5 tips for a good Title Tag

There are over 200 factors that Google uses to decide how to rank any particular page for a search!

The number, variety, and quality of the links pointing into your website probably have the most impact, whilst signals from social networks also now seem to be increasing in importance (a topic for a different post!).

However, title tags can and do still count, especially for small businesses operating in niche sectors.

Recently, I undertook some keyword research for a new client operating in the youth career and mentoring sector. Simply changing the title tag on the home page resulted in improved ranking, and the phone ringing.

Now admittedly, for a large site in a competitive sector, simply changing a title tag would not have such an instant impact. However, if you operate a small business in a niche sector then I urge you to read on!

And even for larger sites, getting your title tag the best it can be, is a basic requirement that you should not ignore.

Where can you see your Title Tag?

In case you are unsure, your title tag generally appears right at the top of your browser.

It also appears, generally, as the first line, and link, in a search return.

It is essentially a piece of html code – if you have a content management system (CMS) you will be able to view and edit your title tag yourself. If you do not have a CMS you will need to speak to your web developer in order to make any changes

So what makes a good title tag for SEO?

1. Maximum 65-70 characters.
   Why? This is the maximum that Google will show as the link in the search returns. Google will still read a longer tag, but it will not show in the search return. So if you are tempted to make your title tags longer, make sure the important words are within the limit
2. Add in keywords for the page – and make unique for each page!
   Why? The title tag refers to a particular page and Google ranks pages, not websites. You have the opportunity to rank each and every page of your site for different keywords.
3. Put your main keyword at the beginning.
   Why? Google considers the first words to be more important.
4. Include a second or maybe third keyword (if you have room) but no more.
   Why? You can only effectively optimise each page for 2 or maybe 3 keywords before it starts reading badly.
5. Always include your brand name, but put it at the end.
   Why? Especially for small businesses, you are looking to re-enforce your brand all the time – but for the reason stated in point 2, put it at the end! If you have a highly established brand, this may be less important.

So there you have it – go check those Title Tags, and see whether you can give yourself a little boost!

If you have any questions, do let me know!

For more information and advice on the creation of title tags, check out the following expert blog posts:

SEOmoz – Title Tag Best Practice

SearchEngineLand – writing HTML title tags for humans, google and bing