How to write winning product titles for Amazon

Crafting strong, clear, and compelling titles has a great effect on getting customers to look up your product. A good title draws your audience in and helps them single your product out from hundreds of other options.

The key aspect of online selling is that it is all centered around browsing. Customers actively engage in searching for the products they want through a search engine, be it Google or Amazon. You have to assume that your audience sees enough titles on a single search than most store shoppers will see at their nearest mall.

This is why it’s extremely important for your title to be attention-grabbing. While we have already covered how to optimize your product description through keyword research, in this article we’ll be highlighting the various ways to make your title more effective.

A unique and convincing title can contain all the important information shoppers need to know about the product you’re selling. The better it is, the better your chances of making a sale.

How to start writing a product title

A good way to approach writing a winning title is to picture an ideal buyer. Visualize the kind of audience (the buyer persona) you’re targeting and put yourself in their shoes. Recognize and identify their needs and search patterns. This helps you think of the proper and relevant information that they’ll be looking for. This shifts the focus of your title from the product to the customers. The same method works great for product descriptions, which we’ll discuss in the next lesson.

What is an Amazon product title made of?

The Amazon product title primarily consists of four major details. They are:

• Name of the brand
• Type/Variant/Color (whatever is appropriate to the product)
• Size of the product (or quantity if it comes in packages)
• Primary keywords to use for optimizing the title (This helps it appear on relevant search results)

These are the basic elements of a strong Amazon product title. The tricky part, however, is incorporating just enough style and personal touch to make the title attractive and worth checking out.

The above listed elements are just four key elements you must remember to include in the title, as they inform potential buyers about what your product is.

Here’s a quick example to show you how this all works:

Let’s say you’re a brand called Arpeggi selling white T-shirts for men of medium size. The title would be something like this in its most basic form: “Arpeggi white medium size men’s T-shirts.” Now this is just a bare, stripped down version of what it could look like. In practice, the title needs to pack a punch and have much more substance to it. A lot of the heavy lifting in selling a product is shared between smart titles and sharp product images.

As a rule, titles shouls not exceed more than 200 characters, which is why you need to distill your message into the required character limit, while also maintaining a strong brand personality and creatively engaging the buyer’s eye.

What makes the product title so important?

The most crucial reason why your product title matters so much is that it helps you attract buyers and boost sales. And it does that by making use of Amazon’s unique search algorithm. Since it prioritizes titles and descriptions, and uses them as tools for ranking products relevant to buyers, the algorithm is what makes your product title an important aspect of doing business on Amazon.

Sellers with optimized titles will rank higher on the search results and are effortlessly able to attract buyers for the product. Moreover, customers find it much more convenient when they’re able to obtain everything they need to know about the product in one glance. As your product becomes more visible on the website, traffic increases and, as a result, so do your sales.

Amazon product listing title: What is its primary function?

There are plenty of ways in which the title can affect your sales on Amazon. First and foremost, it gives the right impression about you, the seller, and the product you’re selling. 

Whether the buyer comes across it in the listings page or finds it in the search results, the title helps convey a compelling message that gives your buyer a good idea about the product.

Furthermore, it is your main opportunity for placing keywords that help you rank higher on the relevant search results and listings, when the algorithm matches your product based on this criteria. This isn’t just for Amazon either. It is also the case for other shopping sites, such as Ebay and Google Shopping.

 In short, your product gets listed in the right category, where your target audience can easily find you.

Tips for writing a winning title:

Here are a few tips to help you write better Amazon product listing titles:

• Use plain, uncomplicated words as much as possible. You need to make sure the idea gets across. Style is necessary, but it shouldn’t be overt or distracting.

• Be specific with your word choices. Try not to confuse the buyer with vague terms or with a lack of precise information about the product.

• You don’t have to worry too much about punctuation or capitalization if it serves the purpose of getting more views. Remember, the algorithm is what matters here. You are free to break certain rules in your title’s content.

• Try to be brief wherever you can be. The character count matters. Replace figures in words with the actual numerals. For example, instead of writing five, use “5.” It gets the message across faster and saves you characters to use elsewhere in the title.

• There is an exception to the brevity tip: Make sure you mention the units of measurement wherever necessary. For example, use “8 pounds,” not “8 lbs.,” and write out “3 feet,” not “3′”. This helps avoid buyer confusion.

