In the world of SEO, mastering meta title tag best practices is important.
An effective SEO page title helps search engines better understand the page’s content and relevance.
Learn the proven SEO title best practices to make your web pages shine in search results.
Meta Title Tag Best Practices for SEO in 2023
Following are the SEO title tag best practices you need to know before writing a meta title for your webpage.
Formula to create SEO-Friendly meta title for web page
The formula to write the best Title tag is:
[Keyword] [Power Word] [Brand Name]
This SEO title formula is a simple yet effective way to create attention-grabbing titles for your web pages. Here’s how it works:
- First, you start with a keyword, which is the main topic or subject of your page. This helps search engines and people understand what your page is about.
- Then, you add a power word, which is a strong and persuasive word that catches people’s attention and makes them interested in clicking on your page.
- Lastly, you include your brand name, especially if it’s well-known, to help people recognize your brand and build trust.
Keep it Short and Sweet (Length):
When you create page meta titles, try to keep them short, around 50-60 characters.
This helps your titles look good when they appear in search results. If they’re too long, they might get cut off or not show up properly.
- By keeping meta titles short and sweet, you can make sure people can see your titles clearly and understand what your page is about.
Clear and Relevant (Relevancy and Clarity):
When you create a title for your web page, make sure it tells people exactly what your page is about.
- A good title helps people understand if your page has the information they’re looking for.
For example, if your page is about “How to Bake Chocolate Chip Cookies,” your title should include the words “chocolate chip cookies” and “baking.”
This way, when someone searches for “how to bake chocolate chip cookies,” your page will be more likely to appear in the search results.
- When someone sees the title, they know they’re in the right place.
It’s like a roadmap that guides them to the right destination. So, be clear and specific in your titles, and help people find what they’re searching for easily.
Important Words First (Keyword Placement):
It’s a good idea to put the main keywords at the beginning of the title. Keywords are the important words that describe what your page is about.
By putting them first, you help search engines like Google understand the topic of your page better.
It’s like giving them a clue about what to expect when someone searches for those keywords.
So, remember to give your page a clear and strong start by placing the important words right at the beginning of the SEO title.
Each Title should be Unique (Unique Titles):
It’s important to give every page on your website a different SEO meta title.
Why?
Well, when each page has a unique title, it helps search engines like Google and people who visit your site understand what each page is about.
Imagine if every book had the same title – it would be confusing, right? The same goes for web pages.
By giving each page a different title, you make it easier for search engines to organize and show the right information to people who are searching for specific topics.
So, remember to make each title special and specific to its own page!
Show Your Brand (Branding):
If you have a well-known brand, the best practice is to include its name in the page title.
Why? Because when people see your brand name in the title, it helps them recognize and remember your brand.
It’s like a little reminder that tells them, “Hey, this page is from that cool brand you know!”
This way, your brand becomes more familiar to people, and they might be more likely to click on your page or trust the information you provide.
So, don’t forget to show off your brand by including its name in the title!
Make it Exciting (User Appeal):
When you come up with titles for your web pages, try to make them attention-grabbing and interesting.
How? Well, use words that catch people’s attention and make them curious. For example, you can use words like “amazing,” “discover,” or “unbelievable.”
These words make your titles more exciting and make people want to click on your page to find out more.
Think about it like a movie trailer – it teases you and makes you want to watch the whole movie.
So, make your titles like a little teaser that gets people excited and eager to explore your page!
Include Unique Selling Points (USPs):
Consider adding unique selling points in your page meta titles to highlight what sets your content apart.
Whether it’s offering exclusive information, expert insights, or special features, incorporating USPs in your titles can pique the interest of users and increase the chances of them clicking on your page.
Adding the Current Month or Year:
This approach works well for time-sensitive topics or when the recency of information is critical.
Including the current month or year in your page meta titles can add a sense of freshness and relevance to your content.
It signals to users that the information they’ll find is up-to-date.
Just ensure that the inclusion of the month or year aligns with the content of the page and serves a purpose for the user.
