How To Write And Optimize Your Amazon Product Titles

Writing the perfect Amazon product title can be tricky. Some people think keeping your titles short is better, while others think that keyword stuffing them is the way to go. So, how should you write yours?

Similar to Google, Amazon has it’s own internal search engine that uses a variety of factors to determine your listing’s search ranking. Your product title is one of the factors that influence your listing’s ranking. Thus, the first step to increasing your product’s chances of being found is to imagine yourself as your target shopper.

What do I mean by this?

The most common way shoppers search for items is by typing the product in Amazon’s search bar. Because the words in your title are indexed by Amazon’s internal search engine, they are searchable by shoppers. This means it’s extremely important that your title is optimized so that your product ranks higher and is more likely to be found by target shoppers.

Important Things to Include in Your Product Titles

All product categories should have your brand and product name but other attributes may include:

• Model number
• ​Variant or color
• ​Materials
• Unit size, quantity (if there are multiple sizes or it’s part of a bulk package)

So if you’re selling shirts, you can state your brand first and then briefly describe it, mentioning the specific group (men’s), materials (cotton), and shirt type (t-shirt). But you should also highlight any unique aspects of your product to make it stand out from the competition. For example, if your shirt is “quick dry” or is part of a bundle or set, you should definitely mention that in your title.

Always make your product titles as clear as possible and never sacrifice clarity over keyword stuffing. Keyword stuffing your titles not only make them difficult to read for shoppers, Amazon may suspend your listing.

Here’s an example of a good product title according to Amazon’s style guide:

It’s clear, concise, and shoppers know exactly where they’re buying. The fact that it’s expandable is also a nice feature.

And here’s what not to do:

Amazon’s Product Title Recommendations

As of July 15, 2015, Amazon has implemented a 200-character title limit for all categories. Titles over 200 characters will have their listings suppressed from search and browse results. This means that shoppers won’t be able to find your listings until you have shortened your title to less than 200 characters.

When creating new listings, make sure that your title is within those character limits. Also, check that all of your current listings are under 200 characters. Depending on your category, your character limits may be even lower. For example, some product categories only have an 80 character limit, such as Clothing & Accessories, so be sure to check what your product category’s limitations are.

Here are Amazon’s guidelines of what to include in your title:

• Capitalize the first letter of each word
• ​Spell out measure words such as Ounce, Inch, and Pound
• ​All numbers should be numerals (3 instead of three)
• Ampersands should not be used in titles unless part of a brand name; spell out and lowercase “and”

Here’s what not to include:

• Do not include price
• ​Do not use ALL CAPS
• Do not capitalize conjunctions (and, or, for), articles (the, a, an), prepositions with fewer than five letters (in, on, over, with, etc.)
• ​Do not include promotional messages such as “sale” or “free shipping”
• Do not include seller information
• Do not use your seller name for Brand or Manufacturer information, unless your product is Private Label
• ​Do not include symbols (such as !*$?) in your listings
• Do not include subjective comments, (Hot Item, Best Seller, Great Gift)
• ​Do not include search terms in titles
• ​Do not include a size if it’s not relevant
• Do not include color if the product doesn’t have multiple colors

How to Format Your Product Title

Depending on your product category, your title formula may differ. For example, if you’re selling headphones, it going to be more detailed than if you were selling shorts.

Here are some of the formulas for popular product categories (please note, this doesn’t include all the categories). Download your Amazon’s Style Guide to find your product category.

Bath Towels

Title Style: Brand + Line/Pattern + Material + Product Type + Quantity, Color

Beauty

Title Style: Manufacturer / Brand]+[Product Line

Cookware & Cutlery

Title Style: Brand + Line + Size + Product Type

Luggage & Travel Accessories

Title Style: [Brand] + [Collection Name] + [Special Size/department, if applicable)] + [product name] + [size] + [color]

Shoes

Title Style: Brand+Gender/Age Group+Product Line+Material+Shoe Type

Small Appliances, Home Environment

Brand + Model Number + Model Name + Product Type, Color

Toys & Games

Title Style: Brand Name, Sub brand name/Licensed Brand (Where applicable) + Product Title + Color + Model + Quantity

TVs

Title Style: Brand + Model Number + Size + Product Type + (Color/Pack Size)

Video Games

Title Style: Brand + Model Number + Product Type + Platform

Besides crafting a great product title, you have to write strong bullet points to compel shoppers to buy. Check out my post on how to create irresistible bullet points.