The title tag is an element in HTML that’s crucial for both SEO and user experience reasons. It’s used to succinctly explain the subject and theme of a document online. A title tag is presented in two main places:
• Internet Browser—title tags are displayed at the top of the bar on internet browsers.
• Search Page Results—search engines show title tags in the results as well as an additional on-page element that’s less important, the meta description tag.
Why Title Tags are Important for SEO
The title tag has consistently been one of the leading on-page SEO elements. Before the search engine algorithms became more complex, title tags were an easy way of finding out how much a page matched your criteria. The algorithms began including additional aspects like social media interaction, link data and traffic/performance metrics throughout their evolution. The title tag still has enormous value for on-page search engine optimization.
According to SEOmoz’s yearly “Search Ranking Factors” questionnaire of 37 of the most influential leaders in SEO, 35 out of 37 participants shared that using the keyword in the title tag was the most critical place to utilize keywords to gain high rankings.
Writing Targeted Title Tags
Title tags can be one of the greatest ways to obtain a high return on investment on your search engine optimization. This is because they’re low effort and offer high returns quite easily. The majority of blogging platforms such as Drupal and WordPress either offer built-in solutions or downloadable ones for creating and editing title tags.
SEO Tip
- Be Accurate—do not wander off topic with a title tag because they’re used as a way to show your page is relevant to search engine algorithms. When you stray from the path it can look like you are keyword stuffing, spamming or using other deceptive techniques.
- Don’t Target too Many Terms on a Page—a general rule of thumb is to target only a couple of keywords on each page. When a standalone article could be made on the topic, it should have its own page. This lets search engines figure out the subject and relevancy of your page more easily.
- Optimize the Length—search engines normalize their results by restricting the number of characters shown on each listing. Title tags are given a maximum of 70 characters before an ellipsis is displayed. The title tag might not make complete sense when it gets cut down before your point is substantiated. Make sure you check the lengths of your title tags.
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