Every web page should mandatorily have a title. The title is provided by using a Title Tag <title>. If you click the view page source in any web page, you can see the title included under the <head> tag as follows:
<head> <title>ByteFive Internet Marketing, SEO, Pay Per Click, Content Marketing and Social Media</title> <head>
Before you create titles for web pages, here are some best practices:
1) Use Unique Titles
Title tags in each page, category and home page should be unique. The purpose of title tag is to tell users and search engines what the page is. It is important to make each title unique. This will help users find the information quickly and eventually would help the search experience.
Google also uses synonyms to rank web pages. The wider the set of unique titles you have, the broader will be the keywords for which your web page will rank.
2) Use Keywords in Title
Think how your clients will search for topics/products related to your industry. Use keyword rich titles that would help your client solve their problem.
If I want to buy IPad, I would be using “ipad reviews”
As you can see in the above example, the first site listed for this keyword has the keyword in the far left end. So it is important to use the keyword first in the title. Avoid stuffing keyword in the titles. You might rank in top spot for such keywords but the click through rates would be low.
3) Appeal to the user
Although keywords should be used in the title, your title should motivate the user to click. Therefore it is important to understand the intent of the user.
For example, If I want to learn the criteria for buying ipad, I might search for “buying ipad”
As you can see above, the keywords “buying ipad” is not in the title but the title “Which IPad Should I buy” immediately gets our attention. Google ensures that a web pages that has focussed on understanding search intent ranks in the top spot.
4) Limit the title to 70 characters
Google will eliminate all other characters beyond 70 characters in search results. So it is important that you use keywords relevant to the web page within the 70 character limit. Search Engines will show ellipses (…) to indicate that your title has been cut off.
Search Engines will show the keywords bolded in the title when displaying the search results.
As you can see above, ipad 3 has been bolded in the title tag. You can also see the title being cut off in the third result and replaced with an ellipsis
5) Using Brand in the Title
There have been two theories about using Brand in the title. One says that you should append your Brand Name after your title like
Title – Brand Name
This would help user associate the Brand with a wide range of topics and when they search for a topic and if your web page is not ranked in the top 5 spot and say ranks in the 7th spot, they will still click your web page based on their previous experience.
The second theory states that the user doesn’t bother about Brand Name in the title. It is important to save your valuable Title characters for creating effective keyword rich titles. The brand is clearly visible in the URL.
Title
Description
Our Advice: Test both theories and find out what works for you. If you are new to the market, use your brand name in the title, before you gain critical mass with respect to readership. After that, remove the Brand name from the title.
If you want help in creating effective titles for your articles, contact us or you can call us at: India (Ph): +91 9497189032, UK (Ph): +44 (0)20-3371-9976 or US (Ph): +1 650-491-0004
ByteFive provides comprehensive Internet Marketing Services and Training in Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing (PPC Campaign Creation, Management and Optimization), Developing processes and best practices for Internet Marketing, Managing and Analyzing Web Analytics, Landing page Optimization, E-Mail Newsletter Management, Competitor Research, Content Creation and Content Marketing.