Many third-party SEO tools present keyword search volumes and listing sales estimates with laser-like precision—but do they really know it’s 17,952 searches per month for a particular keyword? All the way down to those last “2” searches??
For an Etsy shop owner, I think it’s important to understand that this level of precision is actually an illusion (the cynic in me wonders if it’s a deliberate one too?).
Let’s talk about why, and what it means for your shop.
First, let’s have a refresher on significant figures. These are the digits in a number that are actually meaningful. For example, if we measure a piece of string with a tape measure as 10 inches, we have two significant figures. We’re sure about the 10; it’s not 11 and it’s not 9 inches. What we can’t say is that 10.538 inches. A tape measure simply isn’t that accurate. Significant figures are the digits in a number we can truly trust.
And the same idea applies to the numbers that third-party Etsy SEO tools give us.
In reality, these tools are working with very limited data and employing algorithms to generate their search estimates for both keyword searches and the number of sales specific listings get—and these numbers are not made available by Etsy. The accuracy of any tool’s figures is likely only to one or two significant figures at best.
This means that an estimate of (say) 17,952 is, to put it bluntly, nonsense. It might more realistically represents an “estimate” of 17,000 (or an even a broader span). No tool knows it’s exactly 17,952. The extra digits are just there to make the number look more exact.
This false precision can be misleading.
As a shop owner, you might use these numbers to make important choices. You might pick one product over another or spend money on ads for certain keywords. But the numbers aren’t that exact and you could err into making decisions based on information that’s off (just how far off is covered in my Etsy tool RealityCheck program).
So, what should you do?
Here are my suggestions:
- Don’t use the exact numbers for keyword searches or single listing sales estimates—use your judgement (but as a rule of thumb, consider rounding them off to the nearest thousand for larger numbers and hundred for smaller ones).
- Look for big differences. If a tool reports one keyword with 1,000 searches and another with 100,000, that’s probably meaningful—ignore small differences.
- Use your own experience too. What you know about your shop and customers is just as important as these tools.
- Try different tools and compare their results. If they all say similar things, that may be a good sign.
These tools can be helpful in other ways, but we need to remember they’re very far from perfect (and a little bit naughty with their numbers!).