Watch Your Punctuation (Excessive Punctuation):
Be careful with using too many special characters, like exclamation marks or question marks. It’s better to use them sparingly.
Why? Because if you use too many, it can make your title look unprofessional or spam.
Imagine reading a title that has lots of exclamation marks!!!! It might seem exaggerated or not trustworthy.
So, it’s best to use special characters only when needed, to add emphasis or catch attention.
Remember, a clean and professional title is more likely to attract people to click on your page.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing (Natural Language):
While incorporating keywords is important, avoid keyword stuffing in your page meta titles.
Instead, focus on using natural language that accurately represents the content of your page.
This ensures that your titles are user-friendly and don’t appear spammy to search engines or users.
Think About Search Results (Consider SERP Display):
While creating meta titles for your web pages, it’s important to think about how they will appear in search results.
Search engines like Google only show a limited number of characters in the title.
So, make sure the important information is visible within that limit. You don’t want your title to get cut off and lose its meaning.
Think of it like a movie poster – you want the most exciting and relevant details to be clearly visible so that people are interested in clicking on your page.
So, be mindful of the space and make your title count!
Try Different Titles (A/B Testing):
To improve the traffic to your website, it’s a best practice to test different titles. A/B testing is a way to do this.
Here’s how it works: You create two or more versions of a title and show them to different people.
Then, you see which title gets more clicks. By doing this, you can learn which title is more appealing to people and helps bring more visitors to your site.
It’s like trying different outfits and seeing which one looks the best.
So, don’t be afraid to experiment with different titles and find out what works best for your website.
Conclusion
In conclusion, these are the title tag best practices that can help make your webpage more understandable for both search engines and humans.
Now you are aware of SEO page title best practices that can help you rank your webpage in search engines and increase clicks with a high click-through rate (CTR).
Additionally, by following these best practices, you can create a positive user experience that will keep visitors coming back to your website.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does page meta title help SEO?
Yes, page meta title helps SEO.
The title tag is one of the most important factors for SEO, as search engines use it to determine the relevance of a page to a search query.
A well-written title tag that includes the target keyword or phrase can help a page rank higher in search results.
What is the Title Tag Character Limit?
There is no official character limit for title tags.
However, Google has stated that they typically display the first 50-60 characters of a title tag in search results.
If your title tag is longer than this, it may be truncated.
It is important to note that the character limit for title tags can vary depending on the device and the search engine.
For example, title tags on mobile devices may be truncated at a shorter length than title tags on desktop devices.
What is an example of a good title tag?
A good title tag is clear, concise, and descriptive. It should accurately reflect the content of the page and include the target keyword or phrase.
For example, a good title tag for a page about “how to make a cake” might be:
How to Make a Cake: Easy Step-by-Step Instructions
This title tag is clear, concise, and descriptive. It accurately reflects the content of the page, and it includes the target keyword phrase “how to make a cake”.
How do you optimize a title tag?
Here are some of the best practices to optimize a title tag for SEO:
- Include your target keyword or phrase: The most important thing to do is to include your target keyword or phrase in the title tag. This will help search engines understand what the page is about and rank it higher for relevant searches.
- Keep it short and sweet: Title tags should be brief, ideally no more than 60 characters long. This is because Google will truncate title tags that are longer than this.
- Use keywords early in the title: The first few words of the title tag are the most important, as they are more likely to be seen by users in the search results.
- Use descriptive language: The title tag should accurately describe the content of the page. This will help users understand what the page is about and click on it.
- Avoid using all caps: Title tags should be written in lowercase letters, with the exception of acronyms.
- Use hyphens to separate words: Hyphens can be used to separate words in a title tag, making it easier to read.
- Test different title tags: You can test different title tags to see which one performs best. You can use a tool like Google Search Console to track your results.
Read:
Meta Description Best Practices: Write Effective Meta Description
URL Structure Best Practices for SEO
Internal Linking Best Practices in SEO