What is Title Tag?
When someone calls you by your name then your name is Title for you. In this world, each and everything identified by its Title or name only.
Psychologically when you think of the name or Title of your near or dear one then an image is formed in your mind which gives you signal to whom you are talking about or to whom you are going to call.
On the same concept Search Engine works, When a user inserts a query in Search Engine then the Search Engine gives the most relevant pages in its search result page(s).
For Example:
My name is Chandan Singh and suppose there are 3 more Chandan Singh in my Office. My courier comes at office reception then it will be confusion to Front desk Person to identify correct Chandan Singh to give the Courier. But If in the SEO department there is only one Chandan Singh (me) and on the courier package it is written something like “Chandan Singh SEO” then it will be very easy to identify by the front office desk person to whom this courier will be delivered.
Similarly, On the web, we need to give accurate Title to each and every page so that the User and Search Engine easily identify the relevant page(s).
Title Tag should be more clear and clean as per web page relevancy and that will help to identify the page(s).
In the Search Engine, Title Tag presents with a clickable link. When a user inserts a query in the Search Engine, then the user can see there are few results on the Search Engine Result Page. These all results are having one blue line, this blue clickable line is called Titles of those results. Title Tag is also important for Usability, SEO, and Social Sharing. Title Tag should be accurate, relevant, and descriptive as per-page content.
For Example:
Syntax of Title Tag
<head><title>Hello World</title></head>
Why Title Tag is important in SEO?
It is very necessary to create an attractive Title tag so that it entices users to click on your ad and give click through to your post.
Here are a couple of more reasons why title tags are important:
First Impressions Count
Title Tag is the main element in ads where users eyeball stick on and your ads get the first impression.
Brand Leverage
If your brand name is popular you can use the brand name in Title, So that there would be great chances to get the clicks.
And ofcourse, Google is here who reads your title tag along with other things to help users to provide relevant information.
Role of Title Tag in:
Title tag is a major factor and give glims for Search Engines to understand what your page is all about. Title tags are used in three important places:
- Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs)
- Web Browsers
- Social Networks
Let us learn how Title tags play an important role in these three:
Search Engine Result Pages
Your Title Tags always display in the blue line heading for your organic ads at Search Engine Result Pages and also called the first element through that User interacts first and gives the user their first impression of your site.
There is one more case of Title importance. In some cases, we analyzed, despite having a good ranking in SERPs, users do not click on your ads because your Title is not prominent and not fulfilling User demands. So Title is always a factor that determines whether a user will click on your link or not.
Web Browsers
In web browsers, you generally notice, at the top of your web browser your Title Tag is also displayed and acts as an identifier for those people who are working with multiple browser tabs.
Social Networks
When you share a webpage on social platforms then a popup window comes with a bold heading, light-colored description, and a URL. This bold heading called the Title of that shared page and helps you to get the clicks on your shared ads.
Keep in mind that some social networks pick this title, description, and URL from OG tags. So, It is a good practice to create OG Tags as well (Will explain OG tags in my later posts)
Is the Title Tag and H1 Tags are the same?
Off-Course Not, In this web world, every element has its own HTML tag. Then why this confusion arises that Title tag and H1 tag both are the same?
So the answer is, We have seen so many web pages in the internet world where Title tags and H1 tags are the same.
For Example: Check these below Images:
In the above snapshots Title Tag and H1 Tag both are almost the same.
From a copy standpoint, it’s the same as the title tag.
Using the Same content in Title and H1 tags are standard practice for most of the websites because it helps with clarity and consistency. If a user clicks on a website by reading Title tag in SERP, most of the time he/she expects the same title or information on that page, and that shows the relevant page information in the eye of the user.
So now where is the difference between these two tags?
So the difference is, Title Tag represents webpage in other platforms like: SERP, Social Platforms, etc. But H1 tags represent web pages on their own website and give the glims to users about that page where it is written.
So now I am sure you are well educated about what is Title tag all about and why Title tag is Important.
Now let’s move to understand how to create Title Tags.
Lets us Learn How to Create Title Tag
Rule 1: Title Length
Before creating Title tags let us learn how much title length is optimal for SERP.
