The two numbers
- Tags: 13 tags per listing.
- Tag length: up to 20 characters per tag, spaces included.
These are the limits this guide uses for Etsy: title 140 characters, 13 tags, 20 characters per tag. If your Etsy listing editor shows a different limit, the editor wins.
A 5-step method
These steps are this guide's own suggestions, not rules published by Etsy.
- List the facts. Write down what the item is, its material, its colour, its size, its use and the occasion it suits. Use only facts that are true of the item.
- Turn each fact into a phrase. This guide suggests 2 to 3 words per tag, each 20 characters or fewer, pairing the fact with the item name: "stoneware" becomes "stoneware mug".
- Drop duplicates. If two phrases say the same thing, keep one and free the slot.
- Count. Count the characters in every phrase, spaces included, and count the phrases. A phrase over 20 characters has to be shortened or split into two tags.
- Fill the unused slots. If fewer than 13 phrases remain, go back to the list in step 1 and add a synonym, a second use or a second occasion until every slot holds a phrase.
One worked example
Fictional listing made for illustration; not a real seller. Shop: Alder Lane Clay (invented shop name). Item: a fluted sage green stoneware mug, 14 oz, matte glaze.
Before
Tags (7)
After
Tags (13), with the character count of each
How the steps produced the 13 tags
Facts to phrases: the material gave "ceramic mug" and "stoneware mug", the colour gave "sage green mug", the size gave "14 oz mug", the uses gave "coffee mug" and "tea mug", and the occasion gave "housewarming gift" and "pottery gift".
Single words replaced: "mug", "green" and "cup" were three tags in the before set. In the after set they sit inside phrases such as "green coffee cup".
Count: the longest tag is "housewarming gift" at 17 characters, so all 13 are at or under 20.
More tag sets
The Etsy Title & Tag Formula Pack holds 20 title formulas and 20 tag sets of 13 tags each. It is one of the 3 Markdown files in the bundle below.