SEO for Knit & Crochet Pattern Sales: Boost Visibility While Keeping Your Brand Voice

By Samantha Brunson, gosadi Early Access User

Understanding and utilizing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can significantly enhance your online presence, increase your pattern sales, and grow your audience. But for many designers the idea of improving SEO can not only be overwhelming but also feel like a loss of creativity.

I believe you can have both an “optimized” SEO product and one that retains your style.

But first let’s start with the basics: What is SEO? How can you use it to your advantage? How do you take advantage of it without losing your unique voice? And how are designers like me using gosadi to take most of this legwork off of our already busy plates? 

Today I’m breaking it all down and helping YOU to improve your pattern sales across the board.

SEO is the practice of optimizing your online content so that a search engine is likely to show it as a top result for searches of a certain keyword. Basically, it’s the combination of various techniques that help your website or pattern listings rank higher in search results, making it easier for potential customers to find you. 

Think of the last search you did on Etsy and the term you typed into the search bar to deliver your desired result. 

Chances are there are hundreds of listings that could have fit what you were looking for. Etsy needs a way to filter through the hundreds to deliver you the product you were most likely seeking within the first page or two of results because most people don’t sort through all of the pages when hunting down a product. Optimizing your product’s SEO will land you on page one of a search.

SEO is crucial because it:

• Increases organic product discovery and boosts traffic to your listing from engaged buyers.

• Offers impressive ROI (Return on Investment). This one’s simple, the more sales you make the more you can justify spending on photography, tech editing, listing fees, and all of the other expenses associated with creating patterns. 

• Provides a competitive advantage. While your design choices may be unique, chances are the search terms that will lead a maker to your pattern are not. If a maker is searching for a “crochet baby blanket pattern”, you want to give your pattern the best chance to stand out from the crowd.

Do your keyword research!

Identify the keywords your potential customers might use to find your patterns. I like to put myself in the mind of my customers. I start by heading to Etsy’s search bar and I type in my proposed title, pattern type, and relevant attributes to see what my competition will be. This helps me discover relevant keywords that I might not have thought of before. 

Focus on long-tail keywords (keywords that are more detailed that reach fewer individuals, but demonstrate high relevance) like "beginner crochet scarf pattern" rather than just "crochet pattern."

Your product titles, descriptions, and tags should include your primary keywords. 

Optimized can sound like an often thrown around marketing buzzword when not combined with specifics. So here’s how to “optimize” all aspects of a product:

• Titles: Include the most important keywords at the beginning of the title.

• Descriptions: Write clear, detailed descriptions incorporating keywords naturally. Don’t force it just to make a quota. That’s called “keyword stuffing” and is frowned upon on Etsy.

• Tags: Use all available tags and include variations of your main keywords.

• High-Quality Images: Your product being boosted to the first page will not make people click on it if the photography isn’t inspiring. Make sure you’re ready for your listing to make the front page. The Etsy SEO guide emphasizes the importance of good visuals in attracting and converting customers.

• Alt Text: As for product listings on your own website or blog, ensure your product images include alt text with relevant keywords. This not only improves your SEO but also provides a better user experience for all of your potential customers (including those who may be visually impaired and/or use screen reader technology). 

Now, I’ll be honest, doing all of this is a lot of time consuming work. And when you’re getting started it involves trial and error. Testing what is working and improving what flopped.

Luckily, gosadi takes that work off of your plate! Early Access users already know this, but through gosadi with the click of a button gosadi will generate a list of keywords based on the information you input about your pattern, create alternate titles, and even give you help with your description. 

Apply to join me in the gosadi Early Access Program today!

With all of this being said, designers are creatives at heart. And I know you don’t want your listings to sound like they could have been written by anyone else. 

Improving your SEO doesn't need to affect your tone or unique writing style. Take advantage of gosadi’s keyword, title, and description tools but add your flair to the text! Personally, I like to see what gosadi creates because it gives me the opportunity to think outside of my creative box and stretches my creativity. 

But that doesn’t replace my voice. I like to think of it as a little for me a little for “them”. Storytelling is an important aspect of my product listings. I devote part of my titles and descriptions to telling that story and feeding me creatively. While the other half helps me reach my goals. 

You don’t need to pick and choose!

Start applying these steps today and join the conversation in the comments below to share additional advice for your fellow makers.

For more insights, be sure to read gosadi’s Ultimate Guide to Etsy SEO (aka EtsyO as Michele likes to call it) and gosadi’s Advice for Improving Your Product Listings.



And for further reading on SEO you can visit these helpful resources: 

• Digital Marketing Institute

• semrush

• Etsy

• Yoast