Title tags are one of the most overlooked factors of an SEO strategy.
However, they are a searcher’s first impression when they discover your site or web page.
A title tag allows visitors and search engines to determine how your page is relevant to their search query.
Besides, users are more likely to click on a web page when they see exact search phrases in the title tag that explain what the page is about.
While an average title tag is only around 60 characters, it can influence your site’s overall CTR (Click-Through-Rate).
This article explains everything about SEO title tags, why they are essential for search results, and how to craft compelling title tags for your site and web pages.
What is an SEO Title Tag?
An SEO title tag is a piece of HTML code that indicates the title of a webpage.
It concisely describes your web page and tells searchers and search engines what to expect from a page.
Google looks at your title tag to make sense of your page and its content, whereas web visitors decide whether to click on your page.
Here’s how the title tag looks in your page’s HTML code:
<title>How to Get Backlinks: 13 Proven & Safe Methods</title>
The same title tag appears on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page) as a link when someone searches for your site.
Note: Several CMS (Content Management Systems) platforms like WordPress and Squarespace automatically generate title tags for your page based on the data it holds or the inputted headings. By default, WordPress doesn’t initially allow you to customize your title tags for each post except for the homepage.
At Authority Magnet, our content writing team ensures your title tags echo your brand voice through the context of your content.
Why Are Title Tags Important For SEO?
A solid title tag can boost your CTR and ensure your target users visit your site.
A high CTR can contribute to better search rankings.
Title tags with a brief meta description are like the starter before the main course. A tasty starter entices customers to order more food, and similarly, a short and engaging title tag can encourage searchers to click on your page.
For example, let’s look at the title tag of Copyblogger.
It says, “Content marketing tools and training.”
It’s brief and clear about what we can expect from the site – “Tools for content marketing and training”.
Besides being a tiny ranking factor, title tags help Google determine how your page is relevant to the search query.
Moreover, title tags also determine how your page appears in SERPs, social media, and browser tabs.
1. Title Tags in SERP
Your title tags appear in the SERP, and they’re the first thing a potential customer or target audience will notice when performing a search.
A relevant, short, and quirky title tag is essential to ensure visitors click on your page.
2. Title Tags in Browser Tabs
Title tags can guide potential visitors to navigate to the right pages when they open multiple tabs.
Your title tags become more concise in a browser tab, but they help locate the correct pages.
Thus, ensure your title tag is as short and clear as possible.
3. Title Tags in Social Media Posts
Your site’s title tags determine how your page link appears when shared on social media.
Hence, your title tags make your pages clickable on SERPs and can drive more engagement from social media.
How to Craft Title Tags That Stand Out From Competitors?
Title tags are essential for SEO and the user’s search experience.
Writing title tags is simple, but it has a significant impact.
Here are a few suggestions to help craft title tags that stand out on SERPs and social media.
1. Choose a Primary Keyword to Target
Optimize your title tag by inserting your primary keyword at the beginning.
Users tend to click instantly on SERP results that show exact match phrases in the title tags.
For example, look at this search result for “blue dress for party” with exact keywords in the title tags.
Your title tags have to be search-engine friendly.
In other words, include your exact keyword or its variation to let Google know that you are targeting a keyword and understand the context of your page.
2. Draft a Brief Title Tag
Title tags should be short and descriptive.
Typically, 60 characters and no more than that because Google and other search engines will cut off your titles with an ellipsis {…} if they are too long.
Thus, you have 60 characters to impress the web visitor with your title tag.
Ensure your title tag is short but clearly defines what your page contains.
You can use the MOZ title tag preview tool to check how your title tag would appear on the SERP.
3. Describe Something Unique in Your Title Tag
Your target visitors might search for the same query. But they might be looking for something unique within their specific input.
Hence, try describing what’s unique about your page in the title tag.
Searchers sometimes look for specific brands, qualities, or fresh content in the search results.
For example, if we look at the search results for “long battery life phones,” most search results display the year 2023.
This indicates that people are looking for the latest phones with long battery life available in 2023.
Now, if we look at search results for “flights from LA to NYC,” almost all the SERP title tags include the keyword “cheap.”
This shows that users are not just looking for flights, but more specifically, “cheap flights.”
Similarly, research and pinpoint what USP users are precisely finding when searching for your target keywords.
Here are a few recommendations for adding unique elements to your title tag.
Lists
Look for list posts that are in-trend. Analyze the top SERP results for your target query, see if your searchers want list posts or blogs, and optimize your title tag accordingly.
For example, for the keyword “hotels in Greece,” most search results are in list format, which means searchers are looking for list posts for this query. You can include the list number in your title tag.
Complete Guide
Searchers love guides because they can find all the information in one place. They can avoid pogo-sticking to find satisfying search results.
Thus, include the word “guide” in your title tag if your content is a long-form article or blog suitable for the target keyword.
For example, the search results for the query ”Santorini in Greece’’ are generally travel guides for tourists.
Benefits
The internet and search engines have created an information overload in the market. In such a scenario, focus on the unique benefits you offer in your content or page and include them in your title tag.
For example, use words like: ‘’limited offer’’, ‘’quick guide’’, ‘’top secrets’’, ‘’in X minutes’’, etc., and make your title tag appealing.
