Meta Tags :
First lets talk about meta tags. Meta elements are HTML or XHTML elements used to provide about a web page for the search engines and website users.
Such elements must be placed as tags in the head section of a HTML document . These elements are the:
First lets talk about meta tags. Meta elements are HTML or XHTML elements used to provide about a web page for the search engines and website users.
Such elements must be placed as tags in the head section of a HTML document . These elements are the:
- Title tag
- Description
- Keywords ( No one uses these anymore and you can get spam " points " for overuse on google, So just forget them. If you have keyword stuffed " Spammy" ones, you probably want to fix those.)
Tital tags are part of the meta tags that appear at the top of your HTML inside the <head> area. Think of title tags like the title of the chapter of the book. It tells people and search engines what your page is about.
Title tags are also part of what makes people decide whether to visit your site when it shows up in the search result. the title tag should contain important keywords to help the search engine determine what the page is about.
What does the title tags look like?
The title tag look like this in your HTML code:
<title>Important Words Go Here </title>
Remember : The title tag is THE MOST IMPORTANT SINGLE TAG in your page . It tells the search engines what your page is about. It is still vitally important to your SEO strategy.
Quick Checklist:
When you are writing title tag what do you need to know ? Here is a quick check list with some tips on how to write optimized title tags:
- Length : Title tags should be a maximum of 70 characters long, including spaces.
- Keyword Placement : Your most important words (Keywords) need to be first in your title tag . with your least important words being last in the title tag ( most to least). Hopwever, if you are working in a language that reads right -to-left, then it is reversed, and it would be least important to most important.
- Keyword Seperation : Use pipes to seperate important ( Keyword) phrases ( no commas, underscores, dashes or any other punctuation unless the keyword is written that way).
- Wording : Keep your important phrases short and simple. Leave out words that would make it read like a sentence. ( e.g.. and, if , but,then ,etc)
- Company Name : If your company name is not part of the important ( keyword) phrases, put it at the end of the title tag, if it is part of your important words, put it as the first words in the title tag. Some SEO will tell you to leave it you. You can leave it in for branding purposes - so people will see the brand and click. This isn't valid for all sites.
- DONT DUPLICATE Title Tags : They must be written differently for every page. Dont mass replicate your title tags.
- Make It Relevant : Title tags must be written to be descriptive of the content on the home page. (e.g..the About Page would be :
About | Important Keywords | Company Name
or
Important Keywords | About us | Company Name
Google & Tital Tags :
Sometimes google dosent like your title tag. In fact , sometimes google thinks it can pick a better one , so it will rewrite the tag for you. There are several places it might get this information, most of them you wont prefer to one you crafted yourself.
While there isnt any assurance your title tag wont be replaced, make sure you write a title tag that is page related, content descriptive, short and sweet and not keyword stuffed. This is your one defense.
Keyword Stuffed Title Tags :
You have probably come across badly written title tags that try to rank for everythin or repeat a word and over. Keyword stuffing is the worst offense when it comes to title tags.
Say your site is trying to rank for blue bells and yellow bells. Many times you will see the main keyword repeated multiple times across the title tag. It might appaear like this:
Blue Bells, Yellow Bells, All type Bells, |Bells Bells and More | Doors.com
This is bad title tag writing. You dont need to repeatedly write the keyword. Google especially can pick up the keywords like your eyes can read them, so you would best to rewrite this as.
Blue & Yellow Bells |Doorbells | Doors.com
We removed the extra words, combined the products ( if possible you would spilt these products to seperate pages, a blue and a yellow, but this isnt always feasible or desirable) and added a category keyword which would appear in the middle of the title tag on all doorbell related page titles , then end it with the domain name .( again this is for branding purposes - there are also good reasons to not do this , it depends on the SEO)
Now our title tag is short, simple and to the point. We have also categorized it and added in branding for good measure.
We also took the word "and" and replaced it with an ampersand (&) so that you dont accidentlly relate the two items and make google think you want people who are looking for Blue AND Yellow Bells.
And there you go, a basic lesson in title tag writing. This can be the most challenging and fun part of any SEO's work Or should that be " Inbound Marketer's" work?
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