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
-
Best way to move traffic/juice from one page to another?
I’ve got some pages that provide information on some companies in my website topic space, and also corresponding pages that allow users to rate and review those companies. So, for example: Company A information Company A reviews Company B information Company B reviews Google searches for “Company A” or “Company B” generally result in my information page ranking #2 behind the actual company’s website, and the reviews page ranking #3. (Probably not good to have two pages ranking for the same keyword in positions 2 and 3). The information pages do very well in Adsense while the review pages do not. The review pages have always had comments open for reviews, and I’ve just recently opened the information pages to comments. This has resulted in less of a need for the reviews pages as the comments on the Information pages are now serving the same purpose. I can even add a star rating to the information pages if I want so the review pages are completely unnecessary. So, I’d rather strengthen my information pages 1) to more solidify their rankings, and 2) get more visitors there than the review pages as they convert way better in Adsense. Question is, what is the best way to proceed? Option 1: remove internal linking to the review pages (I have sidebar links too), so less link juice just naturally goes to the review pages. On the review pages, direct people to click the link to the information page to go there instead. Eventually, the review pages will fall off the front page of the SERPs and people will just go to my #2 ranked company information page instead (and maybe #1 if I’m lucky, but doubt I’ll get ahead of the brand). Option 2: 301 Redirect the review pages to the information pages. Functionally, this would work well for me, but I fear that Google may not like it for some reason. My information pages are ranked so well that I do not want to risk them dropping. Are these fears unfounded? Is either of these two options better than the other, or does anyone have a better idea? Whatever I do, I don’t want those company information pages dropping from their #2 positions.
On-Page Optimization | | bizzer0 -
Blank Title and Description Tags
Hi guys. Some times web platforms that I do work on have pages that I normally do not optimize. They more often than not have blank meta titles and meta descriptions. If I put titles and descriptions on these pages, no matter how minor, would it help the site as a whole to rank better? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | oomdomarketing0 -
Homepage title on pages/posts title
I want to see the title of the page/post. Right now it is indexing it like page name / homepage name site:forumlist.info Brief info about site
On-Page Optimization | | csfarnsworth
Build in wordpress
SEO Plugin "All in one SEO pack" Settings snapshot are available below http://i.imgur.com/G278Y1Z.png http://imgur.com/gb0YQUO http://imgur.com/fbXQgd1 http://imgur.com/atj3AS4 Anyone can guide me how to fix it?0 -
How would you target alternative names for your product with the use of internal/landing pages?
Recently, there has been some new industry names that have emerged for the type of software we provide and we want to make sure that we rank for those terms (of course!). The 3 names combined are too long for a title tag and would look odd to incl all 3 in the homepage. Any suggestions (or examples) of how this could done without looking spammy? I also don't really know where to put this within our website. e.g. enterprise portal, enterprise information portal (EIP) or corporate portal Any suggestions would be most welcome
On-Page Optimization | | alexpeps0 -
Best way to do a 301 redirect when the incorrect page has rank and FB likes
Due to a site structural problem with our CMS we have alot of duplicate content pages (1 page, with multiple urls). We are in the process of setting up 301 redirects to correct the problem. Meanwhile; one of the pages with the "incorrect" URL happens to be the page google favors and also has about 100 FB "likes". The question is: Are we better off keeping the "incorrect" URL for that particular page and redirect the other url to it? Both have a page rank of 3. Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | foodsleuth0 -
SEO Titles and Keyword Density
Hey guys, I'm doing some on page SEO for a few clients and I've always wondered about this question. I have read tons of articles on the perfect <title>tag, but they don't often mention this.</p> <p>So my titles, like most others follow this format:</p> <p>Keyword 1 | Keyword 2 - Company</p> <p>So say for example I am trying to rank for 'life insurance' and 'life insurance quote' for 'axa sunlife'.</p> <p>It's my assumption that the title should be:</p> <p>Life Insurance Quote - Axa Sunlife</p> <p>rather than:</p> <p>Life Insurance | Life Insurance Quote - Axa Sunlife</p> <p>Am I right in thinking that putting it twice has no added value, and could in fact have an adverse effect?</p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>Lewis.</p> <p> </p></title>
On-Page Optimization | | SEOMyGod0 -
A good title for each page on my website.
Dear SEOs, I know these facts: a) not more than 70 chars b) relevant to the page subject - probably best keyword at the beginning My problem - should I rebuild the current structure of my titles which is: Main Page keywords (in my case 4) | domain name - Main Page Sub-page - one click from main page keywords (again same 4) | domain name - Sub Page Name (or as you like Category Name) Specific page with an article / content keywords (again same 4 as on any other) | domain name - category name - title of article same as used in tag To be more precise, should this title be changed for following pages: Sub Page - where really it's page that let's you chose particular subjects (there will be few article for each subjects) so should the keywords be changed to - "chose your category" Specific page with an article - should the category name - title of article be completely removed and first part of title which at the moment contains same 4 keywords used on main page be replaced with keywords specific for the content ? To be honest I find those titles at the moment bit confusing and sort of illogical. But since I can't really change anything in the code I would like to know what's the right way before I keep pressing on the programmer 🙂 Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | lolskizz0 -
Comments on Title Tag
New to this and I'm working on a title tag. I was wondering if any one had opinions/input on if this looks good/bad/ugly. I replaced the actual name of the client with "Ranch Name" Guest Ranch Dude Ranch Wyoming Jackson Hole Activities RANCH NAME Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | dbaxa-2613380