Etsy Tags: The Complete Guide to SEO Visibility

ByJ.B. Updated on
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If you ask me what the single most important part of your Etsy SEO is, I’m going to tell you it’s your Etsy tags, every single time. Not your title. Not your description. Your tags.

And I know that might surprise you, because most of the SEO advice you see floating around Etsy circles is obsessed with titles. But here’s what I’ve learned after building a shop to multiple six figures: your title gives Etsy one main keyword phrase to work with. Your tags give Etsy thirteen.

Thirteen separate chances to tell Etsy exactly what your product is, who it’s for, and why someone should find it.

In a marketplace that is getting more competitive by the quarter, that’s not a small thing. That’s everything.

This guide is going to break down what Etsy tags actually are, how they work with your title, how Etsy uses them behind the scenes, and how to choose the right ones so you stop leaving search visibility on the table. Let’s get into it.

What are Etsy Tags?

An Etsy tag is a word or short phrase that you add to the back end of your listing to help Etsy’s search engine understand what you’re selling. Shoppers never see your tags.

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They’re not visible on your listing page. But they do an enormous amount of work behind the scenes, because Etsy uses them to match your products with what buyers are searching for.

Think about how Etsy search actually works.

When someone types a phrase into the search bar, Etsy runs through its entire catalog looking for listings that contain that phrase somewhere in their keywords. Tags are part of that keyword set, alongside your title, your attributes, your category, and your description.

Etsy gathers all the listings that are relevant matches, then ranks them based on a separate set of factors like conversion rate, reviews, and listing quality.

But here’s the critical piece: if your listing doesn’t show up in that first pool of matches, it literally cannot rank.

You can have the most beautiful product photos in the world, and if your keywords don’t match the search query, no one will ever see it. Tags are how you get into the pool.

According to Etsy’s own seller handbook, tags are described as your opportunity to include phrases that describe your unique product, and each tag you add is a chance to match with a shopper’s search. That’s coming straight from Etsy. Use them like it.

How Etsy Actually Uses Your Tags

Etsy’s search works in two phases. The first phase is query matching, where Etsy looks at a shopper’s search term and finds every listing that contains a matching phrase somewhere in its keywords.

The second phase is query ranking, where Etsy decides which of those matched listings to show first, based on relevance, listing quality, and buyer behavior signals.

Your tags directly affect Phase 1. If your tag matches a shopper’s search, you’re in the running. If it doesn’t, you’re not. It’s binary. That’s why using all 13 tags isn’t optional if you actually want to grow your shop.

There are a few other things Etsy does with your tags that are worth knowing.

First, Etsy matches root words, not just exact phrases. So if you use the tag “birthday card,” your listing can also match searches for “birthday cards” or “birthday.” You don’t need to waste a tag slot on both singular and plural versions of the same word. Etsy handles that automatically.

Second, Etsy translates your tags. If your shop is set to English and someone is shopping in French, Etsy will automatically translate your tags to try to match their search. That means you don’t need to add tags in multiple languages.

Just tag in your shop’s native language and Etsy takes care of the rest.

Third, Etsy will handle common synonyms and regional variations to a point, but not always. If you sell flip flops and your customers in Australia are searching “thong sandals,” Etsy isn’t going to make that leap for you. That’s a case where you’d want to add the regional phrase as its own tag.

Think about where your actual buyers are and how they talk about the things they buy.

One more thing from the Etsy seller handbook that I want you to hear: your categories and attributes act like tags. When you list something in a specific subcategory, that subcategory and every parent category above it function like additional tags.

Same with attributes like color, material, and pattern. That means you don’t need to waste one of your 13 tag slots repeating something Etsy already knows from your category selection.

Use those 13 slots to expand your reach, not duplicate it.

How Tags Work With Your Listing Title

Your title and your tags are not the same thing, and they should not be doing the same job. Your title is what a shopper sees when they’re scanning search results. It needs to be clear, readable, and lead with what the product actually is.

Etsy has been pushing sellers toward cleaner, more natural titles for a while now, and the direction is clear: write for the person, not the algorithm.

Your tags are where you do the heavy SEO lifting.

Because shoppers never see them, you have freedom to use them strategically without worrying about whether they sound good out loud. Your tags should cover the keyword phrases that your title doesn’t. Different ways to describe the product.

Gift intent phrases like “gift for her” or “mother’s day gift.” Occasion-based searches. Regional variations. Long-tail phrases that describe a very specific buyer intent.

Here’s a practical way to think about it. Say your title is “Personalized Hummingbird Tote Bag: Canvas with Custom Name.” That title covers a few keyword phrases well. Your tags should now go in a completely different direction.

They might cover things like “nature lover gift,” “bird gift for mom,” “custom canvas bag,” “garden lover tote,” “wildlife accessories,” “gift for birder,” “personalized gift her,” “hummingbird accessories.” You’re widening the net every single time.

Etsy looks holistically at all of your listing information, including title, tags, attributes, description, first photo, and reviews, when deciding how to match and rank your listing.

