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Manual Optimization ​

Manual Optimization gives you hands-on control over the SEO of individual products and articles. While workflows handle optimization in bulk, this feature is for the times when you want to focus on a single item — reviewing what the AI generated, making your own tweaks, or optimizing something that doesn't need a full workflow.

When to Use Manual Optimization ​

Manual optimization is the right tool when you want to:

  • Fine-tune AI-generated content after a workflow has run
  • Optimize a single new product or article quickly
  • Make targeted edits to specific SEO fields
  • Review and adjust content before it goes live (if you prefer a hands-on approach)
  • Fix a specific product's SEO without affecting other items

If you need to optimize many items at once, a product workflow or article workflow is more efficient.

Click Manual Optimization in the sidebar. You'll land on a page with two tabs:

  • Products — lists all products in your Shopify store
  • Articles — lists all blog articles in your Shopify store

Switch between tabs to find the item you want to work on.

Finding your item ​

Both tabs include a search bar for finding items by name. You can also scroll through the list and use pagination if your store has many products or articles.

Click on any item to open it in the single item editor.

The Single Item Editor ​

The editor is where all the detailed work happens. When you open a product or article, you'll see a full-page editing interface with every SEO field available for direct editing, plus AI generation tools and a live preview.

Editable Fields ​

Title ​

The product title or article headline. This is the primary identifier for the item on your store and in search results. When editing, consider including relevant keywords naturally while keeping the title clear and appealing to shoppers or readers.

Description / Content ​

A rich text editor for the main body content. For products, this is the product description. For articles, this is the full article body.

The editor includes formatting tools for:

  • Bold and italic text
  • Ordered and unordered lists
  • Headings (multiple levels)
  • Links (to other pages, products, or external resources)
  • Other standard formatting options

The rich text editor preserves your formatting when saving to Shopify, so what you see in the editor is what your customers will see on your store.

Meta Title ​

The title that appears as the clickable headline in search engine results. This is one of the most important SEO fields — it directly affects whether searchers click through to your page.

Best practices for meta titles:

  • Keep it under 60 characters to avoid truncation in search results
  • Include your primary keyword near the beginning
  • Make it compelling and specific to encourage clicks
  • Avoid keyword stuffing — it should read naturally

Meta Description ​

The short summary that appears below the meta title in search results. While meta descriptions don't directly affect rankings, they heavily influence click-through rates.

Best practices for meta descriptions:

  • Keep it under 160 characters
  • Summarize the page's value proposition clearly
  • Include a call to action when appropriate (e.g., "Shop now," "Learn more")
  • Include relevant keywords — search engines bold matching terms in the description

Alt Text ​

Alternative text for images. For products, this applies to product images. For articles, it applies to the featured image.

Alt text serves two purposes: it makes your images accessible to screen readers (used by visually impaired visitors), and it helps search engines understand what your images show — which can drive traffic through image search results.

Good alt text is descriptive and specific. Instead of "product photo," write "navy blue merino wool sweater with crew neck on wooden hanger."

FAQ ​

Question-and-answer pairs related to the product or article. You can:

  • Add new FAQ entries with a question and answer
  • Edit existing entries directly
  • Remove entries you don't want

FAQ content appears on your storefront through the FAQ block (if enabled in your theme — see Onboarding). It also helps with search discoverability, especially for voice search queries and Google's featured snippets.

SEO Preview ​

Below or alongside the meta fields, you'll see a live preview that shows exactly how your item will appear in search engine results. The preview updates in real time as you type changes to the meta title and meta description.

This preview mimics the format of a Google search result, showing:

  • The meta title as a clickable blue link
  • The page URL
  • The meta description as grey body text

Use this preview to check for truncation (if your title or description is too long, it gets cut off with "...") and to make sure the result looks compelling.

Generating AI Improvements ​

You don't have to write everything yourself. Click the "Generate Improvements" button to have Keystone's AI analyze your current content and suggest optimized versions of each field.

How it works ​

  1. Click "Generate Improvements"
  2. The AI analyzes the item's current title, description, images, and existing SEO content
  3. Suggested improvements appear in each field
  4. Review the suggestions — you can accept them as-is, edit them further, or discard them

Nothing changes on your live store until you click Save. The generation step is purely a suggestion — you remain in full control.

When to generate vs. edit manually ​

Use AI generation when you want a strong starting point or a fresh perspective. Use manual editing when you have specific phrasing in mind or want to maintain a particular brand voice that the AI might not capture perfectly.

Many merchants use a combination: generate AI suggestions, then refine the output manually before saving.

Saving and Discarding Changes ​

When you make any changes (manual edits or AI-generated suggestions), a save bar appears at the bottom of the page with two options:

Save ​

Pushes all your changes to Shopify immediately. Your product or article updates on your live store as soon as you save.

Every save is recorded in the item's Version History, so you can always see what changed and revert if needed.

Discard ​

Reverts all unsaved changes. The fields return to their previously saved state. This is useful if you've been experimenting with different phrasing and want to start over.

Tips for Manual Optimization ​

  • Use the SEO preview constantly. It's the fastest way to catch truncation issues and ensure your meta content reads well in search results.

  • Don't over-optimize titles. A title stuffed with keywords reads poorly and can actually hurt your rankings. Aim for one primary keyword, naturally placed.

  • Write meta descriptions that sell. Think of the meta description as a mini-advertisement for your page. What would make someone click?

  • Be specific with alt text. Descriptive alt text like "red leather crossbody bag with gold chain strap" performs much better than generic text like "product image."

  • Check FAQ relevance. AI-generated FAQs are usually on-target, but occasionally you may want to remove a question that doesn't apply or add one that your customers frequently ask.