Tags, the what and why...

[ShelbyDawn57]

I should probably know this, I mean I've posted 58 stories over the last five years, but I've never used tags.

It should probably be obvious, but I'd appreciate some insight about which ones to use and why.
Should they relate to categories or I guess more to the specific activity in the story?
If to the activity, only sexual?

I'm going to leave this vague as I feel it will elicit a broader range of answers, and I'm sure everyone does it a little differently.

 

[Bamagan]

I should probably know this, I mean I've posted 58 stories over the last five years, but I've never used tags.

It should probably be obvious, but I'd appreciate some insight about which ones to use and why.
Should they relate to categories or I guess more to the specific activity in the story?
If to the activity, only sexual?

I'm going to leave this vague as I feel it will elicit a broader range of answers, and I'm sure everyone does it a little differently.

My preference for them, both as a writer and a reader, is to call attention to content that people are either likely to search for or want to avoid. Ergo, mostly fetishes or sex acts that might be considered more than one 'standard deviation' from vanilla hetsex, so to speak. In the former case, it makes it easier for people searching by tags to find the content long after it's gone from the lists. In the latter case, it's mostly a courtesy, as I don't want to spend time reading stuff I know I won't find erotic and I know my stuff is pretty niche.

If a story could easily fit in multiple categories, those are other good choices for tags. I often try to put the actual category as a tag, too, but about 50% of the time Laurel deletes those.

I stopped reading stories without tags several years ago, about the time they introduced the new interface and the tags were visible on the first page. I don't know how typical or unusual that makes me, but I know I'm not alone in that respect.

 

[alohadave]

It should probably be obvious, but I'd appreciate some insight about which ones to use and why.
Should they relate to categories or I guess more to the specific activity in the story?
If to the activity, only sexual?

If you were looking for a story like yours, what search terms would you use to find it? What would a random person use to find your story?

That's what tags are for.

 

[SimonDoom]

You should ALWAYS use tags. I can't imagine not taking advantage of tags. They will help you connect with your readers. Isn't that what every author wants? I have always used tags, and thought carefully about them, and I am very confident that it makes a difference.

1. First, consider the category in which your story will be published. Then look up the tags associated with that category in the tag section. You can see the most commonly used tags with that category.
2. Choose some tags that fit your story and that are commonly used.
3. Think about what are the MOST erotic features of your story, and choose tags that capture that.
4. Don't choose tags that are unsexy or irrelevant to what is erotic. For instance, if your story is set in Akron, Ohio, nobody is going to search for stories by looking up "Akron." It's irrelevant to the story's erotic appeal.
5. Pick titillating words.
6. Use all 10 tags available to you if you can.
7. You may want to use tags as a disclaimer to tip people off that your story may contain content they won't like. If so, choose a tag or two that will convey this. For instance, if I wrote an incest story that contained some anal activity, I would use "anal" as a tag, because some incest readers cannot stand anal activity. I would especially consider this strategy in the area of nonconsent stories.
8. It's OK to duplicate the category word. For instance, using "exhibitionist" as a tag for an exhibitionist story.
9. Look up the tags of stories that you like that have been successful.
10. If your story is similar to a popular story, look at the tags used for that story and use similar tags. People who like that story may be more likely to find yours.

 

[alohadave]

For instance, if your story is set in Akron, Ohio, nobody is going to search for stories by looking up "Akron." It's irrelevant to the story's erotic appeal.

I could see a case for a location specific tag, especially if you place several of your stories there.

I've searched for the city I live in, just out of curiosity, so it's not the worst idea if you have some to spare.

 

[RejectReality]

For the most part, you want to use tags that people are likely to search for related to the sexual content/warnings for content people will want to avoid.

In the fantasy categories, you might want to lay down some genre/action tags because those readers are as much genre readers as erotica readers.

If you've got any open tags left, some porn vid tags like 'redhead' might get you a few extra views.

 

[SimonDoom]

I could see a case for a location specific tag, especially if you place several of your stories there.

I've searched for the city I live in, just out of curiosity, so it's not the worst idea if you have some to spare.