Generally, it is noticed if the title is too long, Search Engines cuts it by adding dots (“…”) and important keywords get omitted. As per industry recommendation Title should be 60 Characters long including spaces but the exact limit is still complicated based on a 600-pixel container. (As said in MOZ Article)
Some characters like ‘W’, ‘M’, ‘D’ take more pixels space instead ‘i’, ‘l’, ‘t’ etc. It means you do not need to use all capital letters in Title which is also tough to read by the user but instead you need to use Inti capital rule once it is really necessary.
Rule 2: Don’t Over Use SEO Keywords
Try to use your title to the point. Use your main keyword once, don’t overuse your SEO keywords again and again. Use only those keywords which explain your web page effectively.
Although Google does not penalize you for your long title but yes it would hurt you when you do keyword stuffing in your Title.
For Example: Mobile Phone – Cheap Mobile Phone, Best Mobile Phone, Latest Mobile Phone.
Do not try to list your keywords again and again in the title. Otherwise, it looks like a list of keywords instead of a Title Tag.
Now Search Engines are very smart and understand the context of keywords variations, So instead of using multiple keywords use one prominent and most relevant keyword in Title and avoid using all versions of keyword.
Rule 3: Always Use Unique Title on Each Page
Search Engines always like unique content, So using a Unique Title for each page is again a best practice and will add value in the eyes of the Search Engine.
But, now these days, most of the sites are having thousands, lakh, or even millions of pages and to create unique title tags for these number of pages is really a tedious job.
So to overcome this issue, First, you need to identify dynamic terms in your system and estimate how you can use these dynamic terms to create a unique Title for each page.
In this regard, you generally use modern CMS and code base environments to create templated Titles in which you use data-driven values so that you can create a Unique Title tag.
For Example: <SKUs Name> – <SKUs Category> by <Brand Name>
The above example helps you to create Unique Title tags but, values in <> should be unique for each SKU page.
Rule 4: Use Important Keywords First
Always try to use your important keywords in Title and also try to use your important keywords closer to the beginning of your Title. Reason behind, If I am correct then each relevancy algorithm uses a pattern matching algorithm, so in that case, you need to use your important keywords in your title as early as possible.
For Example: <SKUs Name> – <SKUs Category> by <Brand Name>
Here assuming <SKU Name> is the main important keyword. So using it at the start of Title Tag.
Rule 5: You Can Take Advantage From Your Brand
Generally, similar products or services used by different companies, But if your brand is strong in the market and well known then adding a brand name in your titles may help you to boost your CTR.
Possibly you have already seen, few sites are using brand at the start of Title Tag while few are using at the end. But we are recommending to use the brand name at the end of the title so that your keyword prominence would not hurt and your important keywords detected by Search Engine in the early character range of your Title Tag.
These days I am sure you have already noticed in a few cases, if you are not using your brand name in Title Tag then Search Engines automatically upend at the end of your Title.
So use your brand name wherever it is really required else Search Engine will upend automatically.
Rule 6: Always Think About Your Customers First
Now you know the importance of Title tag in SEO. But still before writing Title in Title Tag along with keywords think about your end-users as well. Because when your site ranks in Search Engine, that time your title should be appropriately relevant and impressive so that users would attract and result in to increase your site’s click-through rate.
The Title Tag is a first interaction for new users with your website or brand when they find it in a SERP, So you should try to give the most appropriate and best possible positive message to the first time users.
Rule 7: Should Be Relevant to Page
Your Title should be relevant to your page. When a user reads your title on Search Engines or Social Platforms then after reading your Title User should clearly understand what is your page all about and what all information he/she can get on your webpage.
Try to maintain max relevance between Title and Webpage.
After Getting Rank in Top 10 What Needs to Do?
When you start ranking in Top 10 then your next goal is to get clicks for your website. So to get clicks, you need to make some creative changes in the Title Tag of your webpage so that users will attract towards it and click on your website in the Search Engine.
Below are some Ideas:
Suggestion 1: Put Emotions in Your Title
Offers, Deals, Free, Latest, New, Amazing. Sensational, Miracle, Remarkable. Magical. Extraordinary. Etc.
These are all power full words that help to trap people’s emotions. Using these types of words in Title will help to increase website Click Through Ratio.
But try to use appropriately in your Title, don’t choose randomly and non-relevant powerful words else it will give vise versa result.
