2026-08-08 · 7 min read

How to Find Low-Competition Etsy Keywords (2026)

On Etsy, the keyword you can rank for beats the keyword you want to rank for every time. For a shop without a long sales history, low-competition keywords aren't a nice-to-have — they're the only searches you can realistically win. Here's how to find them.

What "competition" actually means on Etsy

Every keyword has two numbers that decide whether it's worth targeting:

• Demand — how many shoppers actually search the phrase.
• Competition — how many listings are already trying to rank for it.

Most sellers only think about the first one. But a phrase with huge demand and tens of thousands of competing listings is worthless to you if you land on page 12 — nobody scrolls that far. Competition is the number that decides whether the demand is reachable. A low-competition keyword is one where enough people are searching, but few enough sellers are answering that you can actually get seen.

Why low-competition keywords matter most for a newer shop

Etsy search does two jobs: it matches the words in a shopper's search to your title and tags, then ranks the matches — heavily weighting how well each listing tends to sell (its conversion rate, reviews, and recent sales). That second half is the catch.

A brand-new listing in a brand-new shop has no sales history to prove it converts. So for a broad, crowded phrase like "gold necklace", you're matched but ranked below thousands of established sellers who already have the sales signal — and you never surface. You can't out-authority them. What you can do is pick searches where the crowd is thin enough that relevance alone puts you on the first page. That's the entire strategy behind low-competition keywords: compete where you can win, not where you can't.

How to spot a low-competition keyword

Three signals, in order of how reliable they are:

• It's a specific, multi-word phrase. Single words (ring, mug, sign) are always the most crowded searches on Etsy. The more specific the phrase — "personalized dog mom mug" instead of "mug" — the fewer sellers target it, and the closer the shopper is to buying. Our Etsy keyword length report puts numbers on it: the median one-word keyword faces 160,730 competing listings; a six-word phrase faces 392.
• The results count is modest. Search the phrase on Etsy and glance at the number of results. Hundreds of thousands means a crowded head term; a few thousand well-matched results is a phrase you can compete in.
• A tool gives it a low competition read. The results count is a rough proxy; a keyword tool that reports competition directly removes the guesswork and lets you compare phrases side by side.

For the bigger picture on how demand and competition actually relate across Etsy — and why the high-demand, low-competition "gap" is rarer than sellers expect — see our State of Etsy Search report, built on real search data.

A method that finds the winnable gaps

You don't need a spreadsheet full of phrases — you need the right dozen. Work in this order:

1. Collect real searches. Type your product into Etsy's search bar and note the autocomplete suggestions — every one is a real search. Add the filters Etsy shows on the results page (style, material, occasion) as extra specific phrases.
2. Get demand and competition for each. This is the step you can't eyeball. Check each candidate for both numbers so you can tell a reachable phrase from an impossible one.
3. Keep the gaps, drop the head terms. Set aside any phrase with crushing competition, however tempting its volume. What's left — real demand, thin competition — is your winnable set.
4. Spread them across your 13 tags. Give each tag a different low-competition phrase. Thirteen varied gaps cover far more ground than one head term you'll never rank for.

A worked example

Say you make personalized dog bandanas. Broad terms are hopeless for a new shop, but a set built around low-competition phrases gives every tag a real chance:

Front-load your title with the strongest winnable phrase, then spread the rest across your 13 tags. You've traded three searches you'd lose for a handful you can win.

Common mistakes

• Chasing volume alone. A high-demand phrase you can't reach the first page for brings zero traffic. Demand only counts if the competition is beatable.
• Targeting single words. They feel important and are always the most crowded searches. Phrases win.
• Repeating the same words across tags. Thirteen tags that all contain "custom" compete with each other instead of covering more searches.
• Never re-checking. Competition shifts with seasons and trends; revisit your best listings' keywords a few times a year.

Questions

What are low-competition Etsy keywords?

Search phrases with real shopper demand but few competing listings — so a newer or smaller shop can actually reach the first page instead of being buried. They're usually specific, multi-word long-tail phrases, not broad single words.

How do I find them?

Collect real searches from Etsy autocomplete, then check each phrase's demand and competition and keep the ones with decent demand and low competition. A free tool like our Etsy keyword tool shows a Low / Medium / High competition read on each, so the gaps are obvious.

Why do they matter for a new shop?

Etsy ranks partly by how well a listing sells, and a new shop has no sales history yet — so it can't outrank established sellers for broad, crowded phrases. Low-competition phrases are the searches where relevance alone can win you the first page.

Aren't they worth less because they have less traffic?

No — a phrase you can never rank for sends zero visitors, while a lower-volume phrase you rank on page one can become your best seller. Thirteen winnable tags beat one impossible head term.