Tips and Tricks on Crafting an Actionable Title Tag
In the current SEO scene, a variety of components make up a great SEO strategy. There are things like meta description, guest posting; one can also include quality and unique content, site speed and performance, social media publishing, and easy site navigation. All of these components lead to higher search engine results pages (SERPs).
You might have noticed that the title tag component is not included in the list that was mentioned, well, it’s all because of whether or not the traditional and modest title tag is still important in the whole SEO scene. Well, is it?
If you’ve ever doubted the capabilities of the humble title tag, it’s time to cast your doubts away and believe in the power of the title tag. The importance of a title tag for your website’s content is definitely comparable to the other components that make up a great SEO strategy, here’s why:
Why A Title Tag is Important
A title tag is basically an element of HTML that identifies the title or name of a web page.They usually have top keywords that are related to the website included in them to effectively boost a website’s results ranking. Correspondingly, the title tag is the one that is presented in search engine results pages (SERPs) and is the basic headline for any given web pages; that is why the existence of a title tag is important for a webmaster and even the audience because it is meant to attract, inform, and introduce.
Title tags are the life and blood of any web page. Without it, any search engine – even if it’s Google – won’t understand what your page is all about. Similarly, because of the missing title tag, your potential audience won’t know what the web page contains. Title tags are the primary source of first impressions in the world wide web, and there are key places wherein the title tag flourishes:
The title tag is the HTML element that determines the title that shows up ins search results. It basically acts as your page’s introduction to the potential visitor. So, if you think about it, even if your website is ranked high, the existence of a great title tag can increase or decrease the rate of visitors that your site has.
- Social Networks
A number of external websites – especially social networking ones – utilize your title tag to determine what they should display when the page is shared. It’s worth remembering that some social networking sites have their own meta tags, which allows you to use different titles that are different from your main title tag. You can take advantage if this feature to optimize your web page for different social networking platforms, and provide the appropriate length of a title when it is needed.
- Web Browsers.
Title tags are also displayed on the tabs of your web browser. A great title tag is useful whenever a visitor has multiple tabs open because it acts as the placeholder for them. A title tag that is unique and easy to notice can also help your visitors remember its content.
Since title tags are proven to be beneficial for your website’s search engine rankings, here are some tips and trick that you can do to improve your title tag production:
Title Tag Tips and Tricks
#1. Use Action Words
Whenever you do your keyword research, verbs or action words rarely show up. But, what you didn’t know is that they help persuade people to click on a link. Examples of verbs that you can use in your title tags are: find, download, learn, buy, listen, watch, access, and search. Whenever you use verbs like these, you give your prospective visitor something to look forward to, other than the content of your page.
You will also be giving them something to be excited about because they will have a mindset that they can do something beyond the keyword that they searched for. This is an effective way to increase your click-through rate and improve your website’s ranking.
#2. Ask Questions
Curiosity is something that most SEO practitioners fail to make use of. By incorporating questions into your title tags, you’ll experience an increase in the click-through rate of your website. Why? Because you create a curiosity gap in the audience’s mind which makes them want to look at your page. You’ll also be giving them a reason to click; here’s an example: if your keyword is “haircare products” instead of just putting it in your title, you can do “Why are Haircare Products Important?” or “What are the Best Haircare Products?”. This is an effective way to attract your audience, and is easy to do!
Another reason why it’s important to ask questions in your title tag is that you’ll get a bonus when you do it. Whenever you add questions to your title tag, there’s a high chance that you’ll get a featured piece in the “People also ask…” box in Google.
#3. Include Numbers
You have probably noticed that when you read something that has numbers included in them, the numbers are more noticeable than the words that you read. This is actually a scientific phenomenon called “Cognitive Bias”, wherein the brain’s wiring is to find the things that stand-out and are specific.
Whenever a person goes through search results, they experience a lot of information, and their brains automatically look for something that is the odd one out, and what is specific, stands out, and are usually odder than the rest, are numbers.
Which do you prefer: “Climate Change and Its Signs” or “10 Signs That Climate Change is Here”. More often than not, the second title will be the one clicked on by the audience. So, don’t be surprised when you start using numbers in your titles and there’s a sudden increase in your visitor rate.
#4. Use Variants
Every time you look for keywords to use, you shouldn’t be closed off on the idea of using the keyword’s synonyms and variants. Let’s say that through the use of keyword tool such as SEMrush or Keyword Explorer, you found out that your top keyword is “Affordable Electronics”, and you want to optimize for that specific keyword. You shouldn’t put all your focus on affordable electronics, but you can also use “cheap devices” or “Best consumer gadgets”.
Nine times out of ten, your potential visitors are not only searching for “affordable electronics”, which is why it is imperative for you to make use of variants that are related to your top keyword.
#5. Length
This is the part wherein most SEO practitioners have trouble with. It is inevitable that when you do an SEO audit, you notice that your title is either too short or too long. For short title tags, the main problem that you will encounter is that it is too broad. For the long titles, you’ll notice that it is cut off whenever it’s shown in the results page. These two are the main problems that you’ll have to deal with – which will be hard, to say the least.
A study conducted by Etsy measured thousands of URLs and they proceeded to shorten the title tags of each URL, because longer title tags are usually more problematic than the shorter ones. When they shortened it, they noticed a considerable rise in the rankings.
The best thing you can do with your title tag is to first, limit it to 50-60 characters, which is the optimal length for any title tag. Second, only use your top keywords. This is to avoid cluttering the title with too many keywords.
Key Takeaway
At the very least, title tags are not the most important thing for SEO. But, it is on the top of the list along with the other components that were mentioned earlier. The title tag is only one part of a great SEO strategy, but it can also make or break the rate of visitors that your website receives. So, make sure to remember all the things that we’ve highlighted, and you can considerably increase your site’s rankings and traffic – especially if you couple a great title tag with other effective components!
Do you think you can now create your own actionable title tags? Let me know in the comments section below. Let’s share some ideas and let’s get the ball rolling.
