The Title of your site MUST grab attention create curiosity and evoke emotion to get the user to click. Do not make the mistake of just using your company name. If you fail to get the click, your top ranking is worthless. In terms of SEO, the Title Tag is of average importance to Google for competitive phrases. But Yahoo! And MSN its still very important .
The new standard of Title Tag..
Example : For a corporate Help Desk, instead of using a Title of :“XYZ Corporation- Corporate Help Desk, use Corporate Help Desk/ Meeting Your Core Business Demands “
The title is more effective the main solution the company provides. Plus it does not include any “stop words”
More from Stomper Net concepts and tips ;
A. Search engine do not alphabetize their results so refrain from using symbols such “!!” or “AAA” in your title. That technique was effective back in the late 90's not anymore. Placing your most important keywords in the Title. It is more effective for you to create a killer Title that is highly compelling and generate a top ranking through other means including incoming links. . Your Title must be readable and descriptive – dont just stuff keywords in the Title.
Example: For “Hawaiian Vacations “ one sites Title is : “ Windsurfing vacations lodging Maui accomodations Hawaiian vacation”
The suggessted Title ; “Hawaiian Vacation in Maui – Budget Lodging Available
Result : Shorter title more effective and descriptive, because it targets people looking forvacation in Maui and those who are on a budget. This hotel is generally a two star hotel with affordable prices. Since they do not cater to the “rich crowd” they make that clear in the Title to ensure qualified visitors come to their site. This is alsoeffective in PPC campaign. By direct and qualifying your audience up front, you lower your cost per customer acquisition.
B. Never use ALL CAPS as it makes it difficult to read and it is considered “SHOUTING” on the internet. Instead capitalize the first letter of each word ( when appropriate). Generally your Title should be 5 – 7 words. Google displays a maximum of 64 characters, so ensure you have less than that so you are assured your Title will not be cut off. MSN and Yahoo! Display more but with the market share that Google has it is highly advised you comply with their current standards.
Example:
The above example has “ .......” (Ellipse) at the end of the Title. The Title is too long as “Travel Web Site” is not displayed. This hurts the message being delivered and the click through rate will probably suffer because of it.
Note : Yahoo! Displays 110 characters and MSN displays 70. According to Stomper Labs. More characters are indexed than what displays in the SERPS. For example Google displays 64 characters but indexes 72 , MSN displays 70 but indexes 82. Yahoo! Is the only engine that displays and indexes the same number 110. To see the top scoring Titles for the keyphrase you are targetting , type “allintitle” in Google. For example, if I wanted to know the Titles for the “home security system” it would look like :
It is suggessted to use allintitle command and also use looking at the Top 30 to get ideas on how to make your Title more effective.
C. Dont use more than one Title per page. Although it is allowed on some search engines. It is not a good practise as penalties can be assessed. Dont be tempted to repeat your keywords in the Title tag because search engine may penalize you and never repeat a term back to back in the Title. The reason is not necessarily penalized, it is to ensure your Title is compelling and will grab attention.
Untitled Document is a great example of the “lazy webmaster” who hasnt taken the time to change the default text.
WHAT TO DO – titles done right
It should be understood that the algorithms of Google, Yahoo! And MSN are all very different . Thus the “ Perfect Title” does not exist. You read that right, the perfect Titles in terms of meeting the Three algorithms does not exist . There is just enough difference to not allow for a top ranking to occur across all three with the Title tag alone.
Examples of Good Title ;
Plastic Surgery - Don't Trust Your Body to Just Anyone - this achieved a 4-1 click through ratio over a listing four spots above in the SERPS, mainly due to the word "trust" being added.
Looking for the Best Mortgage? - this achieved a 3-1 click through ratio over a listing two spots above and the conversion ratios were very good as the landing page contained a graphic, "See Us for the Best Mortgage Offer for your Home". This is a strong call to action.
Get Help Finding a New Job - The director reported that since changing the Title their overall traffic has decreased, but the number of closes for their resume help service has gone up seven fold!! Visitors are not just more qualified, but they come in with an obviously better outlook and attitude.
Health Insurance | Avoid the Traps, Get Expert Advice - This Title has boosted leads to the highest point in this firm's web history. They have their top keyword phrase "health insurance" but they also tell them why they should click - to avoid traps and also get expert advice. Notice that they did not place their company name in the Title, which is often just a waste, unless your company name is part of your main keyword phrase.
Keyword Meta Tag – there is still a lot of misconception about the keyword Meta Tag. Due to spamming issues dating back to the late 90's, the Keyword Meta Tag has been devalued. Google has never indexed the tag, and while Yahoo! And MSN give importance to the tag, it isn't enough alone to get your site top ranking.
D. Warning there are plenty of software designed to scrape Meta Keyword Tag information and many gurus suggest the first place you go to build a keyword list is your competitor's sites and take their keywords from this tag. Instead it is best to fill this tag with very general or generic terms. The boost that you will get from Yahoo! Or MSN is worth sacrificing from allowing your competition to get the keywords in seconds that took you hours to research.
Example of Meta Tag;
E. Is it important to use commas? No. Commas are not indexed, nor are they used by the engines to separate the keyword phrases. Commas are for aesthetic reasons only for the webmaster.
A word of caution: Do not use your competitor's company name, trademarked products or words in your keyword tag. There have been numerous lawsuits filed because of this. This is because use of trademarked terms in your keyword tag can be interpreted as trademark infringement. Most legal experts will tell you that permission is required before using a trademark on your site at all, even in the visible area of your site. Also, there have been lawsuits due to phrases used that sounded or looked similar to the owned trademark. Keep these very important factors in mind when selecting your keyword phrases.
