9 Things You Might Not Have Known About Title Tags A title tag is an HTML element that defines the title of a web page. Title tags are presented on search engine results pages as the clickable headline for a given result and are essential for social sharing, SEO, and usability. The title tag is intended to be an exact and brief description of a web page’s content. Historically, the title tag has consistently been one of the single most important on-page SEO factors. Before search engine algorithms increased their complexity, the title tag was an easy way to try and determine the topic and relevancy of a page. As search engines evolved, their algorithms started to include additional factors such as link data, social media interaction and traffic/performance metrics. The title tag, however, still holds great value for on-page search engine optimization. Here are 9 factors you should know about the title tags:
1. Search engine result pages Your title tag defines your display title in Search Engine Result Page and is a search visitor’s first experience of your site. Even if your site ranks fine, a good title can be the determining factor in whether or not the user clicks on your link.
2. Web browsers Your title tag is also presented at the top of your web browser and serves as a placeholder, primarily for people who have several browser tabs open. Unique and easily recognizable titles with essential keywords near the front help ensure that users don’t lose track of the content.
3. Social networks Some external websites (especially social networks) will use your title tag to determine what to display when you share that page. Keep in mind that some of the social networks have their own tags, which allows you to specify titles that vary from your main title tag. It can enable you to optimize for each social network and provide longer titles when/where they might be beneficial.
4. Be Accurate As they are used as a factor of relevancy to describe a page in search engine algorithms, try not to wander off topic with your title tags. Stray too far off the path, and you may look like you’re spamming, keyword stuffing or other manipulative techniques.
5. Don’t Target Too Many Terms on One Page A good rule to remember is trying not to target more than a couple of keywords per page. If you could generate a standalone article on the topic, it should be on its own page. This approach allows search engines to define the topic and relevancy of your page more easily.
6. Try to Be Enticing Your title tag will be searchers’ first impression with your page and sometimes with your brand. Leverage the title tag to not only optimize for SEO but also for user experience. Studies have proved that the message you convey in your title tag can get your more traffic than the search result listing ranked above you.
7. Write for your customers While title tags are crucial to SEO, you should remember that your first job is to attract clicks from well-targeted visitors who are likely to find your content worthy. In addition to optimization and keyword usage, it is also important to think about the whole user experience when you’re creating your title tags. The title tags should convey the most positive and accurate message possible as it is new visitors’ first interaction with your brand when they find it in a search engine.
8. Optimize Your Length for Results Pages Search engines standardize their results pages by limiting the number of characters shown per element of a listing. The maximum allowed number of title tag characters is 70. Exceed this number, and they will display an ellipsis – “…” to imply that a title tag has been cut off. In case it is cut off before the point is made, your title tag may not make sense to a user. Therefore, be sure to check its length. Moreover, do not go overboard with keywords and use common sense to know what looks too long.
9. Keyword Placement and Order Matters Using the keyword in the placement of the title tag earlier is more useful for ranking factors. Moreover, because it is near the beginning and likely not cut off at the 70-character limit, a user is more likely will see it and click on your search result listing.
Conclusion:
If you are writing great content, but you are not getting many clicks, then you may be forgetting about a crucial and little-known aspect of SEO: the title tags. Title tags are literally the tags which contain the titles for your web pages. Viewers will see these titles before anything else when they are searching on Google. If you think title tags do not matter for SEO, you are wrong. Title tags are almost as essential as the actual content on your web pages, and they can boost your CTR if you use them effectively. If you don’t have a well-thought title tag, people are not going to click on your link from the search results. You can also write listicles and include numbers in your title tags. But make sure to use odd numbers as frequently as possible. Don’t write a title tag that is too long, either. Include relevant dates in your titles like the year (2018) or month (May) when applicable. Remember that plugins such as Yoast can update these dates automatically for you. You may ask open-ended questions in your titles so that people will click over to your website to get the answer they are looking for. You could even land a featured snippet, which will boost clicks quick. Do not forget to add CTAs when you can, and make an effort to add keywords to your CTAs. Search for referring keywords like synonyms or variants of the words you are already optimizing content and titles for, and try to rank for those, too. This will help you boost rankings and clicks above what you see now.