyword type | Examples | Keep in title? | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Noun | dress, mug, table | Yes | Clearly state what the item is just once in the listing title |
| Objective descriptors | neon pink, extra large, reclaimed wood, vintage | Yes | Include the top three most critical descriptors for the category (color, material, and size) as well as other key information that sets your item apart |
| Holiday-related words | Birthday candle, Halloween costume | Sometimes | Only include holidays, special occasions, or recipient types if they’re essential to what the item is |
| Aspirational and gifting keywords and phrases | gift for him, birthday present, personalized gift | No | Avoid repetition of aspirational or gifting keywords and phrases |
| Subjective descriptors | beautiful, perfect, wonderful | No | Move to tags or attributes |
| How the item is sold | on sale, free shipping | No | Remove completely from listing |
| Unnecessary repeated words or phrases | unisex adult poncho, unisex cotton poncho | No | Remove repeated words or phrases |
Examples
Check out these examples of listing titles before and after applying our updated guidance to see what it looks like in practice.
| Old title | New title |
|---|---|
| Dad T-Shirt | Father Shirt | Personalized Father's Day Gift | Personalized Dad T-Shirt | Dad Statement Shirt | Father Shirt with Kids Names | Personalized 100% Cotton Dad T-Shirt: Custom Kids' Names S-XL |
| Moonstone Ring Mini Ring Solid Gold Perfect For Women's Wedding Engagement Daily Wear Band | Celestial Blue Moonstone Ring, 9k Solid Gold Band |
| ON SALE ! Birthday Bandana - Happy Birthday, Birthday Dog Bandana, Birthday Cat Bandana, Birthday Bones, Birthday Pet Present | Birthday Bones Cotton Dog Bandana - Easy Slip Over the Collar |
A new tool to easily update your listing titles
To help make it easier and faster to apply this new guidance, we've created an optional AI-powered tool that suggests updated listing titles using the current title, first photo, and description in listings written in English. You can:
- Quickly update one or many listings at the same time
- Accept our suggestions or customize them to fit your style, with real-time feedback to guide your edits
Suggestions are optional—you can edit, refine, dismiss, or write your own title from scratch. Try it out and see what works best for your listings.
If suggestions are available for your listings, this tool will be available from your search visibility dashboard on Etsy.com or in the Etsy Seller app. Seeing a suggestion in your dashboard doesn't mean your current title is underperforming—it simply means there may be an alternative worth trying. These are starting points for your own experimentation, not prescriptions.
On Etsy.com, you can also use this tool while editing an existing listing. When creating a new listing, you may also see suggestions.
Some helpful things to keep in mind:
- Before you make any updates, download a CSV of your listings. You can use it to reference keywords from your original titles and update your tags, descriptions, or attributes as needed.
- Make sure you’re running the latest version of the Etsy Seller app to easily update your listing titles on the go.
- Changes may take a little while to have an effect, so it can help to give updates some time before deciding what works best for your shop. If something doesn’t feel right, you can always revert.
Tell us what you think
This tool is just one way we’re helping you optimize your listings with less effort. As we continue to evolve our search system and support tools, your feedback is essential. Let us know what’s working and where we can improve.
Words by Etsy Staff
