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Shopify Facebook Catalog: Meta’s Title and Description Rules

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Short answer: your Facebook & Instagram catalog takes its titles and descriptions from Shopify, and out of the box that means your product title and product description. Meta allows titles of up to 200 characters but recommends fewer than 65, so they aren’t cut off. Descriptions must be 30 to 9,999 characters of plain text, written in sentence case and different from the title. Both should describe only the product: no “Sale”, no shipping or contact details, no all caps. If your store copy doesn’t fit those rules, Shopify’s channel mapping lets you send a separate title and description to Facebook & Instagram while your product page stays as it is. Clear catalog copy can help your products make a better first impression in your shop and your ads.

How your Shopify products reach the catalog

Once the Facebook & Instagram channel is set up (Shopify calls it Facebook and Instagram by Meta), your products sync to a single Meta catalog. That one catalog serves your shop on Facebook, Instagram Shopping and your ads, so the same title and description show up in all three.

Shopify’s requirements for products on the channel include a title, description and image that meet Meta’s catalog specifications, a return policy, a Google product category and a price above zero. Edits you make to a product in Shopify sync to Facebook automatically, usually within a few minutes. Every product then goes through Meta’s review. Products that don’t comply with Meta’s Commerce Policies are rejected and don’t show in your shop, and products that don’t meet its Advertising Standards don’t show in your ads.

Meta’s rules at a glance

RuleTitleDescription
LengthUp to 200 characters; fewer than 65 recommended30 to 9,999 characters
FormatTitle caseSentence case, plain text only
IncludeWhat the product is, described accuratelyFeatures and details that help someone decide; longer than the title and different from it
Leave outExtra keywords, promotional messages, subjective phrases, all capsCompany information, shipping details, phone numbers, email addresses, links, “!!!”, all caps

Writing the catalog title

Meta says titles shape the first impression people get of your products in ads and shops. Product cards are small, which is why Meta recommends staying under 65 characters even though 200 are allowed.

  • Say what it is, then the detail that matters. Product type plus material, size or model: “Washed Linen Pillow Cover, 45×45cm”.
  • Use title case. Capitalise the first letter of each word, and don’t put whole words or titles in capitals. Meta notes that people may associate all caps with spam.
  • Use numerals: “2”, not “two”.
  • Describe the product, not the offer. Meta asks you to leave out promotional messages such as “Sale” or “Free Shipping” and subjective phrases such as “Hot Item”, “Bestseller” or “Great Gift”. That information belongs in the product’s other fields.
  • No keyword stuffing. Meta’s example of what not to do is a dumpling maker whose title also lists pastry tools, a dough cutter, pie, ravioli and kitchen.
  • Shorter than the description, with correct spelling, grammar and spacing.

To see how this title compares with your store, SEO and Google Shopping titles, read our guide to Shopify product title length.

Writing the catalog description

The description is where a shopper finds out enough to decide. Meta’s requirements and recommendations come down to six points:

  • 30 to 9,999 characters. A one-line description such as “Handmade mug.” is too short.
  • Different from the title, and longer. Commerce Manager shows a description that matches the title as a product issue.
  • Plain text in sentence case. Meta’s description field doesn’t take HTML, and descriptions in all capitals aren’t supported.
  • Details that help someone buy: material, size, fit, what’s included, written concisely so it’s easy to read.
  • Only the product. Meta asks you to keep company information, shipping details, phone numbers, email addresses and links to your site out of the description, and to skip excessive punctuation such as “!!!”.
  • Matching the title and image of that specific product.

This is where a store description and a catalog description part ways. A shipping banner, a returns paragraph or “Questions? Email us” can be useful on your product page, but Meta wants those lines kept out of the catalog. For the product part itself, our product description template gives you a structure to follow.

Example: store copy and catalog copy

FieldStore copy, sent by defaultCatalog copy
TitleThe Coastal Collection – Linen Pillow Cover 45×45 SAND/SAGE/CHARCOAL – FREE SHIPPINGWashed Linen Pillow Cover, 45×45cm
DescriptionBESTSELLER!!! Our softest cover yet. Free shipping on orders over $50 and 30-day returns. Questions? Email hello@yourstore.comA washed linen pillow cover with a soft, slightly textured feel and a hidden side zip. It measures 45×45cm and fits a 45cm insert, which is not included. Available in sand, sage and charcoal. Machine wash at 30°C.

