Title Tag SEO – Improve Your Chance Of Higher Ranks With Title Tag Optimization

A title of a web page holds extreme importance as this act as a cover page for your web content. It basically defines the name of the web page and describes the content of the page. Title tags are very important for search engine optimization because of its places of appearance.

A title is written inside a title tag in the HTML code of a webpage. Format goes like this:

Titles are extremely important as they are displayed in three most important places on the web.

1. Browser Tabs: The title of the web page which is displayed in the browser is shown in the browser tabs.
2. Search Engine Results Page: The title of your web page is displayed in search engine results. People read these titles and then click on the site which they think is appropriate for their query. A title plays an important role in the process of decision. Optimized titles are ranked high in search engines and hence have a greater chance of getting visitors.
3. Social Networking Sites: Almost all social media network sites use the titles of webpages as its link anchor text.

Now, since they are displayed in such important places, you need to perform title tag SEO. There are certain points which are needed to be considered for SEO title optimization. Let’s take a look at them.

i. Inclusion of keywords along with Relevancy:

Keywords should be inserted in the title of a web page. Search Engines will determine” what the page is all about” with those keywords. Insertion does not mean to simply pitch in keywords. Your title should be meaningful to your users. The readability and understandability factor is for users whereas keyword-insertion factor is both for humans as well as for search engines. Web users get an idea of the content by scanning through your keywords. It should be descriptive and related to the content. Unrelated title is strictly neglected by search engines. This is one of the most important steps in title tag SEO.

ii. Placement of keywords:

The placement of the keywords in your title also affects your search engine rankings. Place keywords at the beginning of the title to quickly tell search engines about your page.” First placed keyword containing title” are given more preference to “keyword containing title.”

iii. Order of keywords:

Many SEO experts forget or underestimate this matter of concern in Title Tag SEO. If you want to rank for more than one keyword, then insert them in the title in decreasing order of their importance. Most optimum format would be:

Primary keyword – Secondary keyword – Tertiary keywords(if any)

iv. Title length:

There is a simple restriction on the title length. It basically depends on search engines. For Google, 70 characters is the maximum amount of characters that are displayed on Google’s results page. The maximum length depends on search engines. Keep your length to a minimum so that your title is not cut off in any search engine result page. This will boost off your title tag SEO campaign.

v. One title for one page:

Use only one title for one page as it helps the readers and search engines to identify different pages of your website. Specific keywords of related pages should be used in each title. Many publishers commit the mistake of using a single keyword for the entire website. Crawlers and readers find it difficult to identify the content of your page with your title.

vi. Branding goes to the last:

Because of the relevancy and placement of keywords in descending order of their importance, you may sometimes find difficult to insert your brand name in your title. Unless your branding term is a more searched term, you may avoid inserting it. Emphasize on your keywords and then on your brand name, if possible. Aside from your homepage, you may leave out your brand name on <title> tag text, if you have more competitive keywords.

vii. Stop “stop words”:

Stop words are the words that provide little to no value for the readers as well as for the search engines. These words are highly ignored. There a number of stop words, of which care should be taken. You have only 70 characters (including spaces), so try avoiding stop words to optimize <title> tag real estate. Remove only those stop words that have zero impact on user search queries. Be judgmental as some querier use certain stop words.

viii. Users’ perspective:

Write a title from a user point of view. Include words and letters that will help them solving their problem. A title should look natural and compelling. Use numbers and modifiers in your title. A web publisher would always want to create a first positive impression of his/her brand, since a title becomes the first interaction of your brand with a visitor. Using hyphens and dashes increases the readability factor of your title. Search engines will help you rank higher if and only if you try to enhance user experience.

ix. Keyword stuffing:

Do not just insert all your keywords in your title to make it search engine friendly. By doing this, you repel both your readers and search engines. Also, by doing this, your title imply that your content is a “jack of all trades but master of none”. Hence decreases users’ compatibility. Important keywords, proper placement and naturalness are all that you need for excellent title.

x. Acronyms and synonyms:

If you think that a user may enter an acronym in spite of an entire keyword (in case of SEO), then you should insert those in your title. But practice this only if you have full confidence in your content and search volume. The best way is to include both in your title. Search engines prefer synonyms in title. A web publisher may use “booking” as well as “reserving” in the title so that his/her page is displayed for both the keywords. But, do not overuse them as you may waste your 70 character real estate of title text. Stick with the most important, appropriate and highly searched words.

By following the above techniques, you can accomplish your task of title SEO. Suggestions are welcomed in comments section.