Tags and Keywords

[#1]

Hi everyone!

I've received a few convos asking about keywords vs. tags. Let me explain.

Tags are directly related to Etsy Search - Google (and other search engines) don't weigh tags too much (if at all), so if you are thinking about optimizing your shop for search engines - you should be thinking about the keywords you use in your titles and the very first paragraph of your item listing descriptions. More info on that here:
http://www.etsy.com/help/article/247

Tags on etsy must be single words or common compound words. I'll give you an example: "sterling silver" is a fine tag. However, "textured silver" would be two words together so that should be two tags. "Aqua blue", is fine as one tag but "red blue green" is a no-no.

I hope that helps!

Best,
Danielle

[Former_Member]

This discussion is going to be very helpful to me -- just have glanced over it right now and will go back and read in more detail -- especially about tags for colors.
Does anyone know if the order of the tags makes a difference to how the item shows up in Etsy searches?

[SleepingKnight]

I believe it was stated that the order does not make a difference. It is possible that it does make a difference outside of Etsy so I would put your most important tags first.

[TwoMoxie]

Thanks for trying to clear this up. I never thought tagging would be so confusing. Maybe it'll get easier with time and experience. I certainly hope so anyways!

[SleepingKnight]

I just wrote a blog post to help understand better how to used tags and keywords. You can find it here: http://marketmyshop.blogspot.com/2011/08/importance-of-tags-and-keywords-for.html

[GraniteMountainGems2]

After reading the updated info, I realized I have been "tag stuffing". I thought the no-no on tag stuffing was for things like "sweater" if your item is yarn, "necklace" when your item is earrings, etc. But nevermind. If we are supposed to use single word tags (unless it is a common phrase), we need more tag spots! I always run out of spots for words I want to use as it is.

Plus, for example I remember "eco earth friendly" being an encouraged tag. My jewelry is made out of reclaimed/recycled silver. I was thinking people search "eco friendly" or "earth friendly", but not likely all three together, so I guess that will take up TWO tag spots now, listing those two phrases separately. (in reality I will probably list some items with one phrase, some with the other) Why can't we have more tag spots? I can never guess which of all the relevant words I thought of will be what buyers search, makes it hard to narrow them down.

Now to re-tag all my items today. Ugh!