TweetYour title tag is like a huge billboard telling Google (and the others) what each page is about on your website.
The optimization of the title tag is the #1 on-page SEO factor that will determine whether your page or another is displayed for a keyword by a search engine like Google.
How To Find Your Current Title Tags
You can easily see the title tag in your web browser:
- In Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox, the title tag is in the upper left hand corner.
- In Safari, it is in the top center of the web browser.
Here is the title tag for the Hire Russ page on my website as it is displayed in Firefox.
How To Optimize Web Page Title Tags
Here are the most important things to consider when optimizing web page title tags for search engines:
- The title tag should contain the keywords you are targeting on that page – learn about doing keyword research here.
- Each page should have a unique title tag
- Limit your title tag to ~65 characters
- The title tag should not just be stuffed with keywords, it should read reasonably well
Point #4 is important because your title tag does not only reside in your browser but also within the search results pages when Google (or the others) decide to display your page.
As you can see in the below screenshot, my title tag is front and center in the Google results — how well it reads will be a huge factor in whether anyone actually clicks on it.
How To Edit Your Web Page Title Tags
The business of editing your title tag will vary depending on the way that your site was built.
If you have built on a search engine friendly Content Management System (CMS) like WordPress, it is as easy as installing a plug-in called Headspace 2, which allows you to type whatever you want as a title and updates the code for you.
If you have built on something less friendly or you have custom coded your website, you may need to contact your webmaster (do you see why I recommend building on WordPress?)
Your turn. What questions do you have about optimizing title tags? Do you have any further advice for those of us optimizing our title tags?
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Hey Russ…I have a question about this. Do you get penalized for changing it. say after a few months your title tag is not working as well as you like and you revise it – does Google penalize you for that?
great tips as usual.
-Greg
@Greg Bussmann — There is no penalty… per se. That being said, you don’t want to be changing your title tags around every couple of weeks.
You will need to give it a month or so to see the effects of nearly every SEO tactic you employ and changing the title tag is no different.
If your title tag is not performing well — you can change it. However, look at other tactics as well like building links back to your website both internal to your own site (see the Tiny Action, Mighty Payoff about Cross Linking for more info) and external to your site with the keywords you are targeting.
Does that help? What other questions do you have?
Russ do you use this Headspace 2 plugin for CSS and Java Script. Do you use a different plugin for your buttons?
Great stuff on all the SEO topics.
- John
@John Beidle — Hi John, I am not sure what you mean by using Headspace 2 for CSS and JavaScript. I am also not sure what you mean by buttons.
I use Headspace 2 to optimize Title Tags and Meta Descriptions. I have also used it to easily add no-follow links and no index pages.
Could you clarify your question a bit? Thanks!
Russ