SEO: Paint color as separate product or variant?

[CAPLtd]

I'm currently setting up my Shopify store, selling paint and pain supplies. Eventually I'll have around 800 products, including all variants. So far, I've found variants to be a very helpful way to determine between different versions of the same product - for example, 

Sand Paper, with grit options of P60, P80, P100 etc. 

However, I'm just about to start listing our paints, and I'm unsure if I should list each paint colour as a separate product, or a variant of the main product. E.g. 

Topcoat Aerosol 500ml, with color options of White, Red, Blue etc.

or

Topcoat Aerosol 500ml - White, Topcoat Aerosol 500ml - Red, Topcoat Aerosol 500ml - Blue etc.

Listing them as variants is obviously more pleasing for the user, however I'm wondering how badly it'll effect SEO, as I can't list the product colour in the title, description or URL. Whereas I can do those things if I list products individually, at the cost of massively increasing the number of base products on the website.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. 

[AAArtist]

This topic is a matter of discussion among eCommerce and SEO experts. 🤓 As you have pointed out, there are pros and cons to both approaches.

Listing variants as separate products allows for better SEO optimization because you can include variant details (color, material, size) in the product title, URL, meta description, etc. This approach makes it easier for search engines to scan and index individual product pages.

However, it has some disadvantages. First, it can lead to a significant increase in the number of products in your store, making site navigation more complex and possibly overwhelming for customers. Second, it may lead to content duplication issues, as product descriptions will likely be very similar (the description for blue and green would be the same). Creating a single product with variants simplifies navigation and product management, provides a better shopping experience, and avoids duplicate content issues. But, as you've pointed out, it makes SEO optimization a bit more challenging.

My 2 cents: Great SEO isn't just about having every keyword in the title or URL. It's also about site structure, user experience, speed, and, primarily, content. So build a store for your customers, not for Google.

[CAPLtd]

Thanks for getting back to me. That certainly makes sense. I'm currently learning towards separate listings for each color, seeing as it'll a. improve SEO, and b. allow less computer/e-commerce savvy customers to easily understand exactly what they're buying.

That being said, are there any techniques or apps that can improve SEO if listing them as variants of a main product? E.g. Adding the variant name into the title?

Thanks 🙂 

[AAArtist]

Yes, that's possible.

You can add the variant name to the title by changing the themes liquid code or use apps like https://apps.shopify.com/honey-variant-title or https://apps.shopify.com/super-variant-titles. I never used them, so can't say if they are good, but the description looks good.

The code for the variant name in the title would be something like this: 
(Caution! I didn't tested the code)

<title>{{ product.title }} | {% for option in product.options %} {% if option == "Color" %} {{ option }}: {{ variant.option1 }} {% endif %} {% unless forloop.last %} - {% endunless %} {% endfor %}</title>

[PageFly-Garcia]

Hi @CAPLtd ,
Listing each variation as a separate product can overwhelm users, clutter the product list, and make it difficult to find suitable products. This approach increases cognitive load and may cause users to abandon the site. Combining variations into single list items can improve user experience by providing a cleaner and more navigable product list. 

You can try to Use meta tags and alt text for images to include color-related keywords and Include a section in the main product description listing all available colors with detailed descriptions and keywords.

Hope it helps! 

Cheers, 
Garcia