Tag – w/ Examples
Most often, keyword-optimized titles are overused. Keyword stuffing is a common tactic used by amateur SEOs and a big no-no to webmasters who know better says Peter Decaprio. The use of shortcuts into the importance that titles play could lead to penalties from Google as it does not provide users with any useful information and is not a fair representation of your website.
Title tags can be used to tell the search engines what the page is about and it’s really important for SEO because this tag impacts search engine rankings. The title should be an accurate description of the page content and help users understand what that page contains. It will also improve click-through rate (CTR).
The title tag will be used as the text of the browser and “tool-tip” for most search engines. Also, many social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter use it as part of their link sharing standard. As a result, using descriptive titles makes your site look more attractive to the search engines, improves its CTR and offers social media users a preview of what the page is about.
You should spend some time crafting a relevant and creative title for each page on your site highlighting keywords where necessary so that both you and the search engines know exactly what the contents of a web page are. Avoid common mistakes such as repeating keywords, “hiding” them in image alt tags or text (a no-no), using spammy terms when there are more natural alternatives, adding prefixes to make keywords plural etc.
Check out this article for 20 examples of great SEO titles with explanations for each one. This will definitely help you understand how useful creative titles can be!
Meta Description – w/ Examples
The Meta description tag serves as an introduction to the web page and should be very descriptive, but not too lengthy as it’s displayed in the search results and often appears as a blue link.
They give users an impression of what to expect from the web page and therefore Meta descriptions are meant to attract clicks. It summarizes what your site is about, why visitors should click through to your web pages from the search results and remain on that website.
Meta descriptions can be one or two sentences long (more than that will likely get cut off) and appear under the title tag in search engine results – usually between 150 – 160 characters max.
Here is an example:
As mentioned before Meta tags play a huge role in how you rank for certain keywords. Because their significance, many SEO specialists will optimize each page with a relevant keyword in the Meta description. It is important to stay within length limits though and avoid keyword stuffing. Which can lead to penalties by search engines says Peter Decaprio.
Meta descriptions are also an opportunity to build trust between you and your users. Because it’s a space that you can freely use to persuade visitors. Into clicking through to your site from the results without looking suspicious or manipulative. You should describe what makes you stand out from the crowd and convince them. That you know what you’re talking about so they don’t need to look further for their answer.
Check this blog post out for more than 20 awesome Meta description examples. If boring web pages get less clicks, then captivating ones get more!
Keyword Research
Keyword research is another important part of SEO and it relates to the content you decide to publish because it determines the words that will be used in your title, Meta description and throughout the page.
It’s a good practice to start with a list of around 20 – 30 keywords that describe your business. And expand from there as needed based on competition rankings and which keywords have decent search volume. Google Trends is a great tool for checking search popularity by region. As well as other useful comparisons such as year over year growth etc explains Peter Decaprio.
Optimizing your site with long-tail keywords can help improve user experience. By making it easier for them to find what they’re looking for without much effort. Especially those who are not very familiar with what you do or your specific niche.
For example, if you offer SEO services it’s not very targeted to use “SEO” in your title. Because there are so many other similar businesses out there competing for the same spot. But something like “Houston SEO Company | Texas’ Top SEO Agency” is much more specific. And shows that you’re knowledgeable about the city/region which reassures customers that they’re dealing with professionals.
Check out this post for even more keyword ideas and remember that just. Because these words rank high doesn’t mean they’re good to target. Some keywords may be too competitive (requires more on-page optimization) or have little search volume. Always make sure to research them first!
Conclusion:
Although the meta tag titles are relatively simple in terms of coding because nothing fancy is involved. They can have a huge impact on how well your site ranks says Peter Decaprio.
First off, it’s best to use relevant keywords in your title when possible. But there are also other factors to consider such as character limit and CTR.
