The importance of your webpage titles
Hands up if you’ve ever judged a book by its cover… we all do, right? We pick books because the title sounds intriguing or interesting. Just like we scroll past films on Netflix that have boring titles. Titles are important…
But why are website names and titles important for SEO? Sure, you want an interesting title to hook people in. But is there more to a title than that?
In the world of websites and SEO - titles work harder than any book or film title. They are working behind the scenes as well as at face value. So, you guessed it - they have a more complicated name than just a straightforward ‘title.’
You’ll find the titles of web pages referred to as: ‘title tags’, ‘meta titles’ and ‘meta title tags.’
Honestly, (don’t tell the other SEO nerds this, but…) it doesn’t matter what they are called. What matters is how you use them and the names you choose.
So, what is a meta title? What does it do? How do you add it? And, what’s best practice in creating and using ‘meta titles.’?
What is a meta title?
Meta titles are short bits of HTML code on every page of your website. They show the title of that page and give a description of the content.
Meta titles help search engines understand what your site is all about. It’s a potential new user's first impression of your website. You could have the highest ranking website out there, that’s always in the top positions on a search engine results page, but if your title isn’t relevant, interesting or helpful - people will scroll on by.
How do you add meta titles to your website?
Let’s start with where to find the meta title tag on your website. It sits in the HTML code on each page of your website. It is found in the <head> section of the code.
It’ll look something like this:
<title> THIS BIT IS YOUR TITLE</title>
Some content management systems (a content management system is the software that your website is built and created with) automatically create title tags for you when you write the title of a page as you create it.
So, how do you write a good meta title?
1. Keep your meta titles short
Google does not give a recommended length for title tags. Which isn’t very helpful for writing guidelines. But, most computer, tablet or mobile browsers will show up to 60 characters of your meta title tags.
If your title is too long, search engines can change the title that gets displayed by cutting out words or adding in an ellipsis.
You don’t have to keep them short… but think about ‘front-loading’ your titles, which means that if they are a bit longer than 60 characters, the key information is at the start. The most important bit won’t get lost or cut off.
2. Don't overdo your keywords
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because you’ve got a character limit you should cram your title with keywords. Don’t just list keyword phrases like this:
Wild SEO meta title - SEO Wild title tag - Wild SEO meta tags
This isn’t an authentic title. We know that search engines are clever and can see through the tricks we try and play to rank higher on the results pages.
Also, they are annoying to read. Write your titles for your audiences who want to read what you have to say.
3. Write a unique meta title for every web of your website
Everyone knows a sequel isn’t as good as the first! Shrek 2 and 3… am I right?
Unique titles tell search engines that the content on your webpage is valuable and different.
Unique titles will lead to higher click-through rates, meaning that when people see your meta title that isn’t repeated on every page of your website they are more likely to click on the link displayed in the search results. They will see that there’s something unique to be found by clicking!
Put some thought into it. Don’t choose default titles such as ‘untitled’ or ‘shop’ or ‘donate’.
And, finally: be nice and friendly.
Sounds strange, but if your title is the first interaction users have with your website, make it a positive one!