Growing Your Craft Etsy SEO Guides

Best Keywords & Tags for cutting boards

Getting found on Etsy can feel like a challenge, but mastering Etsy Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is your best chance of getting traffic on Etsy. SEO is about using the right keywords to tell Etsy (and your target customers) exactly what you sell so you appear in the right Etsy search results.

Let me walk you through everything you need to know in this SEO guide, including:

  • Understand your ideal target customer
  • Discover high-impact broad and long-tail keywords for your listings
  • Analyse what successful cutting boards sellers are doing right
  • Learn how to use keywords to optimise your titles, tags, and description
  • 6 ways to find more keywords for your listings
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Understanding Your Ideal Target Customer

Before you dive into keywords, you need to understand who your target customer, including their needs, desires, and the language they use. Because when you know what they are looking for, you can target them with the same keywords that they would use in Etsy search. Here’s a closer look at your typical customer in the cutting boards niche:

The typical customer for Cutting Boards is a gift-giver looking for a high-quality, memorable, and functional item for special life events, or a cooking enthusiast wanting to upgrade their kitchen tools with durable, aesthetic wood.

What problems are they trying to solve or desires are they trying to fulfill when searching for cutting boards?

They are struggling to find a unique, lasting wedding or anniversary gift that feels personal and won't just be tucked away in a drawer, wanting something that can be displayed.

  • This can lead them to search for terms like: custom engraved family name charcuterie board

They desire a high-performance, professional-grade surface for food preparation that preserves their knife edges and adds warmth to their kitchen counter aesthetic.

  • This can lead them to search for terms like: thick end grain walnut butcher block
cutting boards is a pretty competitive niche with high demand and high competition, so it's important to use long-tail keywords to niche down and have a better chance of ranking on Etsy.

Top 10 Broad Keywords for cutting boards Sellers

Core keywords (also known as short-tail keywords) are the broad, popular terms that describe your main products. While they often have very high search volume and competition, they are the starting points for you to build your long-tail keywords for the next steps.

Here are 10 popular broad keywords for the cutting boards market:

Cutting Board

The core high-volume keyword for the niche. While highly competitive, it remains the essential starting point for all search visibility and should be modified with materials or uses.

Custom Cutting Board

This targets the massive market for personalized items. Buyers searching this have high intent to purchase a made-to-order item, often with names or dates added.

Charcuterie Board

A trending keyword for entertaining and dining. This attracts a slightly different buyer than "cutting board" - one focused on serving, presentation, and hosting parties.

Wood Cutting Board

Specifies the material, filtering out plastic or glass options. This is a crucial baseline keyword for sellers of handmade boards, often paired with specific wood types.

Wedding Gift

One of the top occasions for this niche. Targeting this keyword connects the product to a major life event where higher price points and personalization are expected.

Butcher Block

Implies a thicker, heavier, and more durable board, often end-grain. This keyword appeals to serious home cooks and chefs looking for performance and longevity.

Personalized Gift

A broad but powerful keyword. Cutting boards are a staple in this category, so optimizing for this helps capture traffic from shoppers browsing for general gift ideas.

Engraved Board

Focuses on the technique and aesthetic. Buyers using this term specifically want decorative text or designs burned into the wood, usually for display purposes.

Closing Gift

Targets a specific B2B audience: real estate agents. Realtors often buy cutting boards in bulk or high frequency as thank-you gifts for clients buying new homes.

Serving Board

Similar to "Charcuterie Board" but broader. It captures buyers looking for platters to serve cheese, bread, or appetizers, prioritizing form and handle design over cutting durability.

