Using Your HTML Title Effectively
By Yelena Shapiro
What is an HTML
Title and why should I use it?
HTML Title describes the contents of your web page in one sentence. This
title is most likely to appear in search engines' results and in bookmarks.
It is also the first thing that a spider sees on your page. Therefore,
the title has dual importance since it will be seen by both people
and search engines.
HTML Title looks like this:
<Title>Your title here</Title>
It is the most
important part of your page as far as search engines are concerned.
Note that every search engine supports the Title tag. Here are
a few tips on how to make you title tag more appealing to both search
engines and people.
Important:
Your title should appear right after the <head> tag. If you are
using a WYSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get) tool, such as FrontPage,
you may want to make sure that your title is placed correctly. Having
your title placed below its usual place may decrease its power and cost
you rankings.
For search engines:
- Add keywords
to your title
Never make your Title say only the name of your company. Titles should
have plenty of keywords, and although you can include your company's
name, it is by far more important to include multiple keywords.
So, instead of "Donner Brothers Incorporated," try
"Puppy food - inexpensive dog food and other services by Donner
Brothers Inc." Don't just make a list of all the keywords that
you came up with, rather try to include them in a sentence that
markets your services. Avoid using
stop words.
- How to place
your keywords
A title with several keywords is not enough. You need to know how to
place keywords and how many to use. Prominence
and frequency of keywords are very important factors in search engines'
ranking formulas and you should consider them when placing your keywords.
Try to have three or four keywords in your title, less if your title
is very small (about 20% of the whole title). Always place your keywords
first!
For example: " Puppy food - recommended by the best breeders
for small puppies."
"For your puppy - food recommended by the best breeders
for small puppies."
Important: Some engines use alphabetical
order as a part of their algorithm (ranking formula).Try to put
the keyword closest to the beginning of the alphabet in the beginning
of the sentence, as long as it still makes sense.
- Length of your
title
Search engines have different guidelines for how long titles should
be. Altavista, for example, accepts titles as long as 1024 characters,
while others accept less than 75 characters. Since we're trying to please
all engines, it is best that your title is limited to about 75 characters.
If you are targeting a specific engine, such as Hotbot, try analyzing
sites that score high for your keywords and see how long their titles
are. You can also use our tables with search
engine statistics.
What to do with directories
Directories such as Yahoo!,
SNAP and Go/Infoseek
don't care about your HTML title because they are reviewed by humans
rather than robots. They do, however, care about the title that you
specify in their form. A specific directory will let you know how long
your title should be. Prepare a shorter, alternative title for directories
(such as SNAP) that
allow a maximum of 40 characters.
- Appearance
of your title
Don't use all CAPS in your title. Search engines hate it and it is difficult
to read.
For people
- Good old marketing
If you're a webmaster with no previous marketing experience, you
might want to get some help from a marketing guru. Aside from containing
keywords, your title needs to interest your reader in the material.
Make a list of your keywords along with a length guideline, and try
to come up with a title that entices the reader to learn more about
your site. Don't overdo marketing language, such as "We're the
best", etc.; it will only clutter your title with stop
words.
A few
tips: People want exact information, so instead of saying "cheap,"
try giving a ballpark number. Though your site may be commercial, if
you provide educational content such as articles, tips or whitepapers,
mention so in your title.
- Length of your
title
Although all engines allow up to 150 characters, they will only
display half of that in the results. Make sure that the first 75 characters
of your title give a good description on their own, in case the rest
is cut off.
Avoid the use of
spam
Some engines penalize for using all CAPS for your title. Also, don't
repeat the same keyword in your title more than 2 times.
An Overview
HTML Title
- Most important part of your page
- Should appeal to search engines and people
- Should be limited to 75 characters
- Should contain keywords close to each other and to the beginning
- Needs to interest the reader
How
should the body of your site look? Find out what searchengines want
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