Good point. It depends. The main point is to think about whether people are likely to search for a story using that tag. Don't use a word for a tag that describes some specific feature of a story unless you can plausibly imagine that it will actually matter to people searching for a story. And the general focus of the tags should be on the erotic aspects of the story.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

How "precise" do the tags need to be?
There is a tag for "blowjob" and "Blow jobs".
Are they effectively the same? If you have room should you use both?
How much should the issue play into the story.
For example there is a tag for "stockings".
In my last story the FMC puts on stockings, but it is done more to convey information about her. It doesn't really figure into the erotic part and are only mentioned again because she removes them later (in a non erotic way).
Is a reader going to search for stockings and feel cheated? Or is it enough that he or she knows that the FMC was wearing them when sexy time happened?

 

[SimonDoom]

I could see a case for a location specific tag, especially if you place several of your stories there.

I've searched for the city I live in, just out of curiosity, so it's not the worst idea if you have some to spare.

Also, to your point, I just did a search for stories with the tag "Akron," and there are none. But there are 319 stories that use "Paris" as a tag. It depends on the city, to some degree. Some cities are sexier than others!

 

[Bamagan]

Now that the thread has got some serious answers, let's derail
If vanilla is 'tag code' for vaginal sex, let's use chocolate for anal and strawberry for oral, and Neapolitan for a story featuring all three. I favor butterscotch for titty-fucking.
What other flavors suggest sex acts?

 

[Bamagan]

Also, to your point, I just did a search for stories with the tag "Akron," and there are none. But there are 319 stories that use "Paris" as a tag. It depends on the city, to some degree. Some cities are sexier than others!

Some might actually be in Celebs... Paris Hilton, Paris Jackson... maybe that one from the Trojan War...

 

[SimonDoom]

How "precise" do the tags need to be?
There is a tag for "blowjob" and "Blow jobs".
Are they effectively the same? If you have room should you use both?
How much should the issue play into the story.
For example there is a tag for "stockings".
In my last story the FMC puts on stockings, but it is done more to convey information about her. It doesn't really figure into the erotic part and are only mentioned again because she removes them later (in a non erotic way).
Is a reader going to search for stockings and feel cheated? Or is it enough that he or she knows that the FMC was wearing them when sexy time happened?

How important are the stockings to the story? Again, the key question to ask is, what are the most important EROTIC elements of your story? Imagine potential readers out there who are looking for your story. How do you attract them? Which tags will be most likely to snare them?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

How important are the stockings to the story? Again, the key question to ask is, what are the most important EROTIC elements of your story? Imagine potential readers out there who are looking for your story. How do you attract them? Which tags will be most likely to snare them?

That's kind of my question though, How important do they NEED to be?
Like blowjob, there is a blowjob in 95% of my stories. It's not necessarily a critical element, but it's there. So how focused is it?

 

[Kelliezgirl]

Now that the thread has got some serious answers, let's derail
If vanilla is 'tag code' for vaginal sex, let's use chocolate for anal and strawberry for oral, and Neapolitan for a story featuring all three. I favor butterscotch for titty-fucking.
What other flavors suggest sex acts?

Please no, the tags are confusing enough already.

 

[Bamagan]

That's kind of my question though, How important do they NEED to be?
Like blowjob, there is a blowjob in 95% of my stories. It's not necessarily a critical element, but it's there. So how focused is it?

I personally would probably only include that as a tag if it is either the only major sex act that occurs in the story, or at least the most prominent one. It might sneak in if I can't think of ten better ones. Oh, and maybe I would replace it with butter pecan.

 

[AG31]

I should probably know this, I mean I've posted 58 stories over the last five years, but I've never used tags.

It should probably be obvious, but I'd appreciate some insight about which ones to use and why.
Should they relate to categories or I guess more to the specific activity in the story?
If to the activity, only sexual?

I'm going to leave this vague as I feel it will elicit a broader range of answers, and I'm sure everyone does it a little differently.

I use tags to find stories across categories. Take CFNM or Public Display or Nudity. They could show up in several categories.

 

[ElectricBlue]

That's kind of my question though, How important do they NEED to be?
Like blowjob, there is a blowjob in 95% of my stories. It's not necessarily a critical element, but it's there. So how focused is it?

