Etsy search runs on tags more than almost any other field — a listing using all 13 available tags with specific, relevant phrases consistently outperforms one using a handful of generic terms, regardless of how good the photos or pricing are.
Because Etsy spans three quite different listing types — handmade goods, vintage items and craft supplies — each with its own disclosure fields and category conventions, we confirm which type each product falls under before writing a single tag, rather than applying one approach across a mixed shop.
Shops that have grown organically over a few years often have the most to gain here: early listings written before the seller understood Etsy's tag system tend to sit quietly underperforming until someone goes back and fixes them.