SEO tips: writing title tags

How to create the perfect title tag – and why you need to

A lot of friends ask me for advice when it comes to SEO. Nine times out of ten the first question is: How can I make my website/blog perform better on search engines – without spending any time or money?

Since I have to be the bad guy and inform them that, at least on our planet, that’s impossible, I give them the best place to start: their title tags. Writing great title tags is the most important thing you can do to explain what your website is about, both to Google and to potential visitors. It’s also one of the least time- and money-consuming SEO tactics you can use, while often making a very quick, noticeable difference in your search engine rankings.

The title tag is that blue link that appears in Google search results, and also the name of each webpage that appears at the very top bit of your web browser. Google’s search bots read these tags first to start judging what your page is about and what keywords are most relevant, so they basically tell Google that your site is what users want to see when they look for certain keywords.

 

As this tag is what appears in search results, a well-written one is likely to get you a higher percentage of click-throughs. Consider a potential visitor searching for new Ray Ban sunglasses. Which title do you think they will find more appealing:

"Sunglasses – Check out the new collection of Ray Ban sunglasses" - or -

"Welcome to my website!"

The tricky bit is appealing to the human beings you want to click your link while squeezing the most relevant keywords in there. With a little extra thought, it’s very doable. Here are six tips to help guide you in writing the most effective title tags for each page of your website.

1.  Make the first word/words of you title the keywords you want to capture users on – if you haven’t figured out what keywords you want to focus on, you can go here to see what keywords related to your content are getting the most searches on Google.

2.  Make the title reflect the information on the page. Misleading people will lead to an extremely high bounce rate and very few conversions.

3.  Don't use more then 63 characters. Google wont show the entire title if you do.

4.  If it makes sense to do so, use your title as the headline of your webpage – users expect to find the title on the page and it also reinforces the keywords you’re using.

5. Getting your brand/site name in there is a good idea for establishing trust and expanding your footprint, but you should generally put it at the end of the tag after a vertical line so the search focus is on your keywords.

6.  Your title will end up as a link in the search results, so make it compellingly clickable.

That’s about all there is to writing a great title tag. The most difficult part is determining which keywords to focus on for each page’s tags and content. Stay tuned for a future blog post on just that. 

If you want more information about writing the perfect title tag, check out the video below by Gareth Davies of GSINC Ltd.  

Comments

[jcbatucan]

According to my testing, you can rank #1 for Google for a phrase without including it in the title. In instances where I removed or changed a specific keyword phrase in the title, no reduction in rank occurred. The point is, the Title Tag does not determine rank, so focus less on cramming it with exact keywords phrases, and put more effort into writing titles that get the click through.

SEO
SEO Nottingham
SEO Company

[The Duffy Agency]

You make a good point, rank depends on more than title tags and they certainly aren't the most powerful search rank booster. But for people new to SEO, it's a good place to start, I've seen sites bounce up to the first results page just by changing title tags. But I agree, writing titles that people will click on is more important than cramming in the keywords. Unfortunately, there are a lot of sites that do neither.

[search engine optimization]

I've seen sites bounce up to the first results page just by changing title tags. But I agree, writing titles that people will click on is more important than cramming in the keywords. Unfortunately, there are a lot of sites that do neither.

[buzzparas]

i was figuring around with tips how to write perfect tags for wordpress hosted blog? and if can solve my query :-

what should be the "Post tag length" for wordpress blog

[Weston]

I usually leave the company name at the end of the Title tag, so even if its cut short then it doesnt lose any of the vital keywords

[How To Change Your Life]

Optimizing a site to go up the ranks does have some shortcuts but they too have to be done with some effort and maybe a bit of money too. There is however no real quick way to the top white hat speaking of course.

[affilojetpack]

Title tags are one of the first and easiest way to start optimizing a site. Work on it a day at a time and soon you might just notice your number 1.

[Alex]

Ok, so I took your advice and put the brand at the end of our tag and that killed out rankings. So, be cautious before you make any changes!

[ceasuri barbatesti]

I've seen sites bounce up to the first results page just by changing title tags. But I agree, writing titles that people will click on is more important than cramming in the keywords. Unfortunately, there are a lot of sites that do neither.