The catalog title is 34 characters, so it fits on a product card, and it leaves the colours to the product’s variants, which is how Meta asks you to handle sizes and colours. The description drops the shipping offer, the returns line and the email address, and keeps only facts about the cover.

Two more titles:

Store titleWhat’s wrong for the catalogCatalog title
RUNNING SOCKS – BEST SELLER – Merino Wool Cushioned Socks Running Jogging Marathon Hiking Trail SocksAll caps, a subjective phrase, keyword stuffing, and 101 characters, well past 65Merino Running Socks, Cushioned, Pack of 3
MugSays nothing about the productHand-Glazed Stoneware Mug, 350ml

Sending a separate title and description from Shopify

You don’t have to change your product page to get catalog-friendly copy. Shopify’s channel mapping lets a sales channel read a field from a different source, such as a metafield, while your online store keeps its own title. Shopify’s own example is exactly this case: a shorter title stored in a metafield.

  1. Store the catalog title and description in product metafields.
  2. In your Shopify admin, go to Settings > Sales channels and click Edit channel mappings.
  3. Choose Facebook & Instagram from the channel menu at the top.
  4. Under Details, click the source next to Title and choose your title metafield from the list. It replaces that source. Do the same for Description.
  5. Preview a product to see the values the channel will receive, then click Save.

A few things to know, from Shopify’s documentation:

  • A mapping applies to every product you publish to that channel. Where a product’s metafield is empty, the channel uses its default source for that product. For the title, that’s the product title.
  • Replace the source, don’t add to it. The ⊕ button next to a field adds a second source, and Shopify combines the texts into one value, so the channel would receive your product title and your catalog title together.
  • The preview shows what the channel receives, not whether Meta approves or shows the listing.
  • Changes take a while to appear. Saving updates the channel’s product feed, and the channel can take some time to show it.

The same mapping screen also covers Shopify Catalog, the product data that AI shopping channels draw on. Our guide to Shopify AI search optimization explains that side.

One more rule from Meta: editing most product data, including titles, descriptions and images, sends the product back through review, and it’s unavailable for ads until the review is done. Price and availability edits don’t trigger a new review. So write your catalog copy carefully once, and change it when the product changes rather than every week.

Mistakes to avoid

  • Offers in the title. “Sale”, “Free Shipping”, “Bestseller” and “Hot Item” are all on Meta’s list of things to leave out.
  • Capitals for emphasis. All caps in a title can read as spam, and all-caps descriptions aren’t supported.
  • A description that repeats the title, or one under 30 characters.
  • Store information in the description: shipping, returns, phone numbers, email addresses and links.
  • Keyword lists. Meta’s requirements rule out extra words and keyword stuffing.
  • Frequent rewrites. Each title or description edit sends the product back through review.
  • Taking the mapping preview as approval. Check the result in Shopify and Commerce Manager.

Check where you stand

  • In Shopify: go to Sales channels > Facebook & Instagram. The Product status section shows products with errors; click one to see what’s wrong.
  • In Commerce Manager: open your catalog, go to Catalog > Products and filter by issues to see which products are rejected and why. If you think a product was rejected by mistake, you can request another review.
  • Title length: paste your catalog titles into our free Shopify title & meta description checker, which checks a Facebook & Instagram catalog title against Meta’s 65-character recommendation and 200-character limit.

Writing catalog copy for every product

Writing a second title and description for every product is the part that tends to wait. ProductReady writes a Facebook & Instagram title and description for each product from your own product data, along with the product title and description, SEO title and meta description, Google Shopping title and description, and an AI summary. The Facebook & Instagram copy is saved to the product’s own fields, and you connect those two fields once in Shopify’s channel mappings, as described above; the app’s “How to use these on Facebook & Instagram” guide walks you through it. By default, you preview every field, apply it in one click and can undo from version history, one product at a time or in batches up to your plan’s limit.

If you don’t sell on one of the channels, turn Google Shopping or Facebook & Instagram off in Settings, and that channel’s fields aren’t written. For a new product, type a working title and your own notes: ProductReady creates it in Shopify as a draft and writes its copy for you to preview.

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