The title tags of your web pages are more important than most web authors realize. Once you understand why the title is so important, you can easily write more effective title tags.
What is the title tag?
In your HTML code, the page title should be placed between the beginning and closing HEAD tags, ideally just after the beginning HEAD tag and before the first META tag.
Why is the title tag important?
The title tag is important for a variety of purposes.
- Most browsers display your page with the title at the top of the browser window.
- If someone bookmarks your page in their browser, their bookmark list will show your page using your page title. So if the title of your web page is "Home Page", as many are, your visitors' bookmark lists will contain a lot of "Home Page" listings. How will they determine which "Home Page" is yours two months from now?
- Google and other search engines present the results of a search by displaying page titles as links in the first line of each query result. Search engines doesn't like to display "Home Page" as the best they can do for a user searching for "purple people eaters," for example.
- Most search engines will order the results of a search engine query based on the relevancy of your page to the keywords used for the query. One of the factors in determining this relevancy is how closely your title matches these keywords. If your small startup company makes purple people eaters, don't give your home page the title "Unknown Business, Inc." It's not relevant to the search. Of course, many people will consider "CNN" or "Time, Inc." as relevant for the keyword "news." When you get to be as well known, you can use your name as your title.
You can see that the title of your web page is highly visible to others, and it can impact the search engine ranking of your web page. It is therefore worthwhile to spend some time carefully writing each page title.
Practial tips for writing title tags
Here are some practical tips you can use for crafting an effective web page title.
- Start by thinking hard about how your potential visitors will search for your site. What keywords or keyword phrases will they use for a search engine query? Use one or two of the most important keyword phrases for your title. In our example, the home page title could be "Purple People Eaters."
- Don't just use the same title for all your web site pages. Your About page title could be "About Unknown Business, Inc., your Source for Purple People Eaters." Your Order page title could be "How to Order Purple People Eaters."
- Don't include your company name in the title unless it is a commonly recognized name or the page is about your company. Use the limited real estate in a title for relevant keywords. You can include your company name in the description of your web page.
- Make sure the title does not exceed 66 characters. Google will not display more than 66 characters of a title in the search results page. Truncated titles irritate search engine users.
- Don't use more than 7-10 words in your title.
If you understand what the title tag is, why it is important, and follow these practical tips for writing your web page titles, your internet visibility will be improved, you will improve your search engine ranking, and you will get more visitors to your web site.
Copyright ? 2005 by Kempton Smith, All rights reserved.
Kempton Smith is a web specialist who helps internet businesses increase their site exposure and gain more visitors. He operates the Ad Buddies banner exchange network. Visit http://adbuddies.com
recurring maid service Wilmette ..Your web site should always adhere to standards!A professional web... Read More
Navigation must be simple. Since it's the backbone of your... Read More
If you've a website but not making a lot of... Read More
Have you ever been to site with so much ad... Read More
A well designed web site is great to have, but... Read More
One of the simplest things you can do to give... Read More
Content is the most important part of any website.The Internet... Read More
Just about every list of the "Top 10 Web Design... Read More
Design sells. It's something that all of us know, but... Read More
Not all links are created equal.While all of your links... Read More
An attractive and user-friendly Web site is crucial to attracting... Read More
Then it was a choice among crayons, paints and palettes... Read More
Here's a really simple way... any novice can create a... Read More
A question we frequently get asked is, "how do we... Read More
I always have people asking me if I know of... Read More
It is a well-known fact that a successful business depends... Read More
If you were like me and you have just started... Read More
I once created a notepad-like editor. It is possible with... Read More
One of the challenges of moving a web site up... Read More
Since I'm a web designer, I have a tendency to... Read More
Dear web site visitor.I can't tell you how glad I... Read More
Almost everything is available on the web? products, services, e-books,... Read More
The Questions You Should Be Asking ? The Answers You... Read More
Ecommerce is just exploding right now on the Net. More... Read More
In this article I will give a few tips of... Read More
last minute cleaning help Highland Park ..I see a lot of mistakes, but here are the... Read More
First off, I am a designer. Now you're thinking, here's... Read More
As a webmaster, you want to keep your visitors content... Read More
Do use a consistent look and feel Your site should... Read More
An "include" file is a piece of code that can... Read More
Before you take a road trip it is usually a... Read More
In my last article entitled, Maximizing The True Value Of... Read More
Just because you are a small business with an even... Read More
Many websites make the mistake of being all flash and... Read More
Gone are the days when you had to rely on... Read More
You've designed your logo, and you're ready to print your... Read More
Ecommerce is just exploding right now on the Net. More... Read More
Writing for your web site is not the same as... Read More
Out there in the WWW there are thousands sites using... Read More
Remember the day that you got your new computer (or... Read More
Flash is a powerful technology that can help you create... Read More
If you're running a website or online business, your number... Read More
We've all surfed the web and seen some awful web... Read More
Don't make a splash!Are you thinking about using a splash... Read More
You've thought about it and you're ready to go. You're... Read More
The HTML editor is usually a webpage design software that... Read More
Chris, a new consulting client, asked me to help him... Read More
10 Basic Things Your Website Should Have ...__ all short... Read More
First you need original content. Content is the heart beat... Read More
What dollar amount does your web site contribute to this... Read More
Web Design |