Observe the search results for the query “birthday cake recipe.” Each title tag uses unique words/phrases like ”vanilla” or ”funfetti’’ to describe the content.
Brand Name
People tend to trust search results with brand names. Include your brand’s name in the title tag and ensure your content looks authentic to the searcher.
Look at Nike’s title tag for “women’s running shoes.” The addition of the brand name, in the end, makes the result more clickable.
4. Follow the Title Tag Etiquette
Let’s look at the title tags for the Paleo diet.
You can see that all the first letters are in capital case, and these tags use symbols like “addition (+)” and “parantheses ()” to bring clarity and depth to the title tag.
These are called truncation or truncating title tags.
Cut short your title tags using symbols by describing more about your page.
You should include a few rules in your title tag etiquette to entice searchers.
- Use sentence case or title case for tags. Avoid using all caps, as it looks poor on the SERP.
- Write for your human audience and not search algorithms. In other words, don’t make your tag sound awkward for the sake of keywords.
- Write unique title tags for every page of your site. Your H1 and title tags can be similar sometimes, but try creating incomparable title tags for your pages.
- Use actionable words to hook your target audience.
- Ensure the tag is relevant to the search query and your site’s page context.
These basic rules can make your title tags stand out on the SERP.
5. Optimize Your Title Tags for SEO
SEO-friendly title tags are not only about including primary keywords; you can take a few more steps to optimize your title tag for search engines.
Use Your Brand Name Carefully
Google suggests using the homepage title tag for most of your branding. Here’s an example from Google:
<title>ExampleSocialSite: Sign up for a new account.</title>
For most of your pages, you can add the brand name at the title tag’s end only if there’s enough allocated space.
Prevent Google from Rewriting Title Tags
Search engines like Google will rewrite your title tag if the search algorithm thinks that it does not accurately represent the page’s content.
There’s no way you can ask Google not to rewrite title tags, but you can focus on the relevancy between anchor text, keywords, and page context to prevent search engines from rephrasing your title tags.
Note that Google may rewrite accurate title tags, but it can still affect your CTR negatively because of a lack of creativity or uniqueness in your tag.
Avoid Duplicate Title Tags
Google states, “It’s essential to have distinct and concise tags for each page on your site.” Avoid copying or duplicating title tags. Instead, generate fresh and unique tags for each page.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Title Tags
Poorly written title tags allow Google to display an entirely new title tag for your page.
Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that Google’s title tag will perform better.
Henceforth, get rid of these mistakes that can spoil your title tag.
1. Missing <Title> Element
Don’t forget to specify the title element in your HTML code.
Google won’t consider your title tags without the <Title> element and will rewrite the tag.
2. Keyword Stuffing
Title tags boost your CTR, but keyword stuffing makes your tag sound forceful.
Incorrect: Running shoes, Trekking shoes, Soccer shoes: X Brand
Correct: Find comfortable shoes for running, trekking, and playing soccer: X Brand
Choose a shorter version of your primary keyword for your tag.
3. Long Title Tags
Google rewrites 99% of title tags that are more than 70 characters long.
Otherwise, search engines will only display the initial part of your title tag and cut the remaining. Your audience will be left confused about the page context.
4. Relevance
Topical relevancy is an important ranking factor, and it also applies to title tags.
Thus, write tags relevant to the search query, intent, and target keywords.
For example:
Incorrect: Fashion Blog
Correct: 7 summer fashion tips for women
Be specific and stay relevant to the search query.
Automatic Title Tags: How to Craft Title Tags for E-commerce Sites?
E-commerce sites host a ton of category and product pages.
They have more than a thousand or even millions of pages on their sites. It’s not manually possible to write these bulk title tags.
Do you think sites like Amazon or Costco, with 100s of millions of pages, manually write their title tags?
Well, the answer is No.
Large e-commerce sites use custom-made CMSs to generate title tags for every page.
Most CMS platforms also allow you to auto-generate title tags using an SEO plugin.
1. WordPress
WordPress has the Yoast SEO Plugin for automatically writing title tags. It’s flexible and gives you a list of the custom variables for your tags.
2. Joomla
The Tag Meta plugin by Joomla works similarly to Yoast for generating title tags.
3. Other CMSs
If you use any other CMS, contact your web host or CMS company to learn how to automatically generate title tags for product and category pages on your site. This can differ on a case-by-case basis.
4. HTML sites
If you have a custom site that is not hosted on a CMS, you can access the HTML code for a specific page and change the title tag description.
Take inspiration from other product pages and curate unique tags for your business site.
Here are a few examples you can consider when writing tags for your e-commerce platform.
- Product Title- Brand (Sneakers X- Adidas)
- Product Title-Category/Brand (Men Sneakers- Shoes/ Adidas)
- CTA + Product Title+ Brand (Buy Men’s Sneakers Online at Best Prices- Amazon)
At Authority Magnet, we create solid title tags for the product and category pages of your affiliate websites.
Verdict
Curating search-engine-friendly title tags is worth it, especially if your page ranks well on the SERPs.
Also, remember that these tags can never be perfect.
Therefore, update them continuously to match the search intent and keyword relevancy. Creative, unique, and precise title tags can get you better rankings on SERPs and a high CTR.
Do you have any other hacks for writing cool title tags?
Drop your thoughts in the comments.
