The short version
- A product name and a product title are different jobs. You can have both.
- Lead the title with what the thing is, in the words your customers use.
- Keep your creative name as a "surname" after the plain description.
- Your customers' messages and reviews are the best keyword research you'll ever do.
- Write titles for a phone screen, where they get cut short.
If you want to write product titles for SEO, you'll hit a small heartbreak early on. The names you love are usually the ones search engines ignore.
Small makers often name their products the way you'd name a boat or a pet. After places, people, songs, moods.
"The Inishbofin." "Sunday Morning." "Grace."
They're lovely. They give products personality. Customers who already know you often remember them.
But a stranger searching for a lamp doesn't type "The Inishbofin". They type "paper table lamp" or "handmade bedside lamp". If your product title is only the poetic name, there's nothing in it that matches what they typed.
The good news is that you don't have to choose. You can keep every beautiful name and still write product titles that match what people search for. This article shows you how, step by step, with a clearly labelled illustrative example.
The difference between a product name and a product title
These two words get used as if they mean the same thing. They don't, and pulling them apart is the key to this whole article.
A product name is what you call the product. It's the personality. "The Inishbofin."
A product title is the line of text at the top of the product page, which search engines and shoppers use to understand what the product is. It's the description. "Paper and brass table lamp."
On many shops, the name and the title are the same line. That's where the problem starts. When the title is only the name, it carries personality but no meaning for a stranger.
Once you think of them as two separate jobs, the solution is easy. Put both in the title, in the right order.
Meet Northlight Lampworks, and the lamps that only friends could find
This is an illustrative example.
Northlight Lampworks is a small studio run by Fionnuala, who makes table and pendant lamps from handmade paper shades and brass fittings. Each design is named after an Irish island.
Her product titles looked like this:
Example
Northlight's original product titles
- The Inishbofin
- The Clare
- The Achill (Large)
- The Tory
- The Valentia Pendant
Her shop looked beautiful. Customers who'd met her at design fairs could find the lamps easily, because they remembered the names.
But almost no one found her through search. When she looked at the searches that brought people to her site, they were nearly all her shop name or the island names. People who already knew her.
Nobody new was finding her lamps by searching for lamps.
Lead with what it is, in the words your customers use
The fix starts with putting the plain description first.
Ask yourself: if someone who'd never heard of you wanted this product, what would they type?
Not what you call it. What they'd call it.
For Fionnuala's lamps, that's things like:
- paper table lamp
- bedside lamp
- handmade lamp
- pendant light shade
- brass table lamp
These are plain and a bit boring. That's exactly why they work. They're the words in people's heads when they go looking.
Then add the detail that makes it yours
After the plain description, add one or two details that matter to buyers and make the product distinct. Material, size, colour, style or use.
"Handmade paper table lamp with brass base" says a lot more than "table lamp", and it still uses words people search for.
Then keep the lovely name as a surname
Here's the bit that solves the heartbreak. Put the creative name after the description, like a surname.
Example
Northlight's new product titles
- Handmade paper table lamp with brass base: The Inishbofin
- Small paper bedside lamp in natural white: The Clare
- Large paper floor lamp with brass stand: The Achill
- Pleated paper table lamp in warm grey: The Tory
- Paper pendant light shade with brass fitting: The Valentia
Now every title tells a stranger what it is. And every title still carries the island name, so returning customers still recognise their favourites.
Fionnuala uses a colon to separate them. Some shops use a dash or a vertical bar. It doesn't matter much which you choose, as long as you use the same one across your shop.
Your customers' messages are the best keyword research you'll ever do
You might be wondering how to find the right words. There are tools for this, and some are useful. But for small shops, there's a better source sitting in your inbox.
Look at how customers describe your products when they write to you.
Read through your emails, social messages, market conversations you remember, and any reviews.
Write down the words they use for your products. Not your words. Theirs.
Fionnuala did this and found some surprises.
