The title of your page is the first place where search engines go that is why page title optimization is considered among the most important work in SEO. Based on what’s written in the page title, search engines will be able to identify the theme of your page. You must choose a title that is concise and includes the primary keyword phrase you selected for optimization.
We will show you the main principles of title optimization and steps on how to make best use of each recommended principle. They are based from our extensive research gathered from years of SEO experience.
Follow Title Length Rules
What is considered an optimal length for title is the one that appropriately makes a description of your site without the need of putting or “stuffing” too much content in it.
Basically, the rule of thumb for each page title is to have around 10 to 70 characters in length.
Use of Special Characters
As much as possible, certain characters in your keyboard, also known as special characters, should have no place in your title. Characters like “= * ^ ~ ; < > ” more often than not are not used by people when querying in search engines. It’s just practical to remove any unnecessary elements in your title if you want to make it optimized.
Use Good Keyword Location
Search engine rankings put a lot of emphasis to the title of the webpage. With that being said, it is vital for the title to begin with the keyword phrase. A website for a directory of hotels in Chicago is expected to have a title that begins with “Chicago hotels” followed by other content related to it.
To better describe what the page is about, you may add additional information but only after the keyword phrase. In this case you may use “Chicago Hotels – Find the Best Deals and Compare Prices.” You may place the keyword phrase within the first three words of the title if it is absolutely impossible to begin with it.
Maintain Keyword Density
Whichever location the keyword phrase may appear in the title (although preferably at the beginning), what is important is it does make it inside the title tag. The title is basically the outline of your webpage and it is what search engines use as basis to see whether your page is relevant to the type of document it is in reference to.
It is also important that the keywords phrase never get repeated in the title more than it should. It is considered as keyword spamming and search engines are not too happy about that kind of practice. The advisable limit in using the keyword phrase is once or twice.
Must Have Unique Title for Each Page
You should use a title that is unique to a single page. Search engines will never know the difference between pages that have the same title and they might even classify them as duplicate pages.
Since each page performs a different function to the entire website, it’s just appropriate that each one gets to have a different title that will indicate their respective purpose.
Having the same title across your entire website is an indication of poor optimization. If one couldn’t even bother to spend time to accurately describe his page through the title, a search engine will not give it serious consideration either.
There’s no question that having a generic title across all pages means the site is not optimized for search. It’s vital in SEO that each webpage gets a specific page title for search engines to take your site seriously.
If You’re Done Optimizing Your Website’s Page Title…
You can now go ahead to our Body Content Optimization guide or you may choose another strategy from our A Guide to SEO.
- Affordable SEO Services
- Backlinking Strategies
- Body Content Optimization
- Customized SEO Services
- Effective Guide in Assessing Quality Backlinks
- Frequently Asked Questions About SEO
- Fuel SEO thru Ethical Linking Campaign
- General Optimization
- Keyword Research Strategies
- Link Building Tips
- Page Title Optimization
- Pagelinking Strategies
- URL Optimization
