One of the most underestimated aspects of SEO

By Dino Adamou

Ever wonder why some sites that are on the front page of Google don’t get as much traffic as other sites on the same page? Sometimes, a site that is near the bottom of page one or even on the second page of search results can get quite a bit more traffic than one of the big boys in the top three, but why is that? Most likely, it is because of the title tags, little bits of extra HTML on a page that can make all the difference in the world.

When someone does a search on Google they are presented with a long list of search results. Each result contains a small description about the page that can make or break a website and greatly influences the amount of traffic and search engine love that the page receives.

The first part of the description that you see (highlighted in the red circle above) is the “title tag” of that page (highlighted in the red circle below). The title tag is one of the most important and one of the most overlooked pieces of the SEO puzzle. Getting this tag right on all of your pages can make a big difference in the amount of traffic you get. The title tag is your “first impression” on the world.

Pick your favorite topic and do a Google search on it, then examine the results. Notice how some of the title tags are bland and generic and stuffed with keywords? This is a bad idea. When readers who are looking to buy exercise equipment are browsing search results, do you think they are going to visit the site that has a tag of “Dumbbells, Kettle bells, P90X” or the site that has a tag of “Great Deals on Exercise Equipment”?

Search engines generally limit what they display of your title tag to around 70 characters. In less than half a Tweet, you need to attract the attention of browsers, and this is why so many people get it wrong. They want to stuff the title tag with keywords instead of telling reader (and Google) what the page is actually about. No matter how many times Google tells them that keyword stuffing doesn’t work, no matter how many times the emphasis on relevance and readability is pounded into their heads, some people just don’t get it.

Here are a few tips to help you create relevant title tags?

1 - Make them short and to the point. In 70 characters, tell the reader exactly what the page is about and why they should want to visit it. If the page is selling something, make sure they understand that they are about to visit a page that offers a great deal on a great product.

2 - Use them on every page. If your website architecture is setup properly and a user lands on a page deep within your site, you will have a good chance of keeping them there. Don’t think that pages that only get a few hits a week are worthless. They are breadcrumbs that lead back to your monetized content.

3 - Use title tags to enhance your brand. Incorporate branding into your title tags whenever possible, but not at the expense of relevance. “Great deals on Exercise Equipment from ExerMart” is a good, branded tag.

4 - Be better than the competition. Do searches on your site’s keywords, examine the title tags of the top two pages of results, and figure out how to write better tags than your competitors.

Title tags are important, second only to the actual body of your posts in terms of search engine optimization. What are some tactics that you employ in your title tag standards?