A website's title tag is a tool digital marketers make use of to show those using search engines what they can expect from a website or webpage. Not only do title tags show in search engine results pages (SERPS) they also appear on posts that are shared on social media channels. You may also notice a title on your web browsers tab, this again comes from the web pages title tag.
It’s important to point out that you should always write your own title tags, if you neglect to do so, search engines will create one for you, this can lead to inaccurate or incorrect information displayed.
It’s important to get title tags right because they give potential visitors a good reason to click through to your webpage from the search results page. Crucially, however, the likes of Google and other search engines use title tags to work out what your webpage is about and calculate where it should be ranked amongst similar websites that use title tags.
Well-thought-out title tags explain a webpage in a clear, concise and accurate way. It allows visitors to obtain information a lot more quickly. If you use title tags correctly, you are likely to see an increase in website traffic, awareness of your brand and overall SEO improvements.
The difference between title tags and H1 or the main heading tag is that the title tag isn’t visible on the webpage to the visitor, it’s shown in the SERPS or when sharing a page via social media, whereas an H1 tag (this applies to H1 – H6 tags) are visible on the webpage itself. Make no mistake; both the title tag and the H1 tag are both important elements to get right in your overall SEO strategy, they both serve to show the likes of Google and your visitors what your business is all about, just remember that it’s only the title tag that will appear in the search results.
A good place to start would be to carry out some keyword research and consider what common words your potential customers are typing into search engines, Google can help you with this. As mentioned earlier, your title tag should provide an accurate, concise and clear description of your business and explain to the user what your business or website is all about. Try to keep any keywords at the start of your title tag, as they will be seen as a priority. Also, remember to keep your title tag to between 50 and 60 characters in length, if it’s too long it’s going to get cut off in the SERPS.
- Ensure that any keywords are at the start
- Use hyphens or pipes as separators (For example title: Web Design in West Midlands | Abstraction Marketing | Home)
- Add your location if you wish to optimise for local SEO
- Make sure each webpage has its own, unique title tag
- Keep it natural; always write for humans, not robots!
Getting your title tags right will improve your organic traffic and more than likely keep people on your site for longer. They are also an integral part of any SEO strategy. I hope that this article has given you some helpful hints for writing better title tags. If you would like to discuss how we can help build you a better website, please get in touch.
Article Written by Alex Simpson
Designer & Digital Marketing Specialist
alex@madebyabstraction.com
