Product title optimization

At first, balancing the demands of each, shoppers vs. marketplace search engines, may seem confusing and challenging. But with time and practice you will get better and better at it. So keep on and product title optimization will become natural to your listing process.

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Product title optimization is one of the keys to driving traffic to your listing. But this process may be a bit confusing and somewhat frustrating. Don’t worry, in this article we will guide you on how to properly optimize your listing titles for different marketplaces.

Importance of Product Title Optimization

Product titles play a major role in eCommerce success for several reasons:

1. They are the first thing shoppers see of the listing, and first impression is everything;
2. They signal to shoppers what the listing itself is about;
3. They have a critical role in SEO, and without proper titles, shoppers will never see your listings.

For these reasons, sellers should devote plenty of attention to creating product titles. However, creating engaging and informative titles is only part of the process. Rather, sellers should familiarize themselves with the SEO practices of each marketplace they operate in, and optimize titles accordingly, for optimized performance in each marketplace.   

Optimizing Product Titles

Sellers must keep in mind that product titles are not only read by shoppers, but that marketplace search engines also rely on them for result ranking. At first, balancing the demands of each (shoppers v. marketplace search engines) may seem confusing and challenging. But with time and practice you will get better and better at it. So keep on and product title optimization will become natural to your listing process. 

Following are some important tips on how to create efficient product titles:

Create Clear and Informative Title - The more sellers understand what the listing is about - the higher the conversion rates. When creating product titles, sellers should put themselves in their customers’ place and include in the titles all the information they think shoppers may find important to make a purchasing decision.  

Start With the Best Keywords - due to the fact that some marketplaces limit the number of title characters appearing in the search results page (and also to today’s short attention span), the best and most important keywords should appear at the beginning of the title, so the listing’s content is absolutely clear.

For instance, instead of “size L hand-stitched black leather jacket”, a much better option will be “leather jacket black hand-stitched size L”.

Conduct Marketplace Search Engine Optimization - while it is important for the title to make clear what the product on sale is, it should also help the listing be more discoverable in marketplaces’ search engines (as well as in Google). In order to attract their algorithms to showcase your listing, add relevant keywords and keyphrases to the title, as well as brand and model name, and unique attributes.

Proofread Your Titles - go over the titles you created and make sure there are not errors, typos, misspelled words, and that overall the title is clear and legible, and inspires confidence. Also, in order for the listing to look more professional, avoid using all caps words, and any special characters or emojis.

Sellers must remember that each marketplace has its own set of criteria, and every marketplace search engine has a unique algorithm that focuses on different parameters. 

Let’s focus on title optimization by the marketplace. 

Product Title Optimization by Marketplaces

eBay - the best practice calls for the use of all 80 characters eBay allows in its listing titles. As suggested earlier, the most important keywords should be placed at the beginning of the title, and sellers should ensure the remaining characters highlight other important attributes of the product. 

It is important to note that eBay’s 80-character limit is one of the most stringent in eCommerce, and this might pose a challenge for sellers who wish to transfer listings from other marketplaces to eBay. This often means that titles should be shortened to meet eBay’s limit.

Remember that optimizing product titles is only one step in eBay SEO. Once you have your titles, continue to other aspects of eBay SEO. 

Etsy - While Etsy limits the number of characters in the title to 140, it is recommended to create a title using 80-120 characters. This allows sellers enough space to include important keywords and essential information, while still keeping the title readable. 

We have already recommended generally refraining from using all caps and special characters, but here it is crucial, because it is against Etsy’s policy. If a seller happens to use one of these in a listing he or she transfers to Etsy from another channel, Etsy might reject the entire listing. That is why it is highly important to understand each marketplace’s rules.    

Amazon - Amazon has four rules to avoid search-suppression of a listing:

1. Titles must follow the recommended length of their specific product category characters, including spaces.
2. Titles cannot contain promotional phrases, such as "free shipping", "100% quality guaranteed".
3. Titles must not contain characters for decoration, such as ~ ! * $ ? _ ~ { } # < > | * ; ^ ¬ ¦
4. Titles must contain product-identifying information, such as "hiking boots" or "umbrella".

Keeping within these limits will ensure your listings will appear on searches, but here are some additional tips to improve your Amazon titles:

• Do not use all caps. Capitalize only the first letter of each word.
• Place the brand name at the beginning of the title.
• Use numerals instead of words (“1” instead of “one”)
• Don't use subjective commentary, such as "Best product" or "Reliable Seller"

Titles are one of the first things shoppers see of the listing, and we have only a moment to create a good impression. But while the title serves to attract shoppers to the listings, they are also used by the marketplace to measure the relevance of the listing compared to what the shopper searched for. Title optimization can help sellers increase the chances that the relevant listings will reach the shoppers who are interested in them. But remember, each channel may have different rules, so getting to know these rules and following them is crucial.