Skip to content

SEO Settings · Title tags

Shopify Title Tag Rules: 60 Recommended, 70 Maximum

Per Shopify's Adding-keywords-for-SEO doc, the recommended title tag length is less than 60 characters and the hard maximum is "up to 70 characters in the title"1. Shopify themes auto-append the store name to non-homepage title tags2, which eats character budget — a 60-character page title plus a 24-character store name becomes an 87-character full title, well over the 70-char cap. Two rules follow: keep the store name short, and write per-resource Page title overrides that respect the appendage math.

Published Verified 2026-05-22

The Shopify rule: 60 recommended, 70 max

Shopify publishes two numbers for the title tag. Recommended: less than 60 characters. Hard maximum: 70 characters. The 60-character recommendation comes from Google's effective truncation width in pixels — most titles fit in the SERP at 50-60 characters depending on glyph widths. The 70-character maximum is Shopify's admin-enforced cap; the platform will not save a title longer than 70 characters. Anything between 60 and 70 saves but may truncate in SERPs depending on character mix and device width.

The pixel-based truncation matters because characters with wider glyphs (M, W, w) consume more visual width than narrow ones (i, l, t). A 60-character title made of mostly narrow characters often fits in full; a 60-character title with many wide characters can truncate to ~50. Useful approximation: shoot for under 60 characters; check the SERP rendering once submitted; adjust per-resource for any title that truncates undesirably.

The store-name appendage math

Default Shopify themes auto-append the store name to non-homepage titles. Theme code renders the title as 'Page title – Store name' (or similar pattern depending on theme). A 60-character page title plus a 24-character store name plus the ' – ' separator (3 characters) totals 87 characters — well over the 70-char hard maximum. The platform allows this because the cap applies to the Page title field, not the full rendered title. The result: long full titles get truncated in SERPs, usually losing the store name at the end. Two fixes: shorten the store name to keep the math safe, or write per-resource Page title overrides that account for the appendage.

For where the store name is set, see Online Store > Preferences. The store name field is the source of truth for the appendage; changing it propagates to every theme-rendered title.

Where the title field lives in admin

Every editable Shopify resource — product, collection, page, blog post — exposes a Search engine listing panel in the resource editor. The Page title field lives at the top of that panel. The field is the override for the auto-generated theme title. Leave it empty and the theme uses the resource's storefront title (e.g. the product name) plus the store-name appendage. Fill it in and Shopify uses your override plus the appendage. The homepage is the exception: it has no per-resource panel because the homepage title is set in Online Store > Preferences.

Per Shopify's SEO overview2, merchants can edit title tags on products, collections, pages, and blog posts. Each resource type has the same panel: Edit website SEO > Page title > type a value and save. The character counter is visual only — Shopify does not warn you at 60 chars, but it will block save at 71.

Title tags and AI shopping engines

The title tag is the most extracted single field across both classical SERPs and AI shopping engines. ChatGPT shopping cards display the product title as the headline. Perplexity citations lead with the title. Google AI Overviews quote the title in product summaries. Shopify's AI optimization doc names 'clear, concise product titles' as the human-facing recommendation — and the same titles feed the AI extraction layer. The implication: title tags pull double duty. They earn the SERP click and they anchor every AI engine's product representation. Sloppy titles cost both.

Per Shopify's Optimizing-store-for-AI doc3, the recommended product-title pattern is human-readable, specific, and brand-consistent. The same doc lists comprehensive descriptions as the AI-specific extraction surface — titles + descriptions together carry the load.

The three anti-patterns to avoid

Three title-tag patterns predictably underperform on Shopify. (1) Keyword stuffing — 'Buy Linen Shirt | Linen Shirt Online | Best Linen Shirt 2026' (looks like spam, fails SERP CTR, ignored by AI engines). (2) Manufacturer-copy verbatim — Shopify's own keywords doc warns explicitly against this; rewrite manufacturer-supplied titles in your brand's voice. (3) Title that omits the product name — 'Comfort, Quality, Trust — Shop With Us' has zero search relevance because no one searches for those words together. Write titles that name the product, then differentiate, then add brand if budget allows.

Shopify's keywords doc1 is explicit on the manufacturer-copy point (verbatim: "avoid directly copying text that's provided to you by a manufacturer"). The other two anti-patterns are not Shopify-specific but show up disproportionately on Shopify stores because the platform makes title overrides easy — easy enough that operators sometimes overwrite the sensible default with something worse.

For the companion field rules, see /shopify-seo/meta-descriptions/. For Shopify's AI suggestion tool that operates within these rules (and the limits worth knowing), see /shopify-seo/grow-seo-early-access/.

Keep reading