A tag generator gives you a useful first draft, but its list still needs editing before it goes into a listing: check each suggestion for relevance to this exact item, for Etsy's 20-character limit, and for overlap with your other tags and your title. Keep the phrases a buyer of this item would really type, swap near-duplicates for different searches, and you end up with 13 tags that each do separate work.
This is for sellers who paste generator output straight into the tag field and move on. Generated lists often look full while repeating one idea several times, or include words that describe a different product altogether. A short edit per listing is the difference between 13 tags and 13 different searches.
What Etsy's tag rules give you to work with
Etsy's limits are short and strict. You can use up to 13 tags per listing, each tag can contain up to 20 characters, and tags can only include letters, numbers and spaces. Apostrophes and hyphens are allowed inside a tag but cannot start one.
The same help article gives the strategy in one line: "To increase your search visibility, use a diverse array of tags." It also says tags suit buyer-minded phrases such as "gift for her", and that "Tags are helpful when there's no matching attribute". Etsy's attributes guidance adds: "Fill out both attributes and tags for your listings." Those lines are the test every generated tag has to pass.
Check 1: does the tag describe this item
A generator starts from a seed keyword, not from your design, so some of what it returns fits the category but not the listing. Read each tag and ask whether a buyer who typed it would be glad to land on this exact product. Remove anything that names a different product type (a "hoodie" tag on a tee), a style you are not selling, or an occasion the design has nothing to do with.
Single broad words are the other common miss. "Shirt" or "gift" on its own describes a huge range of unrelated listings, while a short phrase that says what, for whom or in what style tells search far more about yours. Drop any brand, character, celebrity or team name a tool suggests, too. They belong to someone else, and Etsy warns that repeat reports of infringement may result in the loss of account privileges.
Check 2: does it fit in 20 characters
Long-tail suggestions often run past the limit. Count the spaces as well as the letters, then cut the phrase back to the words that carry the meaning: "funny hiking shirt for men" has 26 characters, "funny hiking shirt" has 18. If the part you cut matters, give it a tag of its own instead of squeezing it in.
Check the characters themselves as well. Generators sometimes return "&", "#" or commas inside a phrase, while Etsy's tag field accepts only letters, numbers and spaces, plus apostrophes and hyphens inside a word.
Check 3: does it repeat another tag, the title or an attribute
This is where most slots are wasted. A generated list will often contain the same phrase in a different word order ("hiking shirt funny"), as a spelling variant ("hiking tshirt") or in singular and plural. Etsy's tags article does not cover plurals or misspellings, so rather than betting slots on variants, spend them on searches the set does not cover yet.
The title deserves the same look. Etsy's tags article does not say whether tags should repeat title words, and we go through the trade-offs in should your Etsy tags repeat the words in your title. Our habit is to let one or two tags echo the main phrase and use the rest for what the 140-character title could not fit. Attributes work the same way: if the colour attribute already says black, a "black t shirt" tag adds little. Our guide to Etsy listing attributes shows which ones to fill first.
Check 4: read the 13 as one set
Once each tag passes on its own, read the 13 as a set. A balanced set usually covers what the item is, who it is for, the style or theme, the feeling or humour, and an occasion only when the design truly fits one. Gaps show up quickly this way: if nothing says who the shirt is for, a phrase like "gift for hiker" is missing. For the rules behind every slot, our guide to how many tags you can use on Etsy explains all 13.
Here is a worked example, a generated set for a t-shirt with a retro mountain illustration and a hiking joke, with the problem in each tag and the replacement we would use:
| Generated tag | Problem | Edited tag |
|---|---|---|
| hiking | One word, too broad | hiking lover gift |
| funny hiking shirt for men | 26 characters, over the limit | funny hiking shirt |
| hiking shirt funny | Same words as the tag above | retro mountain shirt |
| hiking tshirt | Spelling variant of a kept phrase | gift for hiker |
| camping & hiking | The "&" is not allowed | outdoor adventure |
| black t shirt | Repeats the colour attribute | nature lover shirt |
| best hiking gift ever | Subjective, says nothing about the item | backpacking shirt |
| hoodie | Wrong product for this listing | mountain hiking tee |
Every edited tag is 20 characters or fewer, and no two of them would be typed for the same reason. Etsy advises keeping subjective words such as "perfect" out of titles, and the same reasoning keeps "best" out of a tag.
How Alomations writes tags in a listing run
In Alomations, tags are written as part of the listing run rather than generated on their own. From your design and your template, the run writes a buyer-intent title within Etsy's 140 characters, all 13 tags and a description, applies the template (product, price, variations, profiles), fills Etsy listing attributes from the product, and publishes to Etsy live or as a draft, which is one setting on the run. If you like to read the tags before buyers see them, choose draft.
SEO preferences let you set your title length and tag style once, and every run follows them, so you are not editing the same habits into each listing by hand. The details are in how Alomations writes titles, 13 tags and descriptions, and the features page shows the rest of the run.
Frequently asked questions
Are the search volumes shown by tag generators real numbers?
Treat them as estimates. Each keyword tool builds its volume figures in its own way, so compare tags within one tool rather than across tools. Our explainer on how Etsy keyword tools estimate search volume shows where the numbers come from.
Should I always fill all 13 tags?
Etsy allows up to 13, and an empty slot is a search you are not covering. A tag that does not fit the item is no better than an empty slot, though, so fill the set with phrases that pass the checks above.
Should my tags be in English?
Write tags in the language your buyers search in. Etsy translates listings automatically, and you can add your own translations of tags for the languages you add in Shop Manager (source).
Can I use brand or character names as tags?
We advise against it. Use original phrases that describe your own design. Names that belong to someone else invite infringement reports, and repeat reports can cost you account privileges.
To see 13 tags written for one of your own designs, start a run on the Alomations free plan.