What's in a name? When it comes to SEO and getting people to visit your web pages the page name or title is a small element that has an especially large impact. The HTML "title" tag is one of the first places that a search engine will look when analyzing a page. Search engines also use the title as the page link when displaying search results, which makes it the gateway that people click on (or decide not to click on) in order to get to your site.
Because of this, writing good page titles is an essential part of
web copywriting. To make certain your page titles work for you and not against you follow these title tips:
- Be specific. Imagine that someone is searching for a new dining room table, and two nearly identical web pages show up next to each other in the search results. The only difference between the pages is that one is titled "Dining Room Tables," while the other is named "Home Furnishings." Which one is the consumer most likely to click on first? The one that is clearly titled as having the specific item he or she is looking for.
- Keep it to 70 characters or less. Why such a specific number? Because Google only displays 70 characters in its search results. Anything longer than that will be unseen and unnecessary, and can lead to an awkward or unclear title depending on where that 70-character cutoff occurs.
- Use keywords in the title. Because the title tag is weighted so heavily by search engines, it is possibly the single most important place to include keywords. Not only will it help the page rank highly when people search for those terms, but any search words that exactly match your title will be placed in bold font by Google. This can make your page stand out from the crowd.
- Place the most important terms at the start of the title. Search engines (and human readers) weigh the first words in the title more heavily than those toward the end of the line. Many companies format their page titles so that the brand name or company name appears at either the start or the end of each title; the ideal placement depends on whether people are more likely to search for a particular brand ("Nike") or a particular product ("running shoes").
- Write for human readers. You want search engines to "like" your page titles, but search engines are merely a means to an end. A high ranking means nothing if people bypass your page for one with a more attractive or compelling title. Plus, writing with human readers in mind will keep you from "keyword stuffing" and other SEO tactics that can lower your search ranking.
You will still need good content on the page for clicks to turn into customers, but good content is useless if nobody ever sees it. By creating effective page titles you can get the best possible return from your online investment.
