Matthew L. Kaminsky | 2 min
This post was last updated on May 03, 2023.
Video Transcript
How to Optimize Your Website’s Title Tags
Your title tag is the first thing people see when searching online for your products, services or content. If your title doesn’t match what people are looking for, chances are they’ll click on something else.
I’m Matthew and that’s what we’ll talk about in today’s video.
So...
What is a title tag?
When you search on Google or other search engines, you’ll get a list of relevant results appearing as snippets. THIS clickable headline is the Title. Snippets also include a URL and page description. These topics will be covered in other videos from this series.
Your title needs to quickly and clearly convey what a specific page on your site is about. This helps search engines get a better understanding of that page, increasing chances that people will make a purchase, book a service or read your blog—you name it.
Your SEO setup plan suggests titles for your site pages based on your business name, location and key phrases. You can use these titles, or create your own. Let me show you how.
Title tag optimizations
First, every page of your site needs to have its own unique title. Be specific and make sure it reflects your page content. For this example, we’ll work on our homepage. Our business offers door-to-door plant delivery, so let’s start with that.
Second, try to include relevant keywords and phrases you want to rank for. In our case, we specialize in “indoor plants”. So let’s add that.
While you can be descriptive, avoid multiple keywords—or keyword stuffing. People, as well as search engines, will think it’s spam. This can impact traffic to your site and may even hurt your ranking.
Third, if you’re targeting local traffic, include the location you service. If we had one location in Chicago, we’d add it to our title. However, we’re an online store shipping to multiple cities, so we’ll leave our homepage title as is.
Fourth, include your brand or business name. This is about building brand awareness. You want people to make the connection between who you are and what you do…. That looks good. Fifth, keep titles between 50-55 characters. Titles longer than 60 characters will likely get cut off by search engines. See these 3 dots? We need to shorten some… there. Now everything fits.
Now, it’s your turn. Follow these 5 guidelines and you’ll be off to a good start.
Remember, SEO is an ongoing effort, so go back, test new keywords and further optimize your titles—even after your site is live. Again, I’m Matthew. Thanks for tuning in and... We’ll see you next time.