<title>What Is The Best Title Tag For Google?</title>
The page title tag (or HTML Title Element) is arguably the most important on
page seo factor. Keywords in page titles can HELP your pages rank higher in
Google results pages (SERPS). The page title is also often used by Google as
the title of a search snippet link in search engine results pages.
For me, a perfect title tag in Google is dependent on a number of factors;
1. The page title is highly relevant to the page it refers to; it will probably be
displayed in a web browsers window title bar, and the clickable search snippet
link in Google, Bing & other search engines. The title is the “crown” of a keyword
targeted article with most important keyword phrase featuring AT LEAST ONCE,
as all search engines place a lot of weight in what words are contained within this
html element.
2. Google displays as many characters as it can fit into “a block element
that’s 512px wide and doesn’t exceed 1 line of text”. So – THERE IS NO
AMOUNT OF CHARACTERS any seo can lay down as exact best
practice to GUARANTEE your title will display, in full in Google, at
least. Ultimately – only the characters and words you use will determine if
your entire page title will be seen in a Google search snippet. Google used
to count 70 characters in a title – but not in 2012. If you want to ENSURE your full
title tag shows in Google SERPS, stick to about 65 characters. I have seen ‘up -to’
69 characters in 2012 – but as I said – it depends on the characters you use.
3. Google will INDEX perhaps 1000s of characters in a title… but no-one knows
exactly how many characters or words Google will actually count AS a TITLE
when determining relevance for ranking purposes. It is a very hard thing to try to
isolate accurately. I have had ranking success with longer titles – much
longer titles – Google certainly reads ALL the words in your page title (unless you
are spamming it silly, of course).
4. You can probably fit up to 12 words that will be counted as part of a page title,
and consider using your important keywords in the first 8 words.
5. Some page titles do better with a call to action – one which reflects exactly a
searcher’s intent (e.g. to learn something, or buy something, or hire something.
Remember this is your hook in search engines, if Google chooses to use your
page title in its search snippet, and there is now a lot of competing pages out
there!
6. When optimising a title, you are looking to rank for as many terms as
possible, without keyword stuffing your title. Often, the best bet is to optimise for
a particular phrase (or phrases) – and take a more long-tail approach. Yes – that
does mean more pages on your site – that’s the reality in 2012. Content. Content.
Content.
7. The perfect title tag on a page is unique to other pages on the site. In light of
Google Panda, an algorithm that looks for a ‘quality’ in sites, you REALLY need
to make your page titles UNIQUE, and minimise any duplication, especially on
larger sites.
8. I like to make sure my keywords feature as early as possible in a title tag but the
important thing is to have important keywords and key phrases in your page title
tag SOMEWHERE.
9. For me, when SEO is more important than branding, the company name goes at
the end of the tag, and I use a variety of dividers to separate as no one way
performs best. If you have a recognisable brand – then there is an argument for
putting this at the front of titles.
10. I like to think I write titles for search engines AND humans.
11. Know that Google tweaks everything regularly – why not what the perfect title
keys off? So MIX it up…
12. Don’t obsess! Natural is probably better, and will only get better as engines
evolve. As I said – these days – I optimise for key-phrases, rather than just
keywords.
13. Generally speaking, the more domain trust/authority your SITE has in Google, the
easier it is for a new page to rank for something. So bear that in mind. There is
only so much you can do with your page titles – your websites rankings in Google
are a LOT more to do with OFFSITE factors than ONSITE ones.
14. Also bear in mind, in 2012, the html title element you choose for your page, may
not be what Google chooses to include in your SERP snippet. The search snippet
title and description is very much QUERY dependant these days. Google often
chooses what it thinks is the most relevant title for your search snippet, and it
can use information from your page, or in links to that page, to create a
very different SERP snippet title.
15. Click through rate is something that is likely measured by Google when ranking
pages (Bing say they use it too, and they now power Yahoo), so it is really worth
considering whether you are best optimising your page titles for click-through rate
or optimising for more search engine rankings.
16. Google has been recorded recently discussing an ‘over-optimisation’ penalty. I
would imagine keyword stuffing your page titles could be one area they look at.
17. Remember….think ‘keyword phrase‘ rather than ‘keyword‘, ‘keyword‘
,’keyword‘… but think UNIQUE keywords when dealing with single pages. That is
– how many single unique keywords can you include on the page relevant to your
main keyword phrase you are optimising for.