Top Long-Tail Keywords for cutting boards

While core keywords are important, long-tail keywords are how you can really get found on Etsy. These are longer, more specific phrases (usually 2-5 words) that buyers use when they have a clearer idea of what they want or are closer to making a purchase. They often have lower search volume than broad keywords but higher conversion rates because they target a more specific need.
How to Brainstorm Your Long-Tail Keywords
A systematic way to build long-tail keywords is by adding descriptive modifiers to your broad keywords. Here are the modifiers I recommend:
Style/Aesthetic Long-Tail Keywords
  • rustic live edge olive wood board
  • modern minimalist geometric serving tray
  • farmhouse kitchen decor chopping block
  • dark walnut end grain butcher block
  • epoxy resin river cutting board
Occasion/Use Long-Tail Keywords
  • 5th anniversary wood gift for husband
  • realtor closing gift with logo
  • bridal shower gift for couple
  • fathers day bbq grill master board
  • new home housewarming gift personalized
Target Customer Long-Tail Keywords
  • gift for chef or foodie friend
  • custom cheese board for hostess
  • mom birthday gift from daughter
  • parents christmas gift unique
  • groomsmen gift set personalized
Materials & Finishes Long-Tail Keywords
File Type/Platform Long-Tail Keywords
  • solid maple wood carving board
  • organic bamboo serving platter
  • cherry wood cheese board with handle
  • food safe mineral oil finish
  • mixed wood exotic cutting board
Technique/Production Method Long-Tail Keywords
  • laser engraved handwritten recipe board
  • handmade end grain checkerboard pattern
  • juice groove carving board for meat
  • handcrafted edge grain chopping block
  • custom cnc routed wood inlay
Feature/Benefit Long-Tail Keywords
  • knife friendly wooden surface
  • reversible cutting and serving board
  • extra large turkey carving board
  • cutting board with juice groove and handles
  • antibacterial hardwood preparation surface
Theme/Subject Matter Long-Tail Keywords
  • monogrammed family initial board
  • state shape pride cutting board
  • funny pun kitchen decor sign
  • religious verse engraved gift
  • coordinates of new home location
Size/Shape/Fit Long-Tail Keywords
  • round pizza serving paddle
  • large oversized stove top cover
  • small bar board for lemons
  • long narrow grazing board
  • thick heavy duty butcher block
Problem Solved Long-Tail Keywords
  • durable board that wont dull knives
  • gift for couple who has everything
  • protect granite countertops from heat
  • stylish serving platter for parties
  • sentimental keepsake family heirloom
To speed up the process and get even more relevant long-tail keyword ideas, consider using SEO research tools like Alura which you can get a big similar keyword list with information like estimated search volume and demand. Their free plan is pretty generous and you can sign up for free here.

Analysing Best Selling Listing Titles

One of the best ways to improve your Etsy SEO strategy is to see what's working for other successful sellers. By analysing best selling listings, you can gain valuable insights into what effective keywords they use, and how they structure the titles, so that you can apply to your own listings as well.

Let's look at the listing titles from two cutting boards bestsellers to see what we can learn from them:

Bestseller Listing Title Analysis 01:

Personalized Bamboo Cutting Board, Engraved Wedding Charcuterie Board, Custom Christmas Gift, Gift for Her, Family Gift, Gifts for Parents by GiftsToEngrave

This title uses a "broad net" strategy. By listing "Personalized Bamboo Cutting Board," it hits the material and product type immediately. It then pivots to the "Engraved Wedding Charcuterie Board" to capture the entertaining/wedding market. Finally, it stacks recipient-based keywords like "Gift for Her," "Family Gift," and "Gifts for Parents" to ensure visibility during high-traffic gift-giving seasons like Christmas.
Bestseller Listing Title Analysis 02

Grilling Cutting Board, Personalized Father's Day Gift for Him, BBQ Gift for Men's Birthday, Dad Gift, Grandpa Gift, Grill Customized Board by BamboraGifts

This title is hyper-focused on a specific niche within cutting boards: grilling/BBQ. It targets the male demographic ("Gift for Him," "Men's Birthday," "Dad Gift") which is often harder to shop for, making these keywords high-converting. By pairing "Grilling" with "Cutting Board," it implies a specific functionality (likely with a juice groove) that separates it from standard kitchen boards.
Click here to see more Etsy bestseller title inspirations

How to Use Keywords to Optimise Your Etsy Listings

Now that you have a list of descriptive long-tail keywords for your cutting boards, let's see how we can use them to optimise your Etsy listings.

How to Craft Highly Descriptive, Keyword-Rich Titles

Your listing title can make-or-break your Etsy SEO. Write your long-tail keywords to be highly descriptive. For example, compare these two:

Okay Title: Wood Cutting Board

Better Title: Custom Walnut End Grain Cutting Board, Personalized Wedding Gift for Couple, Heavy Duty Butcher Block with Juice Groove, Engraved Charcuterie


Then put your strongest, most descriptive keyword in the front. Separate each long-tail keyword with symbols like commas or dashes so that the title is easy to read.

