Why your Etsy tags are not working

Etsy gives every listing thirteen tags at twenty characters each. That is 260 characters of search space per listing, and most shops use less than half of it.

Empty slots

An empty slot is a search you cannot appear in. There is no penalty for filling all thirteen, so there is no reason not to.

Single words

Shoppers type phrases. A tag of one broad word puts you behind every large shop in the category. A three-word phrase puts you in front of a smaller, readier group of buyers.

Thirteen versions of one idea

If every tag repeats the same modifier, twelve of them are doing the work of one. Spread the slots across who it is for, what the occasion is, the style, and the material.