The page title tag (or HTML Title Element) is arguably the most important on
page seo factor. Keywords in page titles can HELP your pages rank higher in
Google results pages (SERPS). The page title is also often used by Google as
the title of a search snippet link in search engine results pages.
For me, a perfect title tag in Google is dependent on a number of factors;
1. The page title is highly relevant to the page it refers to; it will probably be
displayed in a web browsers window title bar, and the clickable search snippet
link in Google, Bing & other search engines. The title is the “crown” of a keyword
targeted article with most important keyword phrase featuring AT LEAST ONCE,
as all search engines place a lot of weight in what words are contained within this
html element.
2. Google displays as many characters as it can fit into “a block element
that’s 512px wide and doesn’t exceed 1 line of text”. So – THERE IS NO
AMOUNT OF CHARACTERS any seo can lay down as exact best
practice to GUARANTEE your title will display, in full in Google, at
least. Ultimately – only the characters and words you use will determine if
your entire page title will be seen in a Google search snippet. Google used
to count 70 characters in a title – but not in 2012. If you want to ENSURE your full
title tag shows in Google SERPS, stick to about 65 characters. I have seen ‘up -to’
69 characters in 2012 – but as I said – it depends on the characters you use.
3. Google will INDEX perhaps 1000s of characters in a title… but no-one knows
exactly how many characters or words Google will actually count AS a TITLE
when determining relevance for ranking purposes. It is a very hard thing to try to
isolate accurately. I have had ranking success with longer titles – much
longer titles – Google certainly reads ALL the words in your page title (unless you
are spamming it silly, of course).
4. You can probably fit up to 12 words that will be counted as part of a page title,
and consider using your important keywords in the first 8 words.
5. Some page titles do better with a call to action – one which reflects exactly a
searcher’s intent (e.g. to learn something, or buy something, or hire something.
Remember this is your hook in search engines, if Google chooses to use your
page title in its search snippet, and there is now a lot of competing pages out
there!
6. When optimising a title, you are looking to rank for as many terms as
possible, without keyword stuffing your title. Often, the best bet is to optimise for
a particular phrase (or phrases) – and take a more long-tail approach. Yes – that
does mean more pages on your site – that’s the reality in 2012. Content. Content.
Content.
7. The perfect title tag on a page is unique to other pages on the site. In light of
Google Panda, an algorithm that looks for a ‘quality’ in sites, you REALLY need
to make your page titles UNIQUE, and minimise any duplication, especially on
larger sites.
8. I like to make sure my keywords feature as early as possible in a title tag but the
important thing is to have important keywords and key phrases in your page title
tag SOMEWHERE.
9. For me, when SEO is more important than branding, the company name goes at
the end of the tag, and I use a variety of dividers to separate as no one way
performs best. If you have a recognisable brand – then there is an argument for
putting this at the front of titles.
10. I like to think I write titles for search engines AND humans.
11. Know that Google tweaks everything regularly – why not what the perfect title
keys off? So MIX it up…
12. Don’t obsess! Natural is probably better, and will only get better as engines
evolve. As I said – these days – I optimise for key-phrases, rather than just
keywords.
13. Generally speaking, the more domain trust/authority your SITE has in Google, the
easier it is for a new page to rank for something. So bear that in mind. There is
only so much you can do with your page titles – your websites rankings in Google
are a LOT more to do with OFFSITE factors than ONSITE ones.
14. Also bear in mind, in 2012, the html title element you choose for your page, may
not be what Google chooses to include in your SERP snippet. The search snippet
title and description is very much QUERY dependant these days. Google often
chooses what it thinks is the most relevant title for your search snippet, and it
can use information from your page, or in links to that page, to create a
very different SERP snippet title.
15. Click through rate is something that is likely measured by Google when ranking
pages (Bing say they use it too, and they now power Yahoo), so it is really worth
considering whether you are best optimising your page titles for click-through rate
or optimising for more search engine rankings.
16. Google has been recorded recently discussing an ‘over-optimisation’ penalty. I
would imagine keyword stuffing your page titles could be one area they look at.
17. Remember….think ‘keyword phrase‘ rather than ‘keyword‘, ‘keyword‘
,’keyword‘… but think UNIQUE keywords when dealing with single pages. That is
– how many single unique keywords can you include on the page relevant to your
main keyword phrase you are optimising for.
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