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If you have an accurate and descriptive title, it will give you a much better chance of attracting the most desirable shoppers, and having them click on your product. Google evaluates your product title to determine whether or not your listing will be relevant to any given search query.
Therefore, it's very important to Google's matching algorithm, as well as being one of the most prominent parts of your entire ad. If you take the time to optimize your product titles, it will ensure that they more closely match the customer search terms and will help your products appear in all of the most relevant queries. Learn the best practices for Google Shopping title optimization so you don't miss out on crucial sales opportunities!
All About Google Shopping Product Titles
Google places a great deal of importance on your product title, second only to the product image. The product title is one of four attributes which consumers are able to see on the results page delivered by Google. Even though the picture does convey a great deal of information to the searcher, your product title has to be compelling and descriptive. Your product titles need to describe the most relevant product attributes, so it will be possible for shoppers to easily skim through and determine whether or not they want to click on your product.
All online retailers should have a good understanding of their customers' behavior and should recognize all the most powerful factors which drive customers toward making a purchase. When it comes to optimizing product titles, there's simply no one-size-fits-all approach, because every industry and every customer is a little bit different. That makes it important to analyze your audience, because they are the key to having a solid understanding of the mindset of your customers.
The Importance of Product Title Optimization
Product titles are one of the most important product feed attributes, because they have a direct impact on how your ad will perform, and that makes your Google Shopping feed management important. Even though a great many studies have been conducted about this topic, a good percentage of online retailers still don't understand the importance of this attribute.
As an example, Search Engine Land recently provided a case study which demonstrated the significance of title optimization. In this study, three groups of products were used, one control group which retained its original titles and two additional groups which had enriched titles. The two groups with enriched titles added category information, additional attributes, and more search terms.
The results from this study showed that the control group with original titles saw a decrease in click-through rate of -4%, while the secondary group with keyword rich product titles increased its click-through rate by 18%, and the final group which had an exact query match on its terms had an increased click-through rate of 88%.
Image Source: Search Engine Land
There is no question that product title optimization should be a major component of your Google Shopping campaigns. By increasing the number of impressions, you will be able to grow your advertising revenue and improve your return on ad spend. When you provide appropriate details in your titles, you ensure a better match with the search query and allow your ads to work well for searches which have high purchase intent. All this results in higher conversion rates, and that is the point of all advertising.
Product Title Structure and Formula
There is a universal product title structure and formula which can be used in order to come up with the ideal product title structure for any given type of product. Some examples are shown below, and these will be enough to give you an idea of how you should structure product title optimization for whatever you may be selling.
Generic products
Structure 1: brand + product type + color + material + brand + size (length, width, height) + product type + color
Structure 2: material + product type + color + brand + style + color + product type
Structure 3: product type + size + color + keyword + brand
Jewelry
Structure 1: brand + weight + shape, style, location + metal
Structure 2: style + metal type + shape + product type + size (length, width, weight) + gender + product type
Structure 3: age group + metal type + gem type + shape + product type + size (length, width, weight)
Apparel
Structure 1: brand + product type + gender + keyword 1 + keyword 2 + color + size
Structure 2: gender + keyword 1 + keyword 2 + brand + color + product type
Structure 3: gender + brand + material + product type + size + color
Home and Garden
Structure 1: brand + product type + color + room type
Structure 2: brand + usage + material + usage + product type
Structure 3: style + how it's made + product type + color + size + brand + product type
Athletic and Outdoors
Structure 1: type of sport + sports team + age group + product type
Structure 2: brand + sport + product type + color
Structure 3: brand + gender + color + size
How to Optimize Product Titles
Below are some of the Google Shopping title best practices, and if you make a point of incorporating most or all of these into your own product titles, you will have done everything possible in the way of product title optimization.
Follow Google's requirements
Google has pretty strict rules for using exclamation marks and capital letters, and if you go overboard with using these, Google will not approve your products. You can avoid having your products be disapproved by following Google Shopping's requirements meticulously.
Use search query performance data
Google Ads provides search terms reports to show which queries are the highest performing and which ones resulted in conversions. To gain additional insights, you can use Google Trends and the search console organic results.
Add keywords to product titles
Google evaluates your feed and selects those queries or keywords which your shopping ads provide the best match for. You can help to optimize your product titles by putting the most relevant keywords right at the forefront of your product titles.
Put important information first
Google will try to display as much of your product title as possible, but your Google Shopping title length might still be too long, and then it will end up being truncated. That's why it's important that you place the most useful information right at the beginning of your product title.
Include modifiers
Keep in mind that shoppers often use modifiers like specifics, material, color, and size when making their searches. That makes it worthwhile to be as specific and detailed as possible, because it will increase your chances of making a match, and ultimately that will affect your conversion rate.
Use best practices for your vertical
Depending on what it is you're trying to sell, you should adjust your attribute tactics. Think about how your customers might search and then decide which features would be most compelling to be added in your title.
Use brand and category
Since brand loyalty is frequently very important to purchasing customers, it's important that you include your brand in the title, and the same is true of the product category.
Make ongoing improvements
If you can effectively optimize your product titles, it could possibly double or triple your click-through-rate, thereby significantly increasing your conversion rate. Since there is no single best way to create product titles, you should try different approaches until you find one that works very well for your products.
Conclusion
Without an optimized Google Shopping product title, you might very well be wasting precious ad spend and be losing out on significant opportunities to convert shoppers. By putting in a little extra effort and fully optimizing your product titles, you can avoid wasting money and missing important opportunities.
Even if you have thousands of products in your feed, you can optimize product titles for them a few at a time, and when you see the impact that it has, you'll be motivated to optimize product titles for your entire catalog. By taking the time to optimize your Google Shopping product titles, you'll be giving yourself the very best chance of increasing sales and improving your revenue stream.
