Want to be on the first page of Google? Impossible without an optimized title tag. Read on to learn how to optimize your website’s title tag.
What is the Title Tag exactly?
The title is what you see in your browser at the very top of the screen. See below:
Your title tag is also what shows up at the top of each listing in Google. See below:
As you can see, the title tag is very important, because it’s the main link that people see when they find you on Google. But more than that, Google places great emphasis on what your title tag is. They will ignore a title tag that says “Services”, but they will pay special attention to a title tag that includes a keyword, such as “Web design services”.
Breakdown of the Title Tag
The title tag should contain 2 parts.
- The name of the page
- The name of the organization
A lot of times the title tag does not include both parts. Always include the name of the page, plus the name of the organization, often separated by a dash or a vertical line. For example:
How to Optimize the Title Tag of Website | Fresh Look Web Design
If you look at the top of your browser right now, you should see that title for this page.
What should I put for the name of the page?
The name of the page is usually a “keyword phrase”. A keyword phrase is what a web user types into Google when they search for something.
For example, let’s say that you were looking for how to optimize your website’s title tag. You might go to Google and type “how to optimize the title tag of website”.
Now let’s say Fresh Look Web Design wanted you to find our website. That keyword phrase above is what we should put as the name of the page. “How to Optimize the Title Tag of Website”. See the connection?
How do I know what keyword phrase to use?
*** Whatever a user types into Google is what you want your title tag to be ***
So how do you know what a user will type in to Google? This can be be hard to know for sure, but the best way to find out is by doing your research. We recommend checking out some of your competitors. See what they have in their title tag. It’s possible that they have it wrong, but you will get some good ideas of what to possibly use.
Another important suggestion is to include a locality in the title. On our services page, we have “Web Design in Hampton Roads | Fresh Look Web Design” as our title. It helps focus the search query so that you’re being a little more specific in who you’re targeting.
How long can my title tag be?
The general rule is that your title tag should be 70 characters or less. However, as of this writing, Google has also said that it looks at the pixel width of the title. So for example, letters like “m” and “w” are wider than letters like “i” or “t”. Our recommendation is to stay within 65 – 70 characters, and then check your page on Google to see how it looks.
Another new thing Google is doing with their titles is instead of truncating them like they used to do, they will sometimes use a different title that they like better. So whereas they used to just cut off your title if it was too long, now they may just use something entirely different. And that title they choose may or may not be very user friendly.
Summary
- The Title Tag is very important both for users and SEO
- Put a keyword phrase first
- Put the name of the organization second
- Keep the title within 70 characters
- Check your title in Google to make sure it looks good
We hope this article has been helpful! Check out some of our other SEO articles below, or contact us if you have any questions.
