Amazon 101: Title Optimization
When uploading a catalog of products to Amazon, one of the most important considerations is how you choose to optimize your product titles. A great title optimization follows a few best practices, considers customer psychology through UX copywriting, and is personalized to your product’s brand.
Take a look below for some key pointers on improving your title optimizations and how you can increase the odds that customers will click through to your product display page (PDP).
Title Convention
Choosing a title convention for your array of products is the number one way to organize your catalog and instill trust in potential consumers. This is especially useful for 2 reasons:
If customers are unfamiliar with your brand, a consistent title optimization will instill a sense of professionality — after all, your title and hero image are your first impression. Make it a good one.
If customers are already familiar with your brand or line of products, a uniform title convention will help avoid confusion that could lead to distrust. Inconsistency, whether it be in the overall title convention or even in the chosen capitalization style (Title Case vs. UPPERCASE), could lead to customers worrying about the legitimacy of your product.
By unifying all of your products into a consistent predetermined format, customers will gain clarity into what you’re selling and it will make it easier for them to compare 2 similar products.
Laws of UX
There are 3 Laws of UX (User Experience) that should be used to inform how title optimizations are crafted, as well for your copywriting process. They are:
Jakob’s Law
“Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.”
While typically thought of as a holistic approach with designing a website, the same should be applied to copy and titles. It’s best to use a formula that is as easy as possible for the customer to understand and for them to glean product information from the title, especially when a pattern emerges that is used by a majority of sellers.
That being said, this should be taken into consideration with title optimization best practices (outlined below) and white hat marketing techniques. Although there are many sellers who stuff an endless amount of keywords into titles, that type of black hat marketing should be avoided at all costs, no matter the prevalence.
Source: Laws of UX: Jakob’s Law
Miller’s Law
“The average person can only keep 7 (plus or minus 2) items in their working memory.”
The longer and longer your title is beyond a certain number of words, it becomes less clear what you’re selling. Not only that, it’s mentally taxing! Give only the most pertinent information in the product title and let the bullet copy on the PDP explain product value props, articulate use-cases, and leverage other relevant keywords.
Source: Laws of UX: Miller’s Law
Hick’s Law
“The time it takes to make a decision increases with the number and complexity of choices.”
Those really long product titles crammed with 20+ pieces of information are scaring customers away. The longer it takes for them to read — and digest — a product title, the more likely they are to be distracted by a product with a flashier image and a shorter, punchier, title.
Simply put: make it as easy as possible for your customers to read your title and click on your product.
Source: Laws of UX: Hick’s Law
Title Optimization Best Practices
Craft a title convention that can be used uniformly across all of your products
Use the most relevant keywords that inform the customer exactly what you’re selling
Avoid keyword stuffing since this clutters the flow of information and leaves the impression that your product or brand is spammy or untrustworthy
Some special characters are okay such as an M-dash — or a vertical bar |, but avoid ™ symbols and other funky formats that will probably result in Amazon rejecting your title
Consider details specific to your catalog — do you sell the same product as an individual product as well as in a bulk pack? Then articulate that in your title (e.g. “12-pack” or “Single Can”)