- People called her pendant shades "lampshades" far more than "pendant lights".
- Several people said "bedside lamp" when asking about her small table lamps. She'd never used that phrase.
- Nobody, not once, used the word "luminaire", which was in two of her descriptions.
That told her exactly which words to put in her titles. "Bedside lamp" went straight into the title for The Clare.
Use the search box test
Another simple trick: go to a search engine and start typing a description of your product. Watch the suggestions that appear as you type.
Type "paper table lamp" and see what comes up underneath. Those suggestions are based on what lots of people search for. You might see "paper table lamp handmade", "paper table lamp bedroom" or similar.
Do the same on any marketplace you sell on. The suggestions there show what shoppers on that site type.
You don't need to chase every suggestion. Just look for the plain words that come up again and again, and check they match your product.
Write product titles for a phone screen
Most of your visitors will see your titles on a phone. In search results, on marketplace listings and on your own site, long titles get cut off.
That means the start of the title matters most.
If your title starts with "The Inishbofin, a hand-crafted..." the first words people see are a name they don't recognise. If it starts with "Handmade paper table lamp", they know straight away what it is.
How long should a product title be?
There's no single perfect length, and different platforms show different amounts. As a general rule:
- Put the most important words in the first five or six words.
- Keep the whole title readable in one breath.
- Don't keep adding words just to cover more searches.
A title like "Handmade paper table lamp with brass base: The Inishbofin" is about the right length. A title like "Handmade paper table lamp bedside lamp brass lamp Irish lamp gift lamp The Inishbofin" is keyword stuffing. It looks spammy to people and isn't helpful to search engines either.
Product title examples for different kinds of handmade products
The same pattern works across most products. Plain description, one or two key details, then the name if you have one.
| Original title | Better title for search |
|---|---|
| Willow | Hand-turned ash serving bowl, medium: Willow |
| Moonrise | Sterling silver crescent moon necklace: Moonrise |
| The Dubliner | Waxed cotton crossbody bag in olive: The Dubliner |
| Autumn | Hand-knitted wool beanie in rust orange: Autumn |
| No. 7 | Ceramic bud vase with blue speckled glaze: No. 7 |
In each case, a stranger can tell what the product is from the first few words. And the name is still there for the people who already love it.
Where else the plain description should appear
The product title is the most important place, but not the only one. For your page to be found, the same plain words should appear in a few other spots.
- The page title tag. This is the title that appears in search results and browser tabs. Many shop platforms copy the product title into it automatically, but check. Some let you write a separate one.
- The first sentence of your description. Say what it is plainly, near the start.
- The image file names and alt text. More on that in our guide to product image alt text.
- The page address (URL). If your platform lets you edit it, "paper-table-lamp-inishbofin" is clearer than "product-1847".
You don't need to repeat the same phrase over and over. Just make sure the plain description appears naturally in these places.
When changing titles needs care
If your products have been online for a while, changing titles isn't something to rush.
Some things to check first:
- Does changing the title change the web address of the page? On some platforms it does. If so, make sure the old address redirects to the new one, so you don't lose any links or search history.
- Do customers search your shop by name? If so, keep the name in the title so they can still find it.
- Have you used the product name in emails, social posts or printed material? Old links should still work.
Change a few products first, wait a few weeks, and see how it goes. Then roll out the rest.
What about marketplaces like Etsy?
If you sell on a marketplace as well as your own site, the same thinking applies, but the details may differ. Marketplaces have their own search systems, their own title limits and their own rules about what's allowed.
Check the marketplace's own seller guidance for its current advice. In general, though, leading with a clear, plain description that matches what shoppers type is a good starting point almost everywhere.
You don't have to use identical titles in every place. Your own website can be a little more relaxed and brand-led. A marketplace, where you're competing with thousands of similar listings, may need more of the plain words up front.
