Tagging Tips: Make Your Tags Work For You

The primary way for an item to be found on Etsy is by its tags. When a person does an Etsy search (especially when sorted by relevancy) it is an item's tags that will be its main way of being found. Figuring out the right way to tag can be time consuming and hard, so here are a few tips to help you out!

Make Your Tags Work For You

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- First and foremost is to always use all of your tags. Etsy provides space for 14 tags per item and if you aren't using all of those spaces, you are limiting the ways people can find you. The first few tags come from the drop down menu. The more you can do with this the better as each of these tags represent a category your item is being included in. Why is this important? Many people click through the categories without ever searching anything specifically--you want to appear in these categories when they do.

-Include you shop name in a few of your items' tags. Some people new to Etsy or unfamiliar with its search will look for a seller by using the general item search. You want to show up when people look for you this way, so including your shop name in a few of your items will ensure that their search returns results.

-Use the word "handmade". This does not automatically appear as one of your tags even if items are automatically listed in this category. I've heard people say it increased their sales noticeably after making this edit.

-Edit tags based on seasons and current trends. Try searching "Black Friday" or "Cyber Monday" and you will find a huge number of listings still tagged with this Holiday tag! Making sure that all of your tags are up-to-date, both with current trends and with seasonal tags, is very important. Tags that are out of season are wasted tags.

-Include your location in a few of your tags. This is pretty much the same as why you should include your shop name.

Coming Up With Tag Terms

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Coming up with tag terms can be a pain and a half. Here are some great tips to make that a little bit easier:

-Use a thesaurus. That's right, bust out the old thesaurus and look up synonyms! You are thinking "woodland", but a buyer might be thinking "forest"--you're thinking "nautical", they are thinking "sea side". (Don't have a thesaurus on hand? Here is a decent one online: Thesaurus.com )

-Add some adjectives people associate with a style if it fits the item: hipster, indie, rockabilly, punk, minimalist, post modern, etc.

-Think Crayola Crayons when tagging with colors. Remember the descriptive colors like cadet blue, kelly green, and burnt sienna. You'll come up in searches of basic "blue", but also in ones where a person was specific.

-Ignore terms like "ooak" for the most part. This is an extremely specific acronym and many people using Etsy have no idea what it means anyway. Don't waste your tag.

Some Helpful Links

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A word about the Tag Tool from Craftweasel by Etsy: http://etsy.me/erBFS8

and the actual Tag Tool: http://bit.ly/2RU0b5

Etsy's guidelines and tips for taggings: http://etsy.me/efHj3

**Looking for more tagging help? Most of the tips given here are fairly common tips given by Etsy sellers and admin and can be found along with various other tips elsewhere.

Author: Sarah-Lambert Cook "tuckooandmoocow"