HOW TO PUNCTUATE LISTING TITLES FOR BEST SEO!
There seem to be a lot of discussions going on lately about how to punctuate product listing titles for best SEO. It’s important, since if you don’t get it right, your listings might disappear from search results. Here are some quick tips. Keep this guide on hand for future reference!
AT LEAST ONE SPACE BETWEEN PHRASES
Make sure to leave at least one space between keyword phrases.
That’s really all you need to know. Wasn’t that simple?
In fact, you can use pretty much any punctuation mark you like between phrases, as long as you follow the rule above. I have my personal preferences, but the choice doesn’t affect SEO in the slightest.
INSIDER SECRET #1
For good SEO, you actually don’t need any punctuation at all, just spaces between words. So why do we put in hyphens, slashes or something else? So the title will be readable. A long string of words is uncomfortable for customers, who want to be able to get the facts at a glance.
INSIDER SECRET #2
Do you need capital letters at the beginning of every word in your title? Doesn’t matter for SEO. But for readability, it looks good. I prefer it. The most important thing, though, is consistency. All your titles should use the same punctuation and the same approach to capital letters.
Here are some examples. Note: The keyword phrases are entirely fictional, for sample purposes only, and don’t reflect actual SEO research.
HYPHEN
---Space on both sides (my preference)
“Red Crystal Bead Earrings - Red Beaded Earrings - Swarovski Crystal Earrings”
---Space on one side only (works fine for SEO)
“Red Crystal Bead Earrings- Red Beaded Earrings- Swarovski Crystal Earrings”
---No space (avoid, please)
“Red Crystal Bead Earrings-Red Beaded Earrings-Swarovski Crystal Earrings”
The hyphens in hyphenated words will be removed, so in the above example, “Earrings-Red” will be seen as “earringsred,” which is gibberish and won’t help you at all with SEO.
COMMA
---Space on one side, after the comma (best choice)
“Organic Cotton Baby Blanket, Organic Newborn Wrap, Cotton Blanket.”
---Space on one side, before the comma (not recommended)
“Organic Cotton Baby Blanket ,Organic Newborn Wrap ,Cotton Blanket.”
This is fine for SEO, but isn’t correct English punctuation and might look like a mistake to customers.
---No space (avoid, please)
“Organic Cotton Baby Blanket,Organic Newborn Wrap,Cotton Blanket.”
(See note about HYPHENS above.)
SLASH ( / ) or PIPE ( | )
---Space on both sides (best choice)
“Printable Holiday Greeting Cards / Downloadable Holiday Cards / Special Occasion Cards.”
“Printable Holiday Greeting Cards | Downloadable Holiday Cards | Special Occasion Cards.”
---Space on one side only (not recommended)
“Printable Holiday Greeting Cards/ Downloadable Holiday Cards/ Special Occasion Cards.”
“Printable Holiday Greeting Cards| Downloadable Holiday Cards| Special Occasion Cards.”
I don’t think these look right, but use your judgment. This wouldn't hurt your SEO.
DOUBLE SLASH ( // ) or DOUBLE PIPE ( || )
Not recommended. These take up unnecessary character space, aren’t particularly attractive and make it more difficult for customers to read the title easily.
OTHER CHARACTERS (Any “fun” characters from the keyboard)
Not recommended. They don’t look professional, and also distract customers from the items they’re viewing.
NO PUNCTUATION (Avoid)
As mentioned above (Insider Secret #1), it's best to have some sort of punctuation, rather than just a string of words.
Avoid, please: "Ceramic Coffee Mug Birthday Mug Coffee Lovers Gift."
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