Last updated 2/27/2022

Why Are Story Tags Important?

Story tags on Kindle Vella are important because tags are currently the primary way that readers find new stories organically. And by organically, I mean they’re finding the stories on Vella and are not being sent to the story from social media or advertising or any other link. There are only a handful of tags that readers can access from the front page of Vella. These are:

• Romance
• Fantasy
• Adventure
• Mystery
• Love
• Magic
• Humor
• Thriller
• Suspense
• Action
• Drama
• Horror
• Steamy
• Paranormal
• Science Fiction
• Coming of Age
• Crime
• Supernatural
• Fiction
• Young Adult
• Murder
• Family
• Contemporary Romance
• Enemies to Lovers
• Dystopian

These are the most popular tags. You can also click “Browse all popular tags” and be taken to an even longer list of tags. But because you can tag anything (almost anything, please familiarize yourself with KDP’s guidelines on tags here) there are even more tags than that that exist but that aren’t easy to access for the reader. If a tag is rarely used, it won’t appear on either the front page tag list or the more tag page list. But these less popular tags can have value as well! We’ll go over that in a moment.

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How To Use Story Tags for Your Story

So you get seven tags for your story. But it’s important to note that the tags are different than the categories that you can choose for your story. For instance, my story “Behind the Wallpaper” is categorized as Paranormal/Mystery. It will appear on both the Paranormal and Mystery category pages which can be found here:

But it will NOT appear on the tag pages for Paranormal and Mystery unless I specifically tag them.

Some authors have chosen to tag their stories with the same tag as their categories. I have not. I’m taking my chances on my story ranking better on less popular (but still popular) tags. I’ll go into that more in a moment, but having the same categories and tags is a personal choice you’ll have to consider for your own story.

The tags on Vella serve two purposes. To help readers find your story, and to indicate to the reader what the story may be about once they find it. Remember the popular tag list and the less popular tag list and the tags that aren’t as popular? I believe that you should use a combination of all three while tagging your story.

Getting your story seen is paramount. I would recommend using at least five of the popular tags that are shown on the front page of Vella. Only use tags that actually apply to your story. Do NOT tag your story as Romance if it does not have romantic content just to rank. Not only will you be creating a negative reader experience, but your story will now be competing against stories that actually have that content and your story will probably rank poorly on the tag anyway.

The popular tags will help your story be found. However, because these tags are popular, there will be a lot of competition on these tags and if you struggle to rank on them, your story might not be seen.

Remember all the categories that also have a tag? Those categories/tags will have the fiercest competition. So choose mostly popular tags that are NOT also categories. Unless your story is ranking super well in a category and you want to kill it in a tag too, then do that! But you will have a better chance of being found and being seen on those tag pages.

Once you’ve chosen enough tags to be found, you should also choose a tag or two that is specific to the content of your story. For me, that tag is “Haunted House.” No one is going to find my story from that tag because that tag page will be difficult to find on Vella, but once you’ve already found my story, the tag “haunted House” lets you know exactly what kind of story it is.

Which Tags Should You Chose?

The tags you chose for your story will vary based on your genre and the content of your story. I’ve heard people say that the order of your tags also matters, with the first tags used, given more weight in ranking. I’m not sure if this is true or not, but just in case, I order my tags so that the tags I most want to rank in I put first.

As an example, the tags I’ve used for “Behind the Wallpaper” are:

• Horror
• Haunted House
• Supernatural
• Thriller
• Suspense
• Drama
• Mae MacCallum

Horror is the most important tag for my story, and the tag I’m most concerned with ranking well on, so I’ve put that first. So why did I put “Haunted House” as my second tag?

When you look at Vella on mobile, you are shown only the story’s cover, the story categories, the title, the episode count, the thumbs up count, and the first two tags. I want my second tag to be the specific tag, so that at a glance, a reader knows generally, what kind of story this is. Then I’ve chosen a variety of popular tags to help my story be found. I’m also using an author tag.

Should You Use An Author Tag?

If you have more than one story, and you feel like you can spare the tag, then I would recommend using an author tag. This is a workaround for Vella not currently offering author pages. The author tag creates one page with a list of your stories that readers can find.

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Where Will Your Story Appear On The Tag Page?

I have no insider knowledge from Amazon or KDP. Everything I have to say about tag rank is based purely on my observations since Vella’s launch and on the basic amount of information KDP has given.

But I believe that similar to the algorithm that determines bonuses, ranking on a tag page is determined by follows, episodes read, episodes unlocked, thumbs up, faves, episode posting frequency, and how new a story is. Generally, if your story is doing well, you will rank well on your tag pages. The only thing I’ve found that can boost your rank without getting more reads or follows is posting episodes more frequently. And when a story is new, sometimes it will get some time on the first page, and then depending on how it does it will stay or move back a few pages.

Truthfully though, the tag ranking algorithm is a mystery and something Amazon does not want us to figure out 100%. Try not to focus too much on tag rank (I know it’s hard. I’ve been a little obsessed with tag rank.) Focus on getting your story found and read, and then your rank will improve organically.

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What Should You Do Now?

Take a look at the tags you’re using on your story. Which tags are you ranking well on? How many popular tags are you using? How many specific tags are you using? Can you see a specific tag when your story is listed that gives the reader an idea of what your story is about?

If your story is doing well and being found and read that’s amazing! Keep doing what’s working for you. If you feel like you’re story is still struggling, maybe take a look at your tags and make sure they’re working well for your story.

If you have any questions please comment below.

Good luck!