What is a Title Tag?
The title tag is an HTML tag in the head section of every webpage. Like the title of a book, it tells what that page is about.
Optimizing title tags in context with other on-page elements helps search engines better understand your website.
Search engines use the title tag as the clickable link in search results. What that link says makes the difference between whether your link is clicked or skipped.
Optimizing your title tag when the rest of the page content is low-quality will not help rankings.
Map Out Your Site
A properly created website will be mapped out. Each page will have its place in the hierarchy of the site. Optimized title tags will reflect this hierarchy.
Each page should also have a focus keyword. Make sure this keyword is in the page title and the title tag.
The title tag of a home page will not be the same as a product page or a blog post.
As you get deeper into the site, your title tags should become more specific. For large websites, it can be difficult to come up with different titles for each page. This is why mapping out your site and understanding where each page fits in with the whole becomes more important.
Never use the same title on different pages. You can use some of the same words and phrases.
What is the Searcher Looking For?
Keyword research is very important when optimizing your title tags. It’s difficult to guess what words and phrases your potential customers are searching for, and chances are, you will get it wrong. We’ve all found results that were irrelevant to what we searched for.
Search engines have become better at understanding the context of what people are searching for, so you don’t need to go crazy with adding every word someone might search for. Make sure you use words consistently and write naturally.
Ultimately, your title tag should both match the page content and use wording the visitor would search for.
Match the Rest of the Page
A good title tag should always introduce the topic of the page. It should contain words that are used in the body copy, URL, meta descriptions, image alt tags, etc.
Search engines expect everything to tie together. When they don’t, inconsistent terms will be ignored and page rankings may suffer.
No Duplicate Title Tags
Always use unique titles and title tags on each page. When multiple pages have the same title tags (or any other tags), search engines find the tags useless. They will be ignored.
This is also a problem when title tags are missing.
If the tags are of no use, search engines will replace the title with text from the content. Don’t leave this to chance. If you want control over how your search results show up, you need to optimize your title tags.
Automate It
Large websites, such as ecommerce sites and large blogs, may have hundreds or thousands of pages that need title tags. Luckily, most content management systems (CMS) that these sites are built in have ways to automate this.
When you use these features, make sure you check their work.
Make people want to click your link
As mentioned before, your title tag shows up as the clickable link on search engine results pages. This is a good chance to stand out. Do your best to get people to stop and click.
Make sure that link lets the searcher know that you have the answer to their question.
A page should have one clear purpose and one call to action. If it tries to do too much, it will not be effective. If you need to break it up into more pages, do it.
Things to Keep in Mind.
Avoid spammy titles.
Don’t be repetitive.
Make sure the titles and tags are relevant.
Although Google says they index longer titles, keep your titles to less than 60 characters to make sure it doesn’t get truncated in search results.
Don’t stuff the title with keywords. Although you should have your main keyword in the title tag, going overboard and filling the tag with keywords will
Don’t use all caps
Make sure it contains your focus keyword for the web page. Near the beginning of the title tag appears to perform better.
Include your brand name in the title tag.
Questions perform well.
Including the current year performs well.
Keep it in Perspective
The title tag is just one aspect of on-page search engine optimization (SEO). It’s a good place to start, but it alone will not make much difference. Make optimizing your title tags part of your overall strategy.
Keep in mind the purpose of the page and what the searcher will be looking for. Do this and your title tags should perform well.
