Why Optimized Title Tags are Crucial for SEO

 

Do you have a beautiful web page that’s not getting as many visitors as you expected? It might be due to your web page’s title tag.

The title tag of your web page lets search engines and people know the theme of the content on the page. 

In the back end of your web page, the title tag would be formatted as such: 

<title>(content)</title>

The title gives quick insight into what your web page is about when it is served up in a search engine. It is also displayed on the web page tab in your browser, as in the following example:

The Social Media Effect

Having a good title tag is also important for promotion on social media platforms. When you share something from your website to your Twitter or Facebook profile, the link will generate a snippet in Facebook or Twitter that displays the title of your web page along with some additional information. It is important to make your title tag clear and concise regarding content so that your social media followers will know exactly what they are going to read.

Rules to Follow

As mentioned earlier, title tags help search engines understand the content of the page. However, there are restrictions regarding title tags as well. One such example is known as “keyword stuffing.” Keyword stuffing is used by people attempting to trick search engines into ranking their website higher by including keywords frequently and unnaturally in a title tag.  

Let’s use “Chicago Orthodontist Invisalign Braces Chicago IL” as our example. As you can see, this tag includes two instances of the practice location, and it also has three different orthodontist related terms. Additionally, it doesn’t say what the page is about.

It also goes over the maximum character count that Google recognizes. Google typically only shows the first 50 – 60 characters of a title tag. 

While having a long title tag that accurately explains the page isn’t against Google’s policies, it will make it harder to read. The title tag should be as short and concise as possible. Otherwise you may end up having it cut off and ending with an ellipsis in search results, which may be confusing to visitors. 

 

To give your website the best chance to succeed in a highly competitive environment, you need a solid Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, including well-written title tags. When going through this process, keep them clear and concise, relevant for the content on a page, and within search engine best practices. 

Please feel free to reach out to Sesame’s SEO Team if you have any related questions!

 

—John Nguyen, SEO Specialist, Sesame Communications