Good title tags feature the exact phrase you want your page to be ranked for. The following is a checklist of items to follow in order to create a good title tag:
- Choose the right keywords – Keywords should be the most desired keywords for that page, and should be relevant to its content.
- Length – Titles should not be more than 63 characters or they can be truncated.
- Proximity – Keep keywords in a phrase close together. The farther away the words are, the less relevant to the page they may seem.
- Keyword location – Search engines will place the most emphasis on the keywords that are placed in the front of the title tag.
- Word order – Try to put the keywords in the same order as users would search for them.
- Repetition – Search engines will penalize sites that repeat keywords too often.
- Write for people as well as for search engines – Entice people to click your link while reassuring search engines your title tag refers to a page that provides exactly what people are looking for.
Title tags take up valuable real estate. The following are common mistakes that devalue such space.
- Not titling every page of your site. If you don’t, by default, search engines will call your page “Untitled Document.”
- Using the title tag “Welcome to Our Homepage” on your homepage. It is obvious your homepage is a homepage. There is no need to clarify things.
- Title tags that are long, vague, or overstuffed with keywords. The more sense title tags are, the better.
Title tags, when strategically written, will provide users the exact content they want. The more user friendly title tags are, the higher search engines will rank your site. Follow these strategies and avoid the common mistakes will assure you that you are maximizing all efforts when creating the most effective title tags.