Your title is one input. Your tags are thirteen more. That’s why I say your tags matter more than your title. You get more shots at the target.

You have one title. You have thirteen tags. If you’re spending all your optimization energy on one thing and ignoring the other twelve, that math is working against you.

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How Many Tags Do You Get, And Should You Use All of Them?

You get 13 tags per listing. Each tag can be up to 20 characters long. And yes, you should absolutely use all 13 every single time, no exceptions.

Every empty tag slot is a search you’re not appearing in. There is no downside to filling all 13. There’s no penalty, no algorithm hit, no situation where leaving a slot blank helps you. The only thing empty tags do is cost you visibility.

According to Etsy’s own seller handbook: do use all 13 tags. That’s not me editorializing. That’s Etsy telling you in plain language to fill every slot. And yet when I look at listings in my niche and in the shops of sellers who ask me why they’re not getting traffic, the first thing I see is half-empty tag sections.

Six tags. Eight tags. Sometimes four. It’s one of the most common and most fixable mistakes in the game.

I use erank to help my find my tags. I use low competition, actively searched keywords in order to get found on Etsy. Erank is the best Etsy SEO tool out there and super easy to use.

One feature that I love about erank (and there are many) is that you can copy and paste the keywords into your tags on Etsy. I also love the bulk keyword search tool and the fact that eRank will show you other related keywords for your product or niche.

And, if you’re struggling to come up with 13 phrases after you’ve done your keyword research, here’s a framework to think about. Start with what the product is, named in multiple ways. Add color, material and style descriptors. Add use and occasion.

One thing Etsy is clear about: keep your tags diverse.

Why Tags Are The Most Important Part of Your Etsy SEO

I want to make a case here that I believe in deeply, because I’ve seen it play out in my own shop and in the shops of the sellers I work with inside Freedom Unlocked.

Etsy is not the Etsy of 2020. There are millions more sellers on the platform now, and the competition for any given search result page has gotten significantly steeper. In 2025, nearly half of all Etsy purchases happened through the Etsy app, which means buyers are scrolling fast through a highly curated visual feed.

The algorithm is constantly learning what listings drive clicks, favorites, and sales, and it’s pushing those listings to more buyers.

The listings that never get found never get that data, and they stay invisible.

Getting found in the first place, getting into that initial pool of matches, depends almost entirely on whether your keywords match what someone is searching for. And with 13 tag slots, you have 13 separate chances to show up for 13 different search queries.

Your title gives you maybe 2 or 3 phrase matches at best. Your tags, if you use them well, can get you into search results you’d never have reached with your title alone.

That’s why I think of tags as the most important real estate in your listing. They’re invisible to buyers but they are doing the most work to get buyers to your door.

The other reason tags matter so much is that they’re where you can be strategic about competition. Your title is public. Every seller in your niche can see your title and reverse-engineer it.

Tags are not displayed publicly in the same way. More importantly, tags are where you can get surgical with your keyword strategy, choosing phrases that are actively searched but have low enough competition that a newer or smaller shop can actually rank for them.

How To Find the Right Tags for Your Listings

This is where the real work happens, and it’s also where most sellers either give up or make the mistake of guessing.

The goal is to find keyword phrases that buyers are actively searching for and that have low enough competition that your listing actually has a shot at showing up. That second part is what most sellers ignore.

They’ll spend hours finding keywords that get a ton of searches, but those keywords are also dominated by thousands of established shops with thousands of sales and hundreds of reviews.

You’re not ranking for those. Not yet.

What you want are what keyword researchers call long-tail keywords: specific, multi-word phrases that describe exactly what a buyer is looking for.

According to Etsy’s seller handbook, these types of descriptive multi-word terms tend to convert better because they describe exactly what a shopper is looking for.

The tool I use for this is eRank. It’s a low-cost SEO data tool built specifically for Etsy sellers, and it’s genuinely one of the most useful things I spend money on for my shop.

With eRank, you can type in a keyword phrase and see how many times it’s searched per month, what the competition level looks like, and what related phrases might be worth targeting.

You can look at competitor listings and see what tags are working for top sellers in your niche. You can find the hidden phrases that real buyers are actually typing, not just the obvious ones everyone else is already using.

The process I follow is straightforward. I start with my core product idea and use eRank to find a cluster of related phrases. I’m looking for searches that have real volume, meaning people are actually looking for this thing, and manageable competition, meaning I have a realistic shot at showing up.

I prioritize phrases that score well on both, and I build my 13 tags around those.

Guessing at keywords is not a strategy. Using data to find low-competition, actively searched phrases is the strategy.

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The Opportunity Report: Done-For-You Keyword Research, Every Week

I know that keyword research takes time. I know it can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re also running a shop, designing products, managing orders, and trying to have a life. That’s exactly why I built The Opportunity Report.

Every single week, I do the keyword research for you. I dig into the data using eRank and identify Etsy keyword phrases that are actively searched and low in competition.

The kind of keywords that give your shop a real shot at getting found, not just the obvious ones that everyone is already fighting over.

