Don’t
Put Your Slogan in the Title Tag
- Optimize Your Web Pages
By
Soren Breiting, ALLeMarketingTips.com
Don't just put your slogan in the title tag when you formulate
the copy of your website. The formulation of the title
tag is the most important single aspect when you fine-tune
your website:
1.
It is what people first read when the listing of your
site turns up in Google and other search engines.
2.
It is the single element of your website that the search
engines pay the highest emphasis on.
If
you look up the source code, the title is what is between
these tags: title and /title in the hard brackets. You
can get the length of your title tag checked here: http://www.scrubtheweb.com/cgi-bin/webtools/meta-check.cgi
A
typical slogan isn't stuffed with important keywords.
My slogan for my stock photography business is "Stock
photos from most of the World" and I am quite happy
with that. It is honest and catchy which I like. But it
isn't a good title for my website of A-Z Fotos: www.azfotos.com
. Let us analyze that as an example.
The
first two words of the slogan would be fine as the title
tag because 'stock photos' are among the main keywords
for A-Z Fotos. They are also fine because they are put
in front of the title tag. Don't forget this so-called
'keyword prominence' in title tags.
They
also function well when people are browsing down the listing
after the search button has been activated, because people
tend to look for exactly the word they wrote in the search
box.
But
the words 'from most of the' is absolutely useless. It
is the kind of words that the search engines simply ignore
because they are too common. The last word 'World' isn't
any better. Nobody would search for the 'World'. - To
say it mildly, it is too broad!
The
alternative to your slogan is to formulate a title which
includes your most important keywords for the specific
webpage in such a way that it is attractive when the surfer
browses down the search result.
For
Google the title shouldn't be longer than 62 characters.
Include your brand name if it includes keywords. Otherwise
avoid it in the title unless it is very well known. As
always be careful to choose relevant keywords and combinations
of words that are often searched after. I always check
at
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
for the relevance of the keywords I have in mind. Be aware
that many keywords are to some extent seasonal. Overture
offers the frequency of searches in US of last month.
Searches
in UK can be checked at
http://inventory.uk.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/
Remember
to make the title tag even more specific for your subpages,
i.e. the pages after the home page (index-page).
Avoid
having more than one page with the same title.
---
Get
help from Soren Breiting to find ideas for your online
marketing at http://www.ALLeMarketingTips.com
and receive the latest really useful tips at http://www.StockPhotoNews.com
(about pictures and marketing).
Soren has written more than 20 printed books, and countless
articles in journals and magazines about his special fields
of interest. He is widely published on the web, too. Enjoy
Soren’s wonderful stock photos at: http://www.azFOTOS.com
You
are welcome to bring this article for free in your newsletter
or post it at your website as long as you keep everything
intact, including the information about the author and
all links.
Soren Breiting
More
free articles to use:
|