Do you think page titles are important?
OF COURSE!
Page titles are one of the largest factors that search engines look at when trying to determine what a specific website is all about. HubSpot has stated that there are three Dos and Don’ts when optimizing a website.
Dos
Be Specific
Every page on a site should have a purpose. When looking at a page, viewers should be able to describe it! When titles are being written, keep the specifics of the page in mind. If it is about “microwaves”, the title should include keywords centered around “microwaves”, and not a generic keyword like “kitchen appliances”.
Be Unique
Just like every title, make sure it is unique! (to differentiate your site from competitors)
Be Compelling
When looking at search engine results, there are only three things that appear for a visitor - the page title, the page description, and the URL. Try to make page titles compelling!
Don'ts
Be Repetitive
Titles should not include multiple variations of similar keyword phrases.
Be Long
HubSpot (5/19/10) stated that anything over 70 characters is too lengthy. If a site cannot describe a particular page with less than 70 characters, then it should be split it into multiple pages. From a practical standpoint, Google is great at this! They cut a title off around 70 characters –everything written after the 70 character limit is essentially negated.
Put Your Company Name at the Front
In most cases, websites will rank high for their company name. Leverage the fact that search engines allocate more weight to the words that appear at the beginning of a page title, and form your titles using your keyword phrases first, and then your company name.
I thought this was great! :-) Hopefully it will inspire and encourage websites (that are dysfunctional) to implement these 6 simple tips!
OF COURSE!
Page titles are one of the largest factors that search engines look at when trying to determine what a specific website is all about. HubSpot has stated that there are three Dos and Don’ts when optimizing a website.
Dos
Be Specific
Every page on a site should have a purpose. When looking at a page, viewers should be able to describe it! When titles are being written, keep the specifics of the page in mind. If it is about “microwaves”, the title should include keywords centered around “microwaves”, and not a generic keyword like “kitchen appliances”.
Be Unique
Just like every title, make sure it is unique! (to differentiate your site from competitors)
Be Compelling
When looking at search engine results, there are only three things that appear for a visitor - the page title, the page description, and the URL. Try to make page titles compelling!
Don'ts
Be Repetitive
Titles should not include multiple variations of similar keyword phrases.
Be Long
HubSpot (5/19/10) stated that anything over 70 characters is too lengthy. If a site cannot describe a particular page with less than 70 characters, then it should be split it into multiple pages. From a practical standpoint, Google is great at this! They cut a title off around 70 characters –everything written after the 70 character limit is essentially negated.
Put Your Company Name at the Front
In most cases, websites will rank high for their company name. Leverage the fact that search engines allocate more weight to the words that appear at the beginning of a page title, and form your titles using your keyword phrases first, and then your company name.
I thought this was great! :-) Hopefully it will inspire and encourage websites (that are dysfunctional) to implement these 6 simple tips!
Great topic, I often skip over webpages that are too wordy or lengthy. Creativity is nice but the webpage designer needs to keep the title simple but also grab your attention amongst the competition.
ReplyDeleteWe live in a time when the impact visuals far outweigh the written word. Maybe this has always been true, but with individual ad exposures of over 2,000 to 3,000 per day, all vying (and screaming) for attention, the art and science of getting noticed is even more important. The great arresting photo you used in this post stopped me in my tracks; I had to read how you were going to tie the image to the text.
ReplyDelete