What is the best way to handle e-commerce Product title names?
-
Hello,
I'm having a little bit of a conundrum, and I'm hoping someone will be able to help!
We have an ecommerce site, and were trying to figure out what is the most SEO friendly way to handle product titles. With our ecommerce software, it currently sets the Product title as the H1 tag (which could be changed if needed). In addition, the product title is what is used as anchor text for any built in links that the ecommerce software builds from the category pages, etc (just like any other ecommerce site). Here's where I'm stuck. I'm trying to determine if it makes sense to use the specific keyword we are aiming for as the product title, or to put variations of the title that would be more descriptive. Here is an example:
We have a Wizard of Oz Dorothy Deluxe Girls Shoes. According to all accounts, the best keyword to attack for this would be "dorothy shoes". However, it loses the more accurate description of "Wizard of Oz Dorothy Deluxe Girl Shoes". But, my thinking is that the H1 tag and anchor text would make more sense to use the term "Dorothy Shoes".
The title tag could go something like this: "Wizard of Oz Dorothy Deluxe Girls Shoes | Dorothy Shoes"
In a situation like this, what do you think would be the "best" way to handle the title tag, product name, H1 tag, and anchor text? I'm sure there will be many different opinions, so I would like to hear what you think is best - and why.
-
People SCAN the SERPs. They don't read every single word of each and every title.
So, if you want them to read yours you better make it something other than a reallylongtonguetwisterwithapipeandcaboose
If I thought that most people are searchin' for "Dorothy Shoes" ... and some might include "Wizard of Oz" then I would have those in the title and not much else.
You don't need "girls" because very few boys are searching. And very few people are going to use "deluxe". Drop the pipe and the repetition.
... and if these shoes are the "ruby slippers" you better get that in there...
Dorothy Shoes: Ruby Slippers from the Wizard of Oz
-
Chris,
There are many factors to consider that would go into a decision here. On the one hand, if "dorothy shoes" is truly the best phrase to use to describe the products AND happens to be the best from an SEO search volume perspective, then yes, that's the way to go.
Here's a question though - could such a short phrase actually be searched by people on a large enough volume who are NOT looking to buy those? That question would need to be asked about every product. It's not just enough to base the decision on search volume. Intent is critical.
Also, if you do enough other SEO, it could be just as valid to use a longer, more descriptive title. That scenario allows you to reach a much more diverse group of people searching than that limited to a very short phrase. You'd need to have quality unique content built up to drive the importance of the shorter phrase, for example. Then again, the opposite can be achieved - using the short phrase as the product title, then building up the long tail through content and other links, for example.
What I have found personally is product titles should as a general rule, be based on what the product actually is, then using other SEO means to build focus around alternate phrase variations. So whether that's "Dorothy Shoes" or "Wizard of Oz Dorothy Shoes" (seemingly to me on first pass, the best two alternatives), that just comes across less spammy as "Wizard of Oz Dorothy Deluxe Girls Shoes | Dorothy Shoes".
Given how we need to find balance while avoiding the potential "over-optimization" now more than ever, that's my recommendation.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
What is the best way to rank for variations of your business name?
Our business name is APVelocity. We are ranking when it is typed APVelocity, however we are finding many people are typing it AP Velocity. When it is typed with a space, we are not ranking. What is the best way to ensure we show up either way?
On-Page Optimization | | mbrowntci2 -
How does Google treat Dynamic Titles?
Let's say my website can be accessed in only 3 states Colorado, Arizona and Ohio. I want to display different information to each visitor based on where they are located. For this I would also like the title to change based on their location. Not quite sure how Google we treat the title and rank the site.... Any resources you can provide would be helpful. Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | Firestarter-SEO0 -
Identifying Duplicate Page Title
Moz weekly reports, among other things, the "Duplicate Page Title". How can I identify which two urls/pages have duplicate page titles? Is there any simple way to trace?
On-Page Optimization | | Sequelmed0 -
Should I watermark my product images
I am in the process of creating new images for my products to use on my website. Are there any advantages or disadvantages of watermarking each image? Is there an SEO impact good or bad? I am aware that filename and Alt tags are important, but am unsure if google dislikes watermarked images.
On-Page Optimization | | BipSum1 -
How to fix joomla duplicate page titles??
Hello, I have been using seomoz and sh404sef for almost a month now and can't seem to figure out my duplicate page title issue on my joomla site. I have changed everything I thought necessary but no luck. I have one page that I am trying to make dissapear from duplicate page title error and if I can figure it out i'm sure I can use same fix for the other 1,000 duplicate page titles being reported in my seomoz crawl report I have one link that I am working with sef url: http://www.mysite.com/contactus.html I have used sh404sef url manager and added page title, description and keywords to this link and for 3 weeks straight now it still shows that it is duplicate page title in my seomoz crawl report Is there something that I am missing somewhere or did i setup a bad campaign that is looking at wrong things on site? I 've attached image of my sh404sef settings for this link Thanks in advance screenshot1.jpg
On-Page Optimization | | 41global0 -
Include the company/domain name in page titles and urls?
I know this isn't something that I would use site-wide but I'm wondering if it helps or hurts me to use my company name (also my domain name) in pages below the homepage. As an example, let's say I'm Home Depot. In the category pages off the homepage should I use Page names and urls like Home and Garden Supplies or Home and Garden Supplies at Home Depot? Or does it hurt me to reuse my company/domain name on multiple pages?
On-Page Optimization | | kdieruf0 -
Title, description modification?
If i make, modifications in my paget title and sescription, it's possible to will decrase my page visits? If yes, when will increase my page visits? thanks
On-Page Optimization | | rejja0