Use All 13 Tags with Specific, Long-Tail Keywords

Tags are another important place to tell the Etsy algorithm what your product is about. Use all 13 tags for your listings.

  • Focus on specific, long-tail keyword phrases
  • Tags have a 20-character limit
  • While it's ok for some broad keywords to appear in multiple tags, try to use a wide variety of descriptive terms across your 13 tags

Find Accurate Attributes & Categories

When you list a product on Etsy, you'll select a category and then be prompted to fill out attributes specific to that category (e.g., colour, material, size, occasion). These are just as important for SEO and helping buyers find your items through Etsy's filters.

Be thorough and fill out as many relevant attributes as possible and be accurate for your product category.

Write Description for Shoppers & Etsy search algorithm

Etsy now uses keywords in your listing description for SEO. What I recommend to Etsy seller is to write compelling short paragraph (1-3 sentences) at the very beginning of your listing description that naturally include 3-5 relavant long-tail keywords for the product. Clearly communicate what the product is, its key features, and the benefits it offers the customer.

Let's look at some listing description examples for cutting boards:

Listing Description Example 01
Create a lasting memory with our handcrafted personalized cutting board, the perfect union of functionality and sentiment. Made from premium, sustainably sourced bamboo, this durable board is laser-engraved with your choice of family name and date, making it a standout wedding or anniversary gift. Whether displayed as kitchen decor or used daily for meal prep, its naturally antibacterial surface ensures it will be a cherished part of their home for years to come.
Listing Description Example 02
Upgrade your hosting game with this stunning live edge charcuterie board, featuring rich grain patterns unique to every piece. Finished with food-safe mineral oil, this versatile serving platter is ideal for displaying cheeses, meats, and fruits at your next dinner party. Its rustic yet elegant design makes it an impressive centerpiece or a thoughtful housewarming gift for the entertainer in your life.
Listing Description Example 03
Experience professional quality at home with our thick end-grain walnut butcher block. Designed to be self-healing, the wood fibers separate to accept the knife blade and close back up, keeping your expensive knives razor-sharp for longer. Featuring a deep juice groove to catch liquids and non-slip rubber feet, this heavy-duty block provides a stable, mess-free workspace for carving meats and chopping vegetables.

6 Ways to Find More Keywords for cutting boards

Keyword research is an ongoing process. I recommend these 6 ways to find effective long-tail keywords for your listings:
Etsy Search Bar
Start typing your core keywords into Etsy's search bar and pay close attention to the auto-suggestions that appear (guide here). These are real searches from actual Etsy shoppers.
Competitor Research
Look at the titles of listings that rank on page 1 (especially those with "Bestseller" badges). Don't copy directly, but use their keyword choices as inspiration for terms you might have missed.
Your Own Shop Stats
Your shop stats show you the exact search terms shoppers used to find your listings. Pay special attention to those that you are not directly targeting, and consider targeting them in listing titles.
Alura
One of my favourite Etsy keyword research tools. Alura speeds up the process of giving you a list of related popular keywords, and analyse which ones are the best for you.
eRank
Another popular tool among Etsy sellers, eRank offers robust keyword tools, trend analysis, grading your current listings, and checking keyword strength.
Everbee
Another great keyword research tool. I especially love Everbee's Chrome extension that shows you the estimated search volume directly on Etsy.

Your cutting boards Etsy SEO Checklist

Phew, that's a lot of information. Let's do a little recap:

  • Understand My Customer: Do I understand my target customer and their primary search motivations?
  • Core Keyword Research: Have I identified the top core keywords for the cutting boards niche?
  • Long-Tail Keywords: Have I brainstormed a diverse list of long-tail keywords using various modifiers?
  • Ongoing Etsy SEO: Am I using at least 2-3 methods (from Section 7) to regularly find new keyword opportunities for cutting boards?
  • Optimised Titles: Are my listing titles highly descriptive, front-loaded with strong keywords?
  • Maximised Tags: Am I using all 13 tags with specific, long-tail phrases?
  • Compelling Descriptions: Does the opening paragraph of my listing descriptions naturally include 3-5 important keywords and clearly state benefits/features?
  • Analyse & Improve: Am I reviewing my Etsy stats and competitor listings in the cutting boards niche regularly to improve my SEO strategy?
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