Learn/9-common-title-tag-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them/
Contents
- 1 Meta Tags
- 2 1."Home" or "Home Page" in Title Tag
- 3 2.Domain Name in Title Tag
- 4 3.Too Long Title Tag
- 5 4.Too Short Title Tag
- 6 5. No Keywords
- 7 6. Just the Business Name
- 8 7. First Few Words Aren't Important or Eye-Catching
- 9 8. Doesn't Include Geographic Location - if Location is Important
- 10 9. Too Many Keywords (spammy looking)
Meta Tags
Another issue I run into frequently has to do with the formatting of sites’ title tags and meta descriptions. It’s an issue easily solved if you understand how title tags and meta descriptions should be written and what the purposes of them are.
Your title tag is what will be used to link to your site from the search engine results. It should include important keywords that give an overview of the page’s content. This will give search engines a good idea of what the page is about when it is being indexed, and it’s what the users will read in the search engine’s results pages as they review which URL to click.
When writing a title tag, it is important to keep it under 70 characters so that it is not truncated in the results. Put the most important keyword first, followed by the second and third most important keywords. These should be separated by a hyphen or a pipe.
It is also important to include your brand in the title tag. Whether you put it at the beginning or end (I prefer end), remember not to list any keywords more than once, as there is no benefit and that can look like spam. Every page on your site should have a unique title tag.
The meta description is what will show underneath the URL in the search engine results, as long as it is an accurate representation of what the page is all about. Using the meta description to list a unique selling point that makes you stand out is a great strategy and will increase click through rates.
Unique meta descriptions must be created for every page of your site and should be approximately 160 characters in length. Write a brief summary of the page so both the search engines and users know what your page is providing.
1."Home" or "Home Page" in Title Tag
It may be logical or helpful to the website owner, but including "Home" or "Home Page" does not help visitors or search engines. All we really care about is what the page is about, and what it offers us. Why take up space with this non-information? You surely don't want to rank for the terms "home" or "home page."
2.Domain Name in Title Tag
Including the domain name (like example.com) in the title tag is redundant and takes up prime SEO real estate.
If a searcher cares what site they'll be taken to, they can look at the green URL that's visible in the search result before they click. And web pages are automatically going to rank very high (at the top unless something is wrong with your SEO ) when people search for your domain name, whether it's in the title tag or not.
Put another way - Is it more important to tell people your website address, or to tell them about what you provide and show search engines a keyword?
3.Too Long Title Tag
Search engines display only the first 70 characters (about) of a web page's title tag. The rest gets chopped off and replaced with ellipses.
4.Too Short Title Tag
Short and sweet can be nice, but you might as well use all the space available to tell people and search engines about the web page. Making your title tags close to - but not exceeding - 70 characters is a good way to get the most out of your title tags and optimize your chances of showing up for different keyword searches.
5. No Keywords
The purpose of your title tag is to tell people and search engines what your web page is about. If it doesn't include keywords, you're doing it wrong.
6. Just the Business Name
I know it's tempting to make your title tags be just your business name, especially on your home page. But your business name is 70+ characters long or contains several of your important keywords already, you should really include more so that you'll be found - and clicked on - by people who aren't familiar with your business yet.
For example,
Case 1
if you were searching for a business that sold furnace filters, how likely would you be to click on a search result that just said a generic business name like "unitedfilter canada"? You probably wouldn't waste your time clicking on a search result that doesn't make it clear the company is in your city and, or that it sells what you're looking for. Because the title tag doesn't make it clear what Jones & Jones sells, or where they're located, search engines are less likely to rank that result high in search results.
Case 2
if you were searching for a local business that sold jewelry, how likely would you be to click on a search result that matches your intent like "Maternity dresses - Mommyliciousmaternity"? You probably wouldn't waste your time clicking on that search result that makes it clear the company sells what you're looking for. Because the title tag makes it clear what mommyliciousmaternity sells, search engines are more likely to rank that result high in search results.
7. First Few Words Aren't Important or Eye-Catching
Research shows that people scan search results quickly. Searchers pay the most attention to the first few words in search results, and the first few results on the page. This heat map shows you where people tend to click in a page of Google search results.
Make the first few words of your title tags count by including the keywords you think will be most relevant to searchers. Or write something that will catch people's attention. Put your best foot forward, and cut the meaningless fluff.
For example, I searched for "cat toilet training" and found this search result. It did catch my attention and make me read the whole search entry to see if it was really what I was looking for. But many people would just skip it, and focus on the search results that mention their search terms right up front.
8. Doesn't Include Geographic Location - if Location is Important
If you have a physical retail location, or if you want to target customers in a specific region, you should make it clear to searchers and search engines where you're located. Include your neighborhood, city, state, or county - whatever makes most sense for your business - in your title tag and in other website content.
9. Too Many Keywords (spammy looking)
If your title tag is just a long string of keywords, it might rank well for those keywords, but the real, live people searching for those words will probably be less likely to clíck that result.
We hope you can use these tips to improve your website in 2014.
