Changing the meta title for each market in Shopify can significantly improve your SEO—especially if you’re targeting multiple countries. As a seasoned SEO consultant, I recently had to tackle this exact challenge for a New Zealand-based market. The solution wasn’t as obvious as expected.
Why Shopify Markets Titles Matter for SEO
Shopify Markets allows you to sell internationally with localized domains, currencies, and content. But what many merchants overlook is localized meta titles—which are crucial for search engines and click-through rates.
For example:
- A U.S. customer may see: Buy Organic Tea Online – Free US Shipping
- A New Zealand visitor should see: Buy Organic Tea in NZ – Local Shipping Available
Unfortunately, Shopify doesn’t provide an out-of-the-box way to customize meta titles for different countries. So what do you do?
You hack the theme.
My Personal Story: Editing Theme Code for SEO Localization
I was working with a Shopify client expanding into New Zealand. While Shopify Markets let us localize currency and pricing, the meta titles remained static.
After exploring all app-based and backend solutions, I ended up doing what any resourceful SEO expert would: diving into the theme code.
Here’s how I did it.
Step-by-Step: Change Meta Title Based on Country (Using Liquid)
You’ll need to modify the theme.liquid layout file. Inside the <head> section, replace the default <title> tag with a conditional block using Shopify’s Liquid templating language.
<title>
{% if request.page_type == 'index' and localization.country.iso_code == 'NZ' %}
Buy Organic Tea in NZ – Free Local Delivery | YourBrand
{% elsif request.page_type == 'index' %}
Buy Organic Tea Online – Free US Shipping | YourBrand
{% else %}
{{ page_title }} – YourBrand
{% endif %}
</title>
What this does:
request.page_type == 'index'checks if it’s the homepage.localization.country.iso_code == 'NZ'checks if the visitor is from New Zealand.{% elsif %}handles all other homepage visitors.{{ page_title }}is used for non-home pages.
Pro Tip: Localize Meta Descriptions Too
Once you’ve customized your <title>, extend the logic to your meta descriptions:
<meta name="description" content="{% if localization.country.iso_code == 'NZ' %}Shop New Zealand’s best organic teas. Free shipping nationwide.{% else %}Shop the best organic teas in the USA. Free shipping on orders over $30.{% endif %}">
Final Thoughts: A Small Code Change, A Big SEO Win
Localizing meta titles can:
- Improve international SEO rankings
- Increase CTR from search engines
- Enhance user trust and relevance
I’m Rasesh Koirala, and I help eCommerce brands make technical SEO changes that drive real results. If you need help optimizing your Shopify store for international markets, let’s talk.
