Shopify Product Tags: What they are and why you should use them

Shopify Product Tags: What They Are and Why You Should Use Them

If you’re new to Shopify, you’ve probably seen the word “tags” pop up when you’re adding or editing your products and maybe wondered what on earth to do with them. They’re simple once you know how they work, and they can make running your shop a whole lot easier.

Let’s go through what product tags are, why they’re useful, and how to use them in a way that actually helps your business.

What Are Product Tags?

Product tags are little labels that help you organise, search, and manage your products in Shopify. Think of them as sticky notes you attach to each item so you can find and group things more easily later.

For example, if you sell handmade candles, you might tag products with words like “lavender”, “gift set”, “summer collection”, or “sale”. You can then use these tags to filter products in your admin area, or to help customers find what they’re looking for more easily in your shop.

You can use up to 250 tags per product, and each tag can be up to 255 characters long (though shorter is definitely better). Tags can only include letters, numbers, and hyphens and they’re not case-sensitive, which means Summer and summer count as the same thing.

Why Tags Are Useful

Tags might sound like a small thing, but they’re surprisingly powerful. Here’s why they’re worth using:

1. Organisation made easy
Tags let you group products that share something in common — for example “Autumn Range”, “Bestseller”, or “Under £20”. When your shop starts to grow, having a clear tagging system makes it much easier to stay on top of things.  This is key - customer experience is everything on your website and can be the difference between making sales and not making sales!

2. Faster searches (for you and your customers)
In your Shopify admin, you can search by tag to quickly find a group of products. On your live site, depending on your theme setup, tags can also be used to help customers filter results so they can narrow down what they’re looking for without endless scrolling.

3. Smarter product management
Tags make bulk edits a breeze. Want to put everything in your “Summer Sale” tag on sale at once? Or update all your “Gift Set” products with a new description? Tags make that kind of admin work much simpler and faster.

4. Better internal organisation
Even if you don’t use tags publicly on your site, they can help behind the scenes. You can tag items with things like “Restock Needed”, “Supplier A”, or “To Photograph” to keep track of where products are in your workflow.

Best Practices for Tagging

Tags only work well if you’re consistent. Here are a few quick tips to help you get the most out of them:

• Create a clear system – decide on a few categories or naming rules and stick to them. For example, if you’re tagging colours, always write “blue” instead of sometimes “blue” and sometimes “navy blue”.
• Keep them short and simple – avoid using full sentences or overly specific tags. One or two words is usually enough.
• Think like your customer – if you do use tags for filtering, consider what people might actually search for (e.g. “gifts for her”, “eco-friendly”, “under £30”).
• Don’t overdo it – Shopify allows up to 250 tags per product, but that doesn’t mean you need to use them all. Stick to what’s genuinely useful.
• Be descriptive, not repetitive – make sure each tag adds something meaningful.

How to Add or Edit Tags in Shopify

You can add tags while you’re creating a product, or later on from the product list in your admin area.

Here’s how:

1. Go to Products in your Shopify admin.

2. Select the product you’d like to tag.

3. In the Tags section, type your chosen tags (separate them with commas).

4. Click Save when you’re done.

You can also use Shopify’s bulk editor to add or remove tags from several products at once — which is handy when you’re managing a larger shop or running seasonal updates.

For a full guide straight from Shopify, have a look at their official help article here.

A Few Examples to Get You Started

Here are a few ideas for how different businesses might use product tags:

For a candle shop:

• Scented, Unscented, Gift Set, Winter, Relaxation, Refill

For a clothing brand:

• New In, Cotton, Made in UK, Petite, Wedding Guest, Limited Edition

For a coaching business selling downloads or courses:

• Digital Product, Mindset, Mini Course, Bundle, Freebie

For a homeware shop:

• Handmade, Ceramic, Dining, Kitchen, Local Maker, Sustainable

The key is to make tagging work for you. It’s there to make managing your shop smoother, quicker and easier — not to give you another task to stress about.

Final Thoughts

Product tags might seem like a small detail, but they play a big part in how organised, searchable and efficient your Shopify store can be. Once you get into the habit of using them properly, you’ll save yourself time, keep your shop tidy, and make it easier for your customers to find exactly what they’re looking for.