Most online marketers, website owners, and business owners know about keywords and backlinks. They’ve watched a Semrush video, read an SEO for Dummies article, or have hung out around the water cooler with someone passionate about keywords.
However, many never graduate past that point to delve into the deeper – and more powerful – aspects of SEO. There’s more to a blogging platform than the input box. Understanding how a website works is imperative, especially considering that it’s the platform on which every internet entrepreneur makes a living.
HTML and CSS, the bones and coding language that make up most websites, can play a major role in determining a page’s ranking. And one of the most important bits of HTML to learn about for on page optimization in SEO is the title tag.
What are Title Tags?
The title tag is that clickable snippet of text shown on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP’s). It appears within a page’s header code, before the main body of content (although it doesn’t actually appear on the website).
Ideally, the title tag serves a couple of functions. On a human level, it tells interested searchers what they can expect from the page – with better title tags rousing higher click-through rates. On an SEO level, it introduces that page to a search engine crawler.
It’s also what appears on the browser tab, offering a quick summary of the page’s purpose. (That is, if you have only a few tabs open; if you’re like us, and have 20 tabs open at once, the most you’ll see is a couple letters apiece!)
Basically, search engines use the title tag to determine what a page is about before moving on to the meta description and visible text.
How to Use Title Tags for SEO
Obviously, anything that a search engine pays that much attention to is worth our attention too.
And thankfully, title tags are pretty easy. The first words of the title are given the most SEO weight, and each word after it is worth slightly less than the one before it.
With that in mind, your primary SEO keyword for a page should be at the very beginning of the title, with the rest following soon after. Customize the title tag of each page and make it as short and punchy as possible.
A title is only useful up to about 60 characters, including spaces. Many believe the sweet spot is between 50 and 60 characters.
Unless the page is primarily about a brand, don’t worry about constantly mentioning the brand or company name in the title tags – just once at the end should suffice for you to name-drop yourself, if at all. The title is for all of the subjects that bring in traffic. All of the finer details belong in the meta description or body content, where they can be expanded on fully.
Finally, if you’re gunning for local SEO optimization (pinging people in your geographical area who are searching), incorporating your target location is critical. I.e., “How to Find an Emergency Toronto Electrician | Your Brand”.
Common Mistakes and Misconceptions – And How to Sidestep Them
Most problems with title tags stem from a simple lack of knowledge about their functions and limitations.
A title outside the header or repeated tags are common, and render the feature almost useless. Likewise, some companies stray far outside the 50- to 60-character sweet spot, offering an overly descriptive title that’s void of any clickable content or optimized keywords. Even when positioned correctly and 55 characters, some companies use too many filler words, like “the” or “an,” or even “and” instead of using “&” (save yourself two characters right there!). This is just leaving SEO potential on the table.
Conversely, we’ve seen too many companies that do the opposite. They stuff keywords in an amateurish effort to boost their SEO. This can work – in the same way that robbing a bank can work. But it’s a massive risk that doesn’t justify its rewards. Keyword stuffing can easily flag as spammy to Google’s algorithms, especially in light of the recent Core Web Vitals rollout and Google Core Updates. And if that happens, your SEO strategy severely suffers.
Another huge mistake is that companies will have duplicate title tags for different pages of their site. We get it; consistency is a key element in branding, tone, and messaging, so some businesses assume that consistency should also apply to title tags. Unfortunately, that isn’t the way it works. Every page should have a unique and well written title tag that is optimized for the search engines. If you’re in doubt about your site, check out our resource on performing an SEO side-wide audit.
The worst mistake you can make by far, however, is to ignore the title tag completely. Leaving it at the default setting does nothing for your optimization and may actually damage a bot’s ability to classify your website. Take the few minutes required to head into your site’s editor and make the necessary changes and harness the power of the title tags to boost your SEO efforts!
A strong title walks the line between these extremes and performs better than any of them. It’s unique, descriptive, to-the-point, between 50 and 60 characters, optimized for select keywords without sacrificing natural language flow, and (ideally) includes your company name. It’s a shining snippet of content that lures the search engine crawlers while still remaining clickable enough for actual humans to say “Hmm, I oughtta check this out.”
You Don’t Have to Go It Alone: Tools for Optimizing Your Title Tag
SEO is like anything in the business world. Sure, you can do it alone. But it’s faster, more streamlined, and more effective if you leverage technological tools and outside expertise.
SEMrush, Ahrefs, and Screaming Frog are a few tools that come to mind off the top. SEMrush offers keyword analysis that can guide you in choosing the best keywords for your title tags. It also provides a peek into your competitors’ strategies, which is always useful. Meanwhile, Ahrefs is great for backlink analysis and keyword research, helping to keep your title tags relevant and competitive.
Screaming Frog is another handy tool, especially for crawling your website and spotting issues like duplicate or missing title tags. It generates detailed reports that can help you quickly fix any problems.
Some people have even had good experiences using generative AI to brainstorm their title tags. However, you’ll still need to optimize it and potentially rewrite it afterwards. Given AI’s penchant for “hallucinations,” its reliance on potentially outdated keyword information, and Google standoffish stance against “low-quality, unoriginal content” in its massive 2024 Core Updates, you can’t really trust ChatGPT to write you “print-ready” content, title tags included. But AI and SEO work well together in the brainstorming phase!
Lastly, partnering with companies and people who have experience writing for SEO can be an asset. If you want to take your keywords to the next level, reaping all the associated benefits, contact us here at Paul Teitleman SEO Consulting. We optimize title tags as one facet of a multi-pronged, long-lasting SEO strategy.