What are the other sexual elements in the story? If there are more than ten, and blow-jobs are the least important, then you've run out of room.

If your story is, say, a fetish story, list the fetishes first, because that's what the punters will be looking for.

Think like a perverted reader, what are they looking for? .

 

[AG31]

Also, to your point, I just did a search for stories with the tag "Akron," and there are none. But there are 319 stories that use "Paris" as a tag. It depends on the city, to some degree. Some cities are sexier than others!

I can think of some very sexy things that have happened in Akron. No, I don't live there (anymore).

 

[SimonDoom]

That's kind of my question though, How important do they NEED to be?
Like blowjob, there is a blowjob in 95% of my stories. It's not necessarily a critical element, but it's there. So how focused is it?

Only you know your story, so only you can answer this. When your story is done, step back, and think hard about what are the most essential erotic elements of the story. What's most likely to please readers? What will they be looking for? What makes your story DISTINCTIVELY erotic? Put yourself in the position of a reader who is looking for a story, and they want what your story is offering. How do you lead them to your story?

 

[lc69hunter]

I am answering as a reader and commenter. (I am currently #12 all time on LIT as a commenter, so I read a lot).

I use them a lot, as sometimes the Title doesn't give me enough information about the story to get my interest. However, thinking about it, sometimes I use them more to know what not to read. I do not use the Search and Tags portals much, but they are important to get your work out there. As mentioned before, use a broad brush on the tags, but be sure to tag the non-vanilla stuff

 

[TxRad]

Here's a thought.... Go to your local library and ask the lady behind the desk to look something up using tags.

 

[PennameWombat]

Tags are free form, thus there's nothing to prevent one author using "blowjob" and another using "blow job". Tag searches are not case sensitive, "BlowJob" will match to "blowjob" but not to "blow job".

If you go to the Tags page, https://tags.literotica.com/, it'll list tags based on usage. The text sizes of each tag listed are based on relative usage, so far as I've been able to find out. The larger the relative text size, the more often it's been used.

You can either look at the general list or select a category, and it'll show you relative tag usage in that category.

As to usage, I'll include for the various sex acts. For something like "stockings", if they're involved in the story because they're a specific attraction, I'll mention them, if i have a spare tag to use. If a character wears them and it gets mentioned in passing, I won't.

It's a judgement call.

 

[RetroFan]

Two of the major weaknesses of the tag system as I see it is when authors use:

1. Tags that are so generic that they are redundant such as 'sex', 'incest' and ''fetish'.
2. Tags that are so obscure nobody would search for them in a million years.

There are so many different types of incest pairings that using 'incest' for your story becomes redundant for a story such as 'Daddy & Daughter Join Mile High Club', the content of which is obvious by its title. Fetish becomes even more meaningless because there are so many fetishes that appeal to so many different people. For example, readers searching for stories about girls having their periods would look for tags associated with menstruation; those wanting to read stories about subservient men being dominated by aggressive women would look for other related tags to this content; while those for whom reading a story about fully intact, fit alpha males sodomizing overweight eunuch males has them wetting their pants with a substance far denser than urine would look for other tags again.

Tags that nobody searches for as an example might be 'Girl In Manor House', used for a story about an idle rich and overly-indulged aristocratic girl with a healthy sex drive set in a manor house in England in the early 1900s. Nobody would ever search for 'Girl In Manor House', but they would look up tags like 'Rich Girl', "Aristocrat', 'Spoiled', 'Socialite', 'Heiress', 'England", 'Edwardian' or '1900s' if wanting to read a story like this.

 

[LonRivers]

It may have been covered here already, but Tags enable your story or stories to be placed in several categories on Literotica. If you add, for example, "Lesbian" and "Group Sex" tags to your story, your story can be found in those two categories when someone is browsing. The more tags, the more listings.

 

[ElectricBlue]

It may have been covered here already, but Tags enable your story or stories to be placed in several categories on Literotica. If you add, for example, "Lesbian" and "Group Sex" tags to your story, your story can be found in those two categories when someone is browsing. The more tags, the more listings.

A story can only be posted into one category, but I get that you're saying tags can flag other erotic elements, in addition to the category it's in.