please explain tags to me

[Former_Member]

Hi everyone,

I'm still not completely clear on how to make the most of product tags.

Should there be a mixture of key words and phrases or should I focus completely on search phrases my customers will use?

I don't want to miss out key words and end up in fewer searches but I l do want to get to the customers that really want my stuff.

For instance if I write 'freshwater pearl necklace' and someone searches 'pearl necklace' will my item not show up in the search or does it count just because it's in the phrase?

Please help, thanks everyone,

Tabs

[Former_Member]

Maybe this will help :)

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2011/make-your-shop-more-relevant/

[Former_Member]

I'm feeling the same way, Tabitha! Every time I think I understand, I don't really. i'm better at the keyword/title than tags. Tags I am clueless about. I use them all... I use synonyms and descriptive terms... but that still usually means one-word tags. I also am curious about if someone doesn't search an exact phrase like "waterproof makeup bag" and just does "makeup bag," does it still show up in their search?
Nicole, I read the link and it was really helpful about keywords/titles... but still need info on specific tagging procedures and what you/others do?

[Former_Member]

I'm with you on this Karly, I've read that blog through and I still don't know whether using a phrase in tags will show up in shorter searches.

I guess I have too much of a numbers brain, I just want to know how these search computers work! hehe

[Former_Member]

Firstly I think you need to sit down and have a bit of a brainstorm about words and phrases that would describe your items. Then start writing these things in the Etsy search bar and it will bring up frequently searched phrases - pick out appropriate phrases from what you see here.

If you have similar items, then spread different tags amongst your items, then after a week or two check back in your stats to see what is working for your items and go back and change things around based on the stats.

Also, if you google "google keywords" and you can find out how well searched phrases are in google. (this is more useful for titles than tags though, as this is where search engines search)