Etsy Tags That Work: Thirteen Slots, No Wasted Space
Etsy tags are the thirteen short phrases you attach to a listing so that search can match it to what a buyer types. Most sellers fill them in last, in a hurry, with whatever the title already says. That is where the space gets wasted.
Quick answer: use all thirteen slots, write each one as a multi-word phrase of up to 20 characters, keep nouns singular, and make every tag reach a search your title and attributes have not already covered. Then check that no other listing in your shop carries the same set.
I write the tags for OpenHeartLines, our line art portrait shop on Etsy, so the examples below come from a pet portrait listing. The method is the same for a mug or a wedding sign.
What Etsy tags do in search
When a buyer searches, Etsy first gathers every listing that matches the query, then ranks them. Tags belong to the first step. They sit alongside your title, category and attributes as the places Etsy looks for matching words.
A listing that does not contain the buyer's words anywhere is not in the running, however good the photos are. So the job of a tag is to get you into more searches. Ranking is decided afterwards by other things, such as how often people click and buy.
This changes how you should think about thirteen slots. Each one is a chance to appear for a phrase you would otherwise miss. Spending a slot on words you already have gets you very little.
The method for filling thirteen slots
Open territory the title has not covered
Write the title first. It should describe the item plainly, the way a buyer would. Then list what the title leaves out: who the item is for, the occasion, the style in other words, and the other subjects you accept.
My pet portrait title covers custom, pet, line art, portrait, photo, dog and digital. The category and attributes add more, because Etsy treats those as matching terms too. Choosing black as the colour attribute means I do not need a tag saying so.
Some overlap is fine. An exact phrase match is stronger than the same words scattered about, so I will repeat one or two of my best phrases as a tag. The other eleven go elsewhere.
Keep tags multi-word and singular
A tag can hold 20 characters, spaces included. A single word such as gift uses four of them and matches a search so broad that a small shop will not be seen in it. Three words that fit together, like pet memorial gift, match the broad word and the specific phrase.
These longer phrases are what people call long tail tags. Fewer people search them, but the ones who do know what they want.
Plurals are handled for you. Etsy reads dog and dogs as the same root word, so writing both spends two slots on one search. I use the singular because it is usually shorter.
Never repeat another listing in your shop
If twelve listings carry identical tags, they all chase the same searches and compete with each other. Etsy search tends to show only a small number of results from one shop on a page, so the duplicates mostly go unseen.
Give each listing its own territory instead. My dog portrait leans on memorial and gift phrases. The cat version takes the cat phrases, and a couple portrait has nothing about pets at all. Between them, the shop turns up in far more searches than any one listing could.
A worked example: thirteen tags for one listing
The title is Custom Pet Line Art Portrait from Photo, Minimalist Dog Drawing, Digital File. These are the tags I would put under it, each within 20 characters.
- pet memorial gift
- dog loss sympathy
- rainbow bridge gift
- gift for dog lover
- dog mum gift
- dog dad birthday
- new puppy keepsake
- vet thank you gift
- custom cat portrait
- cat line drawing
- one line pet art
- pet outline sketch
- pet tattoo design
Only custom cat portrait repeats much of the title, and it earns its place by bringing in cat owners with an exact phrase. The rest add occasions and recipients the title never mentions, plus a few other ways of describing the style. Pet tattoo design is there because a clean outline is the kind of drawing a tattoo artist can work from.
If it helps to see the idea on live listings, have a look at our custom pet line art portraits and compare the titles from one listing to the next. Each is written to cover different ground.
Mistakes that waste slots
- Single words such as art or gift, which are too broad for a small shop to be found in.
- Singular and plural versions of the same phrase.
- Phrases copied word for word from the title, beyond the one or two you want as an exact match.
- Terms your category and attributes already supply, such as a colour or an occasion you have ticked.
- Deliberate misspellings. Etsy already redirects common typos to the correct spelling.
- The same phrase in several languages. Write tags in the language you set the shop up in and let Etsy translate.
- One set of thirteen pasted across every listing.
There is one more, and it is about honesty as much as search. Do not tag an item as something it is not. A buyer who clicks on a watercolour and finds line art leaves, and clicks that lead nowhere do a listing no favours.
How to find Etsy keywords worth a slot
Start typing in the Etsy search bar and read the suggestions. They come from real searches, and they are free. Type the item, then the item followed by the word for, and note the phrases that fit what you make.
Then open Shop Stats and look at the search terms that already bring visitors. A phrase that brings visits and orders keeps its slot. One that has brought nothing after a couple of months can be swapped for something new.
Change two or three tags at a time. If you replace all thirteen and visits drop, you will not know which tag was doing the work. A good Etsy tag strategy is mostly this slow, slightly dull habit of checking and swapping.
Thirteen slots is not many, which is why each one should do a different job. If you would like a drawing of your own pet, you can order a custom line art portrait from your photo in our Etsy shop.
Frequently asked questions
How many tags can an Etsy listing have?
Each listing has thirteen tag slots, and each tag can be up to 20 characters long including spaces. Use all thirteen. An empty slot is a search you have chosen not to appear in, and there is no penalty for filling every one as long as each phrase describes the item accurately.
Should Etsy tags match the title?
A little. Repeating one or two of your strongest phrases as tags gives you an exact match in two places, which helps for those searches. Beyond that, tags that copy the title add nothing new. Use the remaining slots for the occasions and recipients the title has no room for.
Do I need both singular and plural tags on Etsy?
No. Etsy search looks at the root of a word, so a tag containing dog will also match a buyer who types dogs. Adding both versions uses two slots to reach one search. Pick whichever form reads naturally and fits within 20 characters, then spend the spare slot on a different phrase.
How often should I change my Etsy tags?
Leave a new set alone for a couple of months so there is enough in Shop Stats to judge it. After that, swap out two or three tags that have brought no visits and keep the ones that have. Seasonal phrases, such as those for Christmas or Mother's Day, are worth adding a couple of months ahead.