• A title casing format works great for grabbing your buyers’ attention in a very bold way. This is where the first letter of every word in the title is capitalized. For example, an Adidas sports shirt title could be something like: Adidas Sportswear Men’s Medium Size Black. Notice how every word appears prominent and worth reading in this sentence. It captures your attention right away and you know everything you need to know before you proceed to the description. The title is a line where every word should be important, otherwise it has no reason to be included. 

Note: When you use title casing, make sure not to capitalize conjunctions (and, or), articles (a, an, if) and prepositions (in, at, of)

• Avoid repetition. Make unambiguous statements that are self-evident and don’t require any further explanation. This way you won’t have to resort to adding a supporting line just to drive your point home. Many such repetitions occur when the seller feels insecure about the buyer understanding what the product is or identifying it instantly. A good way to tackle this is by asking a few friends to take a look, observe their reactions, and listen to their feedback.

• If you sell a certain product in multiple colors, you can include that in a single listing. In such cases, it is better not to specify any color in your title. Let your buyers choose for themselves from the variations you’ve provided in your listing.

• Don’t overload your listing with too much additional information. This defeats the purpose. Your goal is to get your buyer to check the listing if they want to know more. Providing them all the details about your product in the title means there’s no need to look any further. 

• Try to get your buyers curious about your product without being too vague about what it is in the first place. Put all the essential information up front. Save the rest for when they actually click on the listing and browse through it.

Formatting rules for Amazon titles

• We’ve mentioned how you should try to keep things brief. But be wary of making silly mistakes, such as using the ampersand (&) in a sentence where “and” is the correct usage. Unless the (&) is part of your brand’s name, it is best to avoid it. Buyers might sense a lack of professionalism or experience when they see such usage. This makes them feel less confident about you as a seller.

• Another thing to avoid is overt and aggressive marketing. Don’t make any bold or dubious claims or resort to cliches if you can’t back them up. Buyers see right through them, and you lose credibility as a result. Making self-aggrandizing claims makes you seem lazy, suspicious, and untrustworthy.

• Make sure you avoid adding any promotional material, unwarranted symbols, or commentary in the title. This is the one space where you need to keep things straightforward and simple.

• You can still work your way around title limitations and find ways to be flexible with your message. For instance, if your brand isn’t well-known, you can save mentioning it for last and emphasize your product first. You can also mention special bonus features that are unique to the product, as long as they aren’t promotional in tone.

• Follow a clear and well-defined structure for all your titles. Don’t start switching styles randomly from one product to the next. The most basic version of a title is the one we mentioned earlier. This is how it goes: 

1. Mention your brand.
2. Mention your model
3. State your product.
4. Then list out important specifications if there are any.

Note: Once you make a sale, you won’t be allowed to change your listing’s title. This is why you need to be thorough.

What to avoid in your Amazon product title:

A huge part of writing winning titles for Amazon is not about what you include in the copy, but what you choose to avoid. The following are a few things you should consider avoiding:

• Subjective monikers or claims that overhype your product such as “Best seller” or an “Amazing product.” Save that for the reviews.
• General symbols and special characters such as @,%,^, etc.
• Any promotional terms such as “limited-time offer,” “special discount” or “flash sale.”
• Seller’s private label when the product you are selling belongs to another brand. For example, you can’t dub your listing with your own brand’s name if you’re selling Nike shoes.
• Typos. They can hurt your reputation because uncommon mistakes may make you seem like an amateur. Additionally, it keeps you from being marked by the algorithm. In short, pay attention to your spelling.
• Multi-lingual titles. Mixing up languages in your title so that you can cater to diverse audiences will only end up confusing them. Know your target market beforehand and repurpose your title’s language to suit them accordingly.
• Acronyms. Too many obscure shorthands can be highly irritating and instead of getting the message across faster, they end up annoying your customers.In short, use acronyms sparingly and only when necessary, and make sure they are common enough that everyone knows what you’re talking about. Don’t expect buyers to open up Google just to find out more about your product.
• Email and website addresses. This is contact information that shouldn’t be included in your title or listing.

Final thoughts

There’s no need to be apprehensive about writing an Amazon title for the very first time. It is an important task but not an extremely difficult one. The key thing you need to keep in mind is not to be afraid to try. 

Don’t worry about making mistakes on your first time around if you’re learning and picking up on things as you go. The more you experiment, the better you become at crafting the most compelling titles for your products. Everything we’ve discussed in this lesson should serve as guidelines and best practices. Remember it takes time, patience, and effort to get the marketing right. But when you do, it’s worth it.