Before choosing these powerful words for your title, first you should try to get the answers of these questions:
- What is your webpage offering or unique USP?
- How does your webpage will help users and how would it be the most relevant webpage as per user query?
For Example: Let’s take a word “Benefits of Eating Apple”
We know that anyone searching for this term wants to see a list of Benefits of Eating Apple; you can tell because it’s a plural term.
Look at these Below Image:
As per the above image user would definitely click on the green marked results instead of red one because as per his query, he/she is looking for the list of Benefits of Eating Apple.
So here in green marked Titles, the webmaster tried to put the most relevant and user consumable data and that will help him to increase the probability of getting clicks.
Suggestion 2: Add Brackets/Parentheses
Using Brackets/parentheses will create two parts of your title tag that will improve readability.
For example, let’s add brackets to the Title tag related to “Benefits of Eating Apple”:
For Example: 7 Benefits of Eating Apples (That works in 2020)
This looks better and impressive and is able to be caught by users eyeballs.
Suggestion 3: Use Your Keyword in Start
Using Keywords at the start of Title just means putting the important details at the beginning of your title tag, So that it looks more relevant to your webpage.
Here are two reasons it may make sense to do this:
- It catches attention: In the western world, we usually read from left to right, so we always expect important terms to be at the start of the left-hand side. If you use your keyword at the beginning of the Title tag then this would be the first thing, to which any potential visitor will be going to read. This behavior not only gives users a confident click but also explains that what all webpage he/she is going to browse, is relevant to his/her query or requirement.
- It can result in more keyword-rich links: This will also help you to get the keywords rich links, For example, when a user shares your webpage, most of the time you get a backlink on your title which starts with appropriate Keywords.
Now Let Us Learn, Why is Google Rewriting My Title Tags?
Sometimes, you see and become worried, why your title tag is not appearing in Google, or instead of your own title content, Google is displaying a title that doesn’t match to your title tag. This can be really frustrating, but you can’t do anything and there’s no easy way to force Google to use the title you’ve defined. So the question is why and when this happens? To answer this question, let us learn these below three points:
Reason 1: Overused Keywords in Title
When you overuse keywords in your Title Tag then Generally Google Take your Primary Keyword and your brand name as your title:
For Example:
Your Title: Property in India: Property India, India Property : xyz.com
Here overused keywords is “Property India”
What Google will Display: Property in India:xyz.com
Reason 2: Your Title is Different or Not Matching with Users Query
If your website is having a relevant page but that page is not having relevant keywords in the Title Tag related to a user query, Google will display Google generated Title.
In other words, if your web page is relevant to a search query that is not well written in Title Tag, Google may be bound to rewrite your display title. But it is not possible, you can use multiple keywords in your title and will create an impossible Title Text, that is why it isn’t necessary that Google Title rewriting is a bad exercise.
Reason 3: You have an Alternate Title
In some cases, if you are using alternate title data, like open graph tags (OG: Tags) for social platforms then Google may choose those titles instead. Again, This is not a bad thing but if you feel the title displayed by Google is not much more relevant then in that case you need to rewrite your alternate Title information.
How can You Stop Google Rewriting Your Title Tags?
So Answer is: You can’t…at least not with 100% certainty.
Look at this, What exactly Garry is saying:
And as per his comment, If you are feeling your rewritten Title by Google is not appropriate you can give feedback at here:
Funny Part is, No one is going to click this “Send Feedback” Link, I am taking my guarantee I am not going to click on this if this will happen to me 😉
So, Avoiding rewriting title by Google we need to remember below points before crafting any Title:
- Clearly define your Title as per page or post content
- Showcase your web page USP or important things that users want to see in Title.
- And this will entice the click on your webpage.
If you are able to do this, then why would Google ever rewrite it?
Final Words
Writing Title Tags is not rocket science or a complicated process, you need to give some time and the right approach to make it appropriate.
Still, Nobody can be sure his or her Title Tag is 100% perfect, You should already do experiments around your Title Tags. If you have enough traffic on your website then you can do split testing to see which Title works best for your webpage.
(Although this is a bit of an advanced tactic but if you are able to do so, then it would be great to finalize better Title Tags.
As you know we are here to learn together, So if you do have better ideas or hacks for creating amazing Title Tags then please let me know in Comment. 🙂
