How to write a good title and meta description in eCommerce

The main goal of an e-commerce store is to generate income. To do so, the store has to be visible in search engines, but is being visible enough? Today you will learn why meta descriptions and titles are important in e-commerce, NOT ONLY for search engines and positioning. 

Politics and the title

Politics are… who they are.

But people constantly choose the same ones.

What’s wrong with those people?

Or maybe you’re thinking – what’s wrong with those clients?

Because they’re not buying good products, but low-quality things from your competitors.

But maybe those competitors have something that you don’t have.

Or maybe you do have everything but are communicating it in the wrong way, or not communicating at all?

Do you know where your communication with the client begins in e-commerce?

In the search engine, after the client enters the searched phrase!

The title in e-commerce – the most common SEO mistake

We provide positioning services for e-commerce. Not only for Prestashop stores which we create for our clients, but we also optimize SEO after other, less experienced agencies or store employees. They often maybe don’t have the right knowledge or time to optimize SEO because they don’t understand how important these aspects are.

When conducting SEO audits of operating stores, I noticed that the same errors often occur. By the way, make an appointment for a free SEO analysis of your store.

Back to the mistakes. The most common error that I notice during SEO audits is a weak and underdeveloped Title and Meta Description, this is the SEO title and description that are displayed in the search engine.

Why the title and meta description are very important

Imagine opening the best restaurant in town. You spent PLN 1 million on renovation, purchasing equipment, hiring the best cooks, and waiters, and purchasing the quality best products.

You probably have the best service and food (product) in town. The place is on the busiest pedestrian street in the city and you pay a lot for rent. People pass by and see your restaurant, but they don’t go inside, why?

There was no money, or maybe someone didn’t know that it was important and forgot to renovate the premises outside. They did not replace the window shields, which are covered with the advertisement of the previous owner. Potential customers pass by but don’t go inside because they don’t know what you’re offering.

It’s the same with the SEO title and description.

They are the reason that someone enters your store or decides to visit your competition. Now, do you understand? 🙂

And what does the title and meta description look like for your business?

Below you will find some tips on how to improve them.

Title / SEO title / Technical title

What are the most common SEO title optimization mistakes?

• The title is the same as the editorial title
• The title is too long
• No key or longtail phrases
• Too literary language

What are the features of a good title in e-commerce

People are looking for specific answers to their questions in the search engine. Therefore, use simple language and short and simple stylistic forms when creating an SEO title.

Here you will find some of the most important tips on what to look for when building an SEO title:

• Create a title in the form of a sentence equivalent – a super short form that reassures the user that he found what he was looking for. The user expects a solution to his problem served on a tray. The customer cares about time and a specific answer.
• Put the key phrase right at the beginning of the title: “toy store”, “clothing store”, “medical store”, and “online bookstore”. Thanks to this, the user immediately knows what he will find on the site.
• The title should not be longer than 55-60 characters or 600 pixels. If the title is too long, Google cuts it off and enters a space followed by 3 dots. This may that the user will not know what the page is about and does not encourage him to click on such search results. To determine the length of the title, you can use a plugin or SEO module, or for example, use the Title checker page.
• Use simple forms.
• Correct construction of the title:
  Key phrase + marketing + call to action

This is a theory, and in practice usually, the call to action does not fit in the title so we enter it in the description.

• The name of your company or domain should be at the end of the title. Only very popular brands can be an exception.
• There of two main goals of the SEO title. To raise the page in the search results by increasing the number of views, attract the user’s attention and encourage them to click.

How to write a google meta description for e-commerce

The meta description has a marginal impact on SEO, but it can increase CTR in search results. CTR is the click-through rate. It shows how often users click on your website link. So if you build the meta description well, users will often click on your link in the search results. And this, as you know, can translate into greater profit for your store. To do so, you need to avoid mistakes related to the appearance of the meta description.

Commonly made mistakes in optimizing the page’s meta description

• the wrong length,
• it doesn’t describe what can be found on the website,
• no call to action.

How to build a meta description in e-commerce

• Add a call to action to the meta description: „check”, „try”, „buy”, „get”, „order”, and „find out”.
• Use a long tail phrase.  A long tail is nothing but a side phrase to your key phrase.
• The correct length of a meta description is 120-160 characters.
• The meta description should explain what can be found on the specific subpage, what store it is, and what products are offered.
• In the meta description, you can enter the USP, which is what distinguishes you from the competition, and why a customer should buy from you. For some, it will be “cheapest t-shirts”, “t-shirts from PLN 39” and for others “Polish manufacturer”, “Italian shoes”, or “same day shipping”, “free returns” or listing the popular brands you sell.
• Most importantly – remember what the purpose of the meta description is. The most important goal is to encourage the user to click and enter the page, not selling or placing SEO key phrases. The main goal is to encourage people to visit your store. It’s a bit like a shop window that you can see from the outside.

Global setting for creating SEO titles and meta descriptions

Online stores often choose global settings when creating page titles and descriptions. These settings have a fixed scheme for building titles and meta descriptions. It looks like this:

TITLE: product name – category name – domain name

META DESCRIPTION: We offer fashionable and stylish footwear at the lowest prices. Free returns! Click and find the perfect footwear at Royalfasion.pl!

If you choose global title and meta description settings for your online store: remember to name the products and categories correctly, and optimize the most visited and purchased products and categories manually.

Popular CMSs which means content management systems used to publish, modify and organize content on websites, usually allow you to set the SEO title and meta description for each subpage or provide modules for this.

Title and meta description on Prestashop

In Prestashop, the title is called the meta title. For the home page, categories and products, you can change them in the edition panel. If you do not enter the meta title and description manually in the SEO tab, the title will be set as the product name, and the meta description will be a part of the product description selected by Google.

Summary

Both the SEO title and meta description are visible in your website code and search results. How you take care of their quality determines where the link to your store will appear in the search engine and how often users will click on it and visit your website.

Do you now understand why the SEO title and meta description are so important, even crucial for your success in e-commerce?

This is really the basis of positioning your online store.

Good luck!