Search Engine Optimization 101: Title Tag Tips
Title tag optimization tips
One of the best search engine optimization tips we can give is also one of the easiest. It doesn’t require any in-depth technical knowledge of HTML or insider SEO experience. It’s just writing a good title for your webpage and putting it in the title tag.
Writing a good title tag is one of the most important factors in optimizing a website for search engines. Proper use of the title tag can make a major difference in how a page will rank on a search engine results page (SERP).
What is the title tag?
Technically called the title element, it is commonly referred to as the title tag in most web design discussions. It is located between the opening and closing head tags. When a visitor comes to your website the text from the title tag appears in their browser’s title bar at the very top of the screen. The purpose of the title tag is to tell the visitor what page they are on.
How the title tag is used by search engines.
Search engines use the title tag on their keyword search results pages as the title of your page’s listing. Unlike the meta description tag and other meta tags, the title tag is an important factor in how Google and other search engines rank your site. A title tag is not only important for search engine ranking, it’s also important for your click-through rates. If your title tag doesn’t seem relevant to the browser’s keyword search, it’s very unlikely the user will click on your page’s listing on the search engine results page.
Carbonated’s top 10 title tag optimization tips
By adhering to the following title tag optimization tips you’ll be on your way to ranking your page higher on search engines and increasing your click-through rate (CTR).
1. Always include a title
The first rule is the most important one. Always, always include text within the title tag of your webpage. Include title text right from the first time you create the page so you don’t forget (you can always go back and tweak it later). Far too often we have done a site review on a new client’s website and have come across pages with a blank title tag.
2. Make it unique to each page
Make sure that each page of your site has a unique title that describes the content of the page. Having the same title on each and every page of your site is almost as bad as not having one at all. We encounter this situation the most when doing a website review on a new client’s website. In cases like this it’s usually just the company name in the title tag. The title tag should tell the visitor about the content of the page. It is a missed opportunity not to have a complete and descriptive title tag.
3. Use relevant keywords
Including keywords in your title tag is very important. However, those same keywords should also appear within the content of the page or at the very least have some sort of relation to it.
4. Important information within 70 characters
The title of your listing on Google is limited to a 70 character maximum. Anything over 70 characters is truncated with an ellipsis (… ). That’s one reason why it’s important that you include your most important keywords and information within the first 70 characters of your title tag. You can go over the 70 character limit with the rest of your title but it will not appear on the search engine results page.
5. Words that go beyond the 70th character will be completely truncated
If a word in your title tag doesn’t end before the 70th character Google will truncate the whole word, it won’t split it in the middle. For example, if the word manufacturing is in your title tag and the g is the 71st character Google will remove the entire word manufacturing. That would mean Google would truncate your title after the 59th character making for a fairly short title.
6. Position the most important keywords at the start
Make sure your number one keyword or keyword phrase is at the very beginning of your title tag. There is a hierarchy to how you should order your keywords and information in your title and this is an important factor in how Google will rank your site. When two pages from different sites rank similarly for most factors, the page that begins their title tag with the keyword in contention will be ranked higher. Your title tag should be structured in the following order #1 Keyword, #2 Keyword, #3 Keyword < Product, Location and/or Category | Company name.
7. Don’t repeat the same keyword twice
Title tags do not have a keyword density to them so there’s no need repeat the same keyword several times. Not repeating the same keyword gives you more room for other keywords. You can also combine keyword phrases. For example “Web Design, Web Development and Web Marketing” can be simplified to “Web Design, Development & Marketing.”
8. Remove the company name from the title on interior pages
To increase the number of characters you have for keywords you can drop your company name from the title of your page. Most users that land on an interior page of your site from a search engine will be looking for something specific and your company name will have no relevance to them. We still recommend including your company name in the title on your homepage, though.
9. Eliminate or abbreviate words whenever possible
If you have the opportunity to abbreviate ‘and’ to ‘&’ or ‘three’ to ’3′ and your title tag is still legible you can give yourself a few more valuable characters to use for keywords. Sometimes saving a couple characters here and there can make the difference between a title tag that makes sense and one that looks like a jumble or words.
10. It should read like a phrase
As you’re trying to fit as many keywords as possible within the 69 character limit of your title tag, it’s important to keep in mind you’re writing for humans too and not just search engine spiders. If your page appears in a search engine results page and a potential visitor trips over the way you’ve structured your title tag there’s a lesser chance they will click-through to your site.
Rules are made to be broken
Sometimes it’s ok to break a few of the rules above. For instance, if you’re not concerned about having your title get abbreviated on the search engine results page feel free to go over the 69 characters, you won’t be penalized. Maybe you want your title to stand out more by repeating your keyword in a few places within your title. Again you won’t be penalized for doing so.
We hope you’ll find the above tips useful the next time you’re writing a title tag for a page on your website. Remember to contact Carbonated if you’d like an expert review your site’s title tags.