I deliver those keywords directly to your inbox every week, ready for you to plug into your tags and titles.

It’s a $9 per month subscription, which is less than a coffee, and it takes the most time-consuming and confusing part of Etsy SEO off your plate entirely.

If you’ve been putting off doing your keyword research because you don’t know where to start or don’t have hours to spend in a tool, this was made for you.

You can sign up for The Opportunity Report here and start getting weekly keyword drops that are ready to use.

Common Tag Mistakes to Stop Making Right Now

Let me run through the most common mistakes I see sellers making with their tags, because getting these right is just as important as knowing the strategy.

The biggest one is not using all 13 tags. We’ve covered this. There is no excuse. Fill every slot.

The second biggest mistake is using single-word tags. A tag like “gift” or “earrings” is so broad and so competitive that you will never, ever rank for it as a small shop. Single words are not how buyers search, and they’re not how you get found. Every tag should be a multi-word phrase. Etsy gives you 20 characters per tag. Use them.

Third: not updating your tags. Your tags are not a set-it-and-forget-it situation. Look at your shop stats. If a listing is getting impressions but no clicks, that might be a photo problem. If a listing is getting almost no impressions, that’s a keyword problem. Refresh those tags. Try new phrases.

But, GIVE IT TIME TO MARINATE BEFORE YOU CHANGE IT. Don’t go changing it everyday or even every month! And don’t touch anything that is selling.

Etsy recommends checking in before each new season and before major holidays as natural moments to update your keyword strategy.

Fourth: using irrelevant tags to try to catch more traffic. Some sellers add tags that don’t actually describe their product because they think more searches means more visibility. Etsy’s algorithm factors in whether buyers who click your listing actually stay and buy.

If someone searches a term, finds your listing, clicks through, and immediately leaves because it’s not what they expected, that hurts your quality score. Only use tags that accurately describe your product.

A Quick Note on the 2025 Title Update and What it Means for Your Tags

In 2025, Etsy rolled out updated guidance on listing titles, and it’s pushing sellers toward cleaner, more readable, buyer-friendly titles. The direction is clear: write your title for the person scanning the search results page, not for an algorithm.

Lead with what the item is. Keep it clear. Drop the keyword stuffing.

This is actually great news for your tags, because it means the SEO work that used to happen in a keyword-stuffed title now needs to happen somewhere else.

Your tags are that somewhere else. As titles get cleaner and shorter, your 13 tag slots become even more important as the home for all those keyword phrases that describe your product from every angle.

The shops that will win as Etsy continues to evolve are the ones treating their tags as seriously as their titles. More seriously, honestly, because you get 13 chances instead of one.

Final Thoughts

Etsy tags are not a secondary thought. They’re not something you fill in quickly after you’ve uploaded your photos and written your title. They’re the primary mechanism by which your listings get found by buyers who are actively looking for what you sell.

You have 13 slots. Use all of them. Use multi-word phrases.

Cover diverse search territory instead of repeating the same idea. Focus on low-competition, actively searched keywords so your shop actually has a shot at ranking. Use a tool like eRank to do that research with data instead of gut feelings. Check your stats and refresh your tags when listings aren’t pulling their weight.

And if you want the keywords handed to you every week, ready to plug in, The Opportunity Report exists for exactly that reason.

Your shop’s visibility starts with being found. And being found starts with your tags.

The Best SEO and Design Tools for an Etsy Shop:

These are the only tools I use for my shop!

Canva: Canva is the most amazing tool. It is user friendly, and always improving! The tools that Canva has have evolved so much since I first started using it in 2022 for the better. I use it almost everyday. I use it to create designs, to edit AI designs, and to create product mockups.

Ideogram: Ideogram is an AI design tool that generates high-quality graphics with exceptionally accurate text rendering, making it ideal for creating quote-based and typography-focused designs. I also use the prompt based editing for mockups, making it a wonderful alternative to Photoshop, which is expensive.

Midjourney: Midjourney is an AI image tool that blows my mind every time I use it. It takes some time to get the prompts down. Once you play with it, you will get better at creating images and art to include on your print on demand products.

E-Hunt: E-Hunt is fantastic for competitor research and some light keyword research. My favorite aspect of E-Hunt is the Chrome extension that allows you to see the sales amount for an individual item on Etsy. Check out this article to see an example.

eRank: eRank is an SEO data tool that also allows you to search the competition and will also give you key words for your Etsy listing. It is also a low cost tool that will help you find low competition and highly searched niches.

Printify: Printify is a print-on-demand (POD) service that allows individuals and businesses to create and sell custom-designed products without needing to manage inventory or handle fulfillment. I put my designs on products offered by Printify. When an item sells, Printify prints and ships to my customer.

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Looking for more information on print on demand? Check out these articles:

Janeen is a former attorney and Etsy print on demand coach who started her shop at 40, retired early from corporate life at 42, and moved her family to Portugal. She now teaches others the strategic path to building portable income, while exploring and documenting the most beautiful country she gets to call home.