Meta title
A meta title is the title written into a web page’s code, which search engines can use as the clickable headline of a search result.
- SEO title
- Page title
- Title tag
What it means
Every web page can carry a title in its code, separate from the headings shoppers see on the page. Browsers show it on the tab. Shopify calls it the SEO title or page title, and if it is left blank, the product title is used instead.12
Google calls the clickable headline of a result its title link. The meta title is one of several sources Google uses for it, along with the page’s main heading and other text. The process “is completely automated”, so the title you write is a preference Google weighs, not a guarantee.3
Length is about display. Google sets no limit on the title itself, but the title link “is truncated in Google Search results as needed, typically to fit the device width”.3 Shopify’s SEO title takes up to 70 characters, and Shopify suggests 60 or fewer so it is not shortened.2
Think of it like this
It is like the label on the spine of a ring binder. The pages inside hold everything, but the spine is what you read along the shelf, and a vague one gets passed over.
For example
A supplier file leaves a bath page titled “BATH SE 1700 WHT”. Built from the row’s values, its meta title becomes “Single ended bath, 1700 × 700 mm, white | Hollinsby”. That is 51 characters, inside the 60 Shopify suggests, and in words a shopper would search for.2
Why it matters
The title link is often the first thing a shopper reads about your product. Google says it is “often the primary piece of information people use to decide which result to click”.3 A stock code, or the same title on every page, wastes that line.
Not to be confused with
The product title is the name on the page and in feeds, where Google Merchant Center takes up to 150 characters.4 The meta title is a separate field, usually shorter, written for search results.
Sources
- Shopify Help Center. Using CSV files to import and export products.
- Shopify Help Center. Adding keywords for SEO to your Shopify store.
- Google Search Central. Influencing your title links in search results.
- Google Merchant Center Help. Title [title] and structured title [structured_title].