Optimize Title Tags for Higher Rankings and Better CTR

[djbaxter]

How to Optimize Title Tags for Higher Rankings and Better Click-Through
Internet Marketing Ninjas
September 17, 2015

[video=youtube_share;uBe3gpTLSCg]https://youtu.be/uBe3gpTLSCg[/video]

• Google will only display ~70 characters (512 pixels) within search results. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t make it longer
• The best practice is to include your main keyword at the beginning of the title tag
• Don’t use the same keyword phrase twice in the title (it can be considered keyword stuffing)
• Feel free to include your secondary keywords as much as it looks natural
• Don’t just list your keywords in the title: Make it stand out by including your “purple cow” in it (Your special offer, what makes you better than your competitors) to increase click-through. High click-through can improve your rankings as well bring you more traffic!
• Include your brand name only if you think that will prompt more people to click. Otherwise use it at the end or just skip it and save those characters for keywords
• Sometimes Google rewrites titles but in most cases your title tag is what is going to be displayed in search results page. Here’s a good tool to preview your URL in SERPs: Advanced Meta Tag Generator & Google Search Results Preview

 

[patco]

This is a prety useful video. But I would like to say that the title tag is both important for SEO, but also we shouldn't forget we are writing the article for PEOPLE! We don't just have to post our keywords there... But we should try making the title looks eye-catching and INTERESTING!

 

[David K]

I agree duplicating the keyword in the title does no good - Google only highlights it the first time in serps anyway and doesn't give one iota of increased serp result from the repeated word anyway, so it is a waste of the limited 70 characters in title that other word(s) could be used to help you rank for those.

 

[harold15]

Based on what I've learned from Matt Cutts, he seems to suggest that meta tags are no longer as useful as they used to be when it comes down to serp. In that case, meta tags are pretty much helpful with respect to improving click through rate when having an eye catching one.

 

[David K]

I'm not sure I've seen that yet but not doubting it as I may be missing something. In serps I only usually see title and description. Very occasionally I see webpage text, but usually when it is an exact match for the search term, esp long tail keywords. I have personally found no relevance for meta tags, as my h1 and h2 tags I do not see displayed in serps. Of course, they are almost the same as my title and leading words in desc. but slightly different. Anyway, I would personally advise not to waste too much time sweating keywords, long vs short, exact match, etc. - your content itself will be picked up, esp if you use unique long tail keywords.