subject: Search Engine Optimization - Accurately Utilizing Title Tags [print this page] The title tag is the title on the top left of your browser window. Search engines place a lot of weight on these titles when ranking your Website. Many Sites utilize the company name or the name of that Web page as the page title which is generally a error if you want to rank that Webpage for targeted keyword phrases. Even if you do not accomplish any other types of optimization in your WebPages, keyword driven title tags will assist you rank your Website in a top position.
The title tag serves two purposes in relation to search engines.
When a searcher searches keywords that are in your title tag you will rank higher for those search terms. Google's number one focus is to provide the searcher relevant Web sites to choose from that is most closely associated to their search. Google assumes your title tag describes the Webpage and uses that information in deciding where to rank that Webpage.
The clickable title of your search engine listing is your title tag for that webpage. Unless you're a known brand your company name serves no purpose here. It is better to present text that is closely related to the searcher. For example if someone is searching for a Marketing Company in Philadelphia, a Web site with a title of Philadelphia Advertising Company or Advertising Agency in Philadelphia is much more relevant to the searcher then J & J Marketing Company and will improve the chance of your site being visited from that search.
Title Tag Best Practices:
- Research your keywords and make sure these are keyword phrases that people are searching.
- Try to be somewhat specific in the keywords you target, very general keywords and phrases are very competitive. For example instead of targeting the keyword "lawyer", target "Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer". By targeting that phrase you are actually targeting four searchable phrases in one shot; "Philadelphia bankruptcy lawyer", "bankruptcy lawyer", "Philadelphia lawyer" and "lawyer".
- If possible utilize the most important keyword words two times in the title but no more than twice. For example "Philadelphia Marketing Agency - Advertising Company in Philadelphia"
- Limit your title tag to 70 or fewer characters, including spaces. If you go over the 70 character limit it won't hurt your rankings but only the first 70 characters are displayed on Google's search results. Also it is possible that characters after the 70 character limit will carry less importance in your ranking.
- Capitalize the first letter of each word.
- Instead of using the word "and" (takes up space) you can use a "-" or "|". Instead of "Serving Philadelphia and Delaware" you can use "Serving Philadelphia | Delaware".
- Google puts more importance on the left most words of the title tag.
- Your title tag should be focused on the content of that Web page. If the Webpage describes a bankruptcy lawyer then bankruptcy lawyer should be in the title and not divorce lawyer.
Keep in mind that by properly writing your title tags does not mean you will magically appear at the top of Google rankings for many targeted keyword phrases. In some cases, typically non competitive keyword phrases, this will give you a major boost in your rankings. To be truly successful you need keyword dense web page copy and a link building strategy among other factors in addition to targeted keyword driven titles.
Search Engine Optimization - Accurately Utilizing Title Tags