Product titles for products that come in colours and sizes
If your product comes in several colours or sizes, you have a choice to make. Do you have one product page with options, or a separate page for each version?
Most small shops use one page with options. That's usually simpler for you and for the customer.
In that case, keep the title general and let the options do the rest. "Handmade paper table lamp with brass base: The Inishbofin" works for every colour of shade.
But sometimes a particular colour or size is what people search for. If lots of customers ask for "white bedside lamp", and your white version is popular, it might deserve a mention.
You can do that in two ways:
- Mention it in the first line of the description: "Available in natural white, warm grey and soft green."
- If your shop platform allows it, give each colour its own page with its own title, like "Small paper bedside lamp in natural white: The Clare".
There's no single right answer. If you're not sure, start with one page and options. You can always split a popular version onto its own page later.
What to do when two products need almost the same title
When you make several similar products, the plain descriptions can start to look identical.
Two paper table lamps. Three silver rings. Four bowls.
If the titles are too similar, both shoppers and search engines get confused about which is which.
The fix is to find the one plain detail that separates them, and put it near the front.
- "Pleated paper table lamp" and "Smooth paper table lamp"
- "Wide hammered silver ring" and "Thin hammered silver ring"
- "Shallow ash serving bowl" and "Deep ash salad bowl"
Ask yourself: if a customer was trying to describe one of these to a friend, how would they tell them apart? Use that difference in the title.
Fionnuala had two table lamps that were almost the same size. The difference was the shape of the shade.
One was pleated, one was smooth. Putting "pleated" and "smooth" near the front of the titles solved it straight away.
How to tell if your new titles are working
Changing your titles isn't a one-day result. Search engines take a while to notice changes, and it can take several weeks before you see any difference.
Here are a few simple things to watch.
The searches people use to find you
If your website is connected to a free tool like Google Search Console, you can see which searches bring people to your pages. Before changing titles, take a note of the searches for a few products. A month or two after, look again.
What you're hoping to see is new, plain searches appearing. "Paper table lamp." "Handmade bedside lamp." Searches from people who didn't already know your name.
Visits to the product pages
Look at how many people visit each product page from search. If it slowly rises after the change, that's a good sign.
What customers say
Sometimes the most useful signal is simpler. A new customer says "I found you when I was searching for a bedside lamp." That's your new title doing its job.
For Fionnuala, it took about six weeks. Then she started seeing searches like "paper bedside lamp handmade" in her list. A couple of months later, she had her first order from someone who'd never been to a design fair, never seen her on social media, and had simply searched for a lamp.
A quick before-and-after test for any title
Before you save a new title, try this.
Read only the first five words aloud to someone who doesn't know your shop. Then ask them what the product is.
If they can answer straight away, the title is doing its job. If they hesitate, or guess wrong, the plain description isn't near enough to the front.
Fionnuala tried it with her old titles first.
"The Achill (Large)" got the answer "A boat? A painting?"
Her new title, "Large paper floor lamp", got "A lamp" instantly. That two-second test told her more than any tool.
It works because it copies what real shoppers do. They glance, they read a few words, they decide. Your title has about that long to make sense.
Your product title checklist
For each product:
- The title starts with what the product is, in words a stranger would use.
- It includes one or two details that matter, like material, size or colour.
- My creative name, if I have one, comes after the description.
- I've checked my customers' messages and reviews for the words they use.
- The most important words come first, so they show on a phone.
- The title reads naturally and isn't stuffed with keywords.
- The plain description also appears in the first sentence, page title tag and image text.
- If changing the title changes the web address, the old address redirects.
Keep the poetry, add the plain words
Fionnuala's lamps still have their island names. Her regular customers still ask for The Achill and The Clare. Nothing about the brand changed.
What changed is that strangers searching for a paper table lamp or a bedside lamp can now find her. And once they find her, they fall for the names too.
That's the balance. Let the plain description bring people to your page. Let your beautiful name make them remember it.
Keep going
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