Adding keywords for SEO to your Shopify store

Keywords are words or phrases that people enter in search engines (also known as search queries). For example, a person might search for blue shoes in Canada. Both blue shoes and Canada can be considered keywords that are contained within this search. To make your store appear higher in search results, you need to determine the keywords that your customers might use to find your products, and include those keywords in your content.

You can use online tools to research keyword ideas and understand how many monthly searches a keyword gets. Prioritize keywords that are specific to your products and business and are also searched for often. Keep in mind that the more traffic your keywords get, the more competition your store has in searches, so your store might not be displayed near the top of search results.

Note

Add keywords by using them in readable, natural phrases and sentences. Customers won’t click links that use keywords in a random way, and search engines might ignore websites that don’t use readable phrases.

There are four main places that you can add keywords to improve the search engine optimization (SEO) for your online store:

• page titles
• meta descriptions
• ALT tags
• a page’s body content

Understanding page titles and meta descriptions

The title tag and meta description are two of the most important elements of SEO. They're displayed in search engine results, and provide information to people who are looking for things related to your products. A good title and description encourages customers to click the link in search results to visit your store.

Page title

The title tag is one of the most valuable fields that you can edit to improve a page's performance in search results. The title is displayed as a clickable link in search engine results, so the title also needs to be appealing to potential customers.

You can optimize the title tag for SEO in the following ways:

• Use a unique, descriptive title.
• Include your most important target keywords for each page near the beginning of the title.
• Enter a title that is 60 characters or fewer. Most search engines shorten longer titles.
• Make sure that your title tag is easy to understand.

Meta description

A meta description is the brief bit of text that is shown in search engine results after the title tag. The meta description can be set for webpages, product pages, collection pages, and blog posts in Shopify. Make sure each page has a unique meta description that uses plain, direct language. A good description encourages more people to click the link to your store.

Adding a title and meta description to your pages and store

You can add a title and a meta description to your pages and to your store's homepage. The page title and meta description have the following character limits:

• Page title: You can enter up to 70 characters in the title. To avoid shortened titles in search engine results, consider keeping your title up to 60 characters. Learn more about page titles.
• Meta description: You can enter up to 320 characters in the description. Make sure to include relevant keywords to help new customers find your page. Use natural, readable phrases, rather than lists of keywords. Learn more about meta descriptions.

If you enter more text beyond the character limit, then your page title and description will be shortened in search engine results.

Edit the title and meta description for a page

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Pages.
2. Click a page that you want to edit.
3. In the Search engine listing preview section, click Edit website SEO.
4. In the Page title field, enter a descriptive title. This title is displayed as a link in search engine results.
5. In the Description field, enter a description for the search engine listing.
6. Click Save.

Add a title and meta description for your online store's homepage

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Online Store > Preferences.

2. Enter a title and meta description for your store, following SEO best practices.

3. Click Save.

Tips for improving your page title tags

To increase your SEO traffic and boost your store's visibility in search results, you can improve your page title tags. Review the following table to learn about tips on how you can improve your page title tags:

Tips to improve your page title tags

Tip	Description
Target the primary keyword most likely to bring customers to your product	Use unique and descriptive title tags with your most important target keywords. For example, if you sell Star Wars button-down shirts, the title tag Star Wars Button Down Shirts is more specific and descriptive than Star Wars.
Add a secondary keyword	Expand your title tags by adding secondary keywords that may also bring customers to your product. Use tools, such as Google Search Console, to understand which keywords bring customers to your store, or use Google Keyword Planner for free keyword suggestions. For example, if you sell sectional sofas, and your current title tag is Sectional Sofas. By expanding the title tag to Modular Sectional Sofas & Couches, you could target other relevant keywords, such as modular sofas, modular couches, and sectional couches.
Highlight special product characteristics	Emphasize the unique characteristics of your product to stand out in search results. For example, if you sell natural, cruelty-free body butter, the title tag Body Butter - Natural & Cruelty Free is more appealing and click-worthy to customers seeking those attributes than simply Body Butter.
Mention enticing customer benefits	Highlight special customer benefits, but include any relevant restrictions to keep the title honest and clear. For example, if you sell men's denim jeans and offer free shipping for orders over 60 USD in the United States, changing the title tag from Men's Denim Jeans to Men's Denim Jeans - Free Shipping on US Orders $60+ might get more clicks from interested customers.

To learn more, review our article on writing effective title tags.

Set image alt text

While search engines can read the text in your content, they can’t read the images. You can use descriptive alternative (alt) text to help search engines find your content. Alt text is also an important accessibility feature for people who have visual impairments.

When you’re writing alt text, use keywords from the page where the image is displayed. Use readable phrases that clearly describe what is being displayed in the image, not what you want someone to think about the image.

You can set alt text for a product image, collection featured image, or blog post featured image. The process is a little bit different for a product image than the other two.

Steps:

1. From your Shopify admin, go to Products.

2. Click the product with the image that you want to edit.

3. Click the image, and then click Edit alt text.

4. Enter descriptive alternate text for the image.

5. Click Save alt text.

To set the alt text for a collection or blog post featured image:

1. Click the name of the collection or blog post that you want to edit.
2. Under the image, click Update, and then click Edit image.
3. Enter descriptive alternate text for the image.
4. Click Save.

Add keywords to the H1 header for a page

An H1 header is the main heading at the top of a page. When you create a product page, collection page, webpage, or blog post, Shopify uses the title that you enter to generate the H1 header for the page. The largest text size on a page is often the H1 header, and search engines use them to determine what the page content is about. When you enter a page title, include your main keywords so the H1 header automatically includes them.

Steps:

1. Select the product, collection, webpage, or blog post that you want to edit.
2. In the Title field, enter a descriptive title that includes your keywords.
3. Click Save.

Using keywords in page content

When you write content for a product or collection description, webpage, or blog post, use readable, unique phrases that include some of your keywords. Search engines compare a page's contents with its headers to make sure that the page is about what it claims to be about. When you write product descriptions, avoid directly copying text that's provided to you by a manufacturer because that description might already be used by other websites.

Focus on quality writing over quantity, but keep in mind that search engines use longer content to better understand your page. Make sure that every page has at least 250 words of descriptive text, and that informational pages and blog posts have at least 500 words.