Titles and tags are how Etsy search finds your listing in the first place. Get them wrong and a good design stays invisible. Get them right and every listing has a fair chance. The rules are short, so it pays to know them exactly.
The hard limits
| Rule | Limit |
|---|---|
| Title length | Up to 140 characters |
| Characters in a title | Letters, numbers, punctuation, math symbols, spaces, and ™ © ® |
| Special symbols in a title | % : & + can each be used only once |
| Number of tags | Up to 13 per listing |
| Tag length | Up to 20 characters each |
| Characters in a tag | Letters, numbers and spaces. Apostrophes and hyphens are allowed, but not as the first character. Accented letters are fine. |
| Listing URL | Made from the title when you first publish, and doesn't change after that |
Sources: Etsy's help page on creating a listing, its tags page, its SEO help page, and Etsy's Open API reference for the symbol rules.
What Etsy now advises for titles
Etsy's new guidance for listing titles moves away from long, stuffed titles. The main points:
- Name the item once, clearly. Say what it is in plain words.
- Put key traits first, such as color, material and size.
- Consider fewer than 15 words. Search engines show only about the first 50 to 60 characters, and Etsy search shows only the first few words.
- Don't repeat words.
- Leave subjective words out, such as "perfect" or "beautiful".
- Leave out price, shipping and sale wording.
- Mention holidays, occasions or recipients only if they define the item, and don't stack gifting phrases.
- Write for people.
One point is worth knowing: Etsy says where a phrase sits in the title doesn't affect ranking. Order still matters to people, because shoppers only see the start of the title. Etsy also offers AI title suggestions for English listings on its Search Visibility page (see Etsy's search visibility help page).
Example: a weak and a better phone case title
Weak: Cute Phone Case Phone Case for iPhone Flower Phone Case Perfect Gift for Her Gift for Mom Birthday Gift Free Shipping
It repeats "phone case" three times, opens with a subjective word, stacks three gift phrases, mentions shipping, and buries the one design word, "Flower", in the middle. It is also 21 words long.
Better: Blue Floral Phone Case, Vintage Botanical Print for iPhone 17, Samsung S25, Pixel 10
It names the item once, puts color and style first, lists the phone models it fits, and stays at 14 words. Its first 50 to 60 characters already say what it is. The gift and buyer words move to the tags, where Etsy suggests they belong when no attribute fits.
What Etsy advises for tags
From Etsy's Keywords 101 and its tags page:
- Use all 13 tags.
- Use multi-word phrases, like "floral phone case", rather than single words.
- Vary them and avoid near-duplicates.
- Don't repeat your category or attributes as tags. They already work like tags.
- Don't worry about plurals. Etsy matches root words.
- No deliberate misspellings.
- Use your shop's language, plus regional synonyms and long-tail phrases.
- Put buyer and gift terms in tags when no attribute fits them.
Example tags for the better title
floral phone case, botanical print, vintage flowers, cottagecore, arts and crafts, wildflower art, english garden, spring aesthetic, mobile cover, cell phone cover, gardener's gift, gift for mom, nature lover gift
That is 13 tags, all under 20 characters. "Mobile cover" and "cell phone cover" are regional names for the same thing, and "gardener's gift" shows that an apostrophe is fine inside a tag.
Fill in attributes and the right category
Pick the most specific subcategory you can, and fill in every attribute that fits. A listing only shows in filtered search results if it has that attribute (Etsy's attributes page). Then write a description that says what the item is in the first sentence, puts key words early, doesn't copy the title, and uses bullets or short paragraphs, as Etsy's anatomy of a well-crafted listing suggests.
Check before you publish
Paste a title and its tags into the free Etsy tag checker. It shows what is too long, repeated or not allowed, before Etsy rejects it or a buyer sees it.
How Shop Pilot writes titles and tags
Shop Pilot's listing automation writes the title, 13 tags and description with AI, for the designs in each listing. They are written together in one pass, so the tags back up what the title promises.
- A writing style per shop. You choose how titles are built, how many tags and hashtags to use, words to avoid and words to always include.
- A setup per niche. Phone cases, wall art or anything else: each niche keeps its own folder, master listing and writing style.
- Preview Copy. Read the title, tags and description before anything goes to Etsy, and change them if you want.
- The rest of the listing. The shop section and Etsy's attributes are filled in along with the copy.
- Live listings. Bulk Edit's preview shows any title Etsy would cut short or tag it would reject. See how to bulk edit Etsy listings.
Questions about Etsy titles and tags
How long can an Etsy title be?
Up to 140 characters, though Etsy suggests fewer than 15 words.
How many tags can an Etsy listing have?
Up to 13, each up to 20 characters.
Does word order in a title affect ranking?
Etsy says where a phrase sits doesn't affect ranking. Put key traits first anyway, because shoppers only see the start.
Can I change a title after a listing is live?
Yes. Editing is free under Etsy's Fees & Payments Policy, the listing URL stays the same, and Etsy says edits can take up to a day to show in search.