Role of Meta Title Tag in SEO

[pshukla]

Do you want to secure a top ranking in search engine result pages(SERP)?

I think every one is going to answer - Yes. And a very common belief is that add lot of most searched keywords in the meta tags of your web pages and see your site skyrocketing. But it feels highly frustrating when this magic proves of no avail. Remember, meta tags alone don't do a magic in getting better placed in the search pages. These meta tags sure help you to describe your web pages to a search engine and gain a better place in its results. But at the same time they help search engine too to prevent indexing of improper web pages. Which may have good weight keywords in their meta tags but having no relationship with the contents of the page.

Meta tags are the blocks which contain information about the contents of your web page and they exist into the head area of your web page. They are basically meant to communicate with the search engine. Most of the Meta tags are visible to the search engine only and not the visitor on your web page. But, Title tag is one which is visible to the search engine and the visitor as well. Most importantly, it attracts the search engine and the visitor very aggressively. Most search engines consider this tag as the primary information about the site and also an human visitor sees this information as the first thing on top left corner of the browser. Moreover, when one bookmarks the site, the text in this tag appears in the bookmarks list.

In this article, I have tried to focus mainly on 'Title Meta Tag' that how a good Title Meta Tag can render a great help in optimization of a website.

What is the significance of Meta Title Tag?

Amongst the three major Meta tags (Meta Title Tag, Meta Keywords Tag, Meta Description Tag) the Title Tag is one which is given the most weight by search engines' algorithms. In fact, this tag should be written so that it should give the idea about your site instantly. A perfect written Title tag can generate quick and appreciable traffic to your site. The text written in this tag appears as clickable text in the search engine result page (SERP) and if it is really meaningful and conveys most about the web page, more clickthroughs will be the result.

This small example explains the function of Meta Title tag better. Suppose I need to visit San Francisco and need a road map of the city and go to a book store to find the same. There are lot of books on tourism and travel with different titles but my attention will go to a title which says something like "Latest Road Map of San Francisco" rather than a title "All about San Francisco". May be the second book contains better information about the subject I am looking for. But the title of first one speaks exactly about what I need. This how a better title gains priority over the other because of the contents of its title. This is exactly what happens with search engine. It picks the most matching title with the query and places in its result page as clickable text.

Should the Company name appear in Title Tag

Well, I would say sure if your company is really a big entity like IBM, Microsoft or Cisco or some well know brand like Sony, Phillips etc. Because people may want to search for those companies or brands with their names. But in normal cases it should not be so.

Suppose, your company is "Larry Tours and Travels" in San Francisco. Instead of writing "Welcome to the home of Larry Tours and Travels" in the title tag it would be better to write something like "tour operators, travel agents, car rental,bay area tours, san francisco tours - Larry Tours and Travel". Do a good research to find best keywords and phrases which describe your site best. My suggestion is that the length of the title tag should be between 15 to 20 words making it attractive enough that it looks interesting to the person searching for your business and he clicks through.

Few tips for writing good Title tags.

Try including the content relevant keywords in the title tag. This would help placing your site better in search engine result page (SERP) when someone searches those keywords.

Also do not use repeating keywords and phrases in your title tag because this may be treated as spamming by search engines and they may affect your ranking.

Either don't include your company name in the title tag or add it after few most relevant keywords, phrases into the title tag.

Write different title tags for each web page of your website instead of writing a common title page for the complete site. Make sure that each title tag has relevance with the contents of that web page where it appears.

Try to keep the length of your title tag small (between 15 to 20 words). Some search engines allow small title tags only and truncate the extra part of the longer ones which at times may render your title tag completely meaningless.

I would say that write very meaningful, impressive title tag they are a really powerful can be best tool to optimize your site. The title tag has most dominant role while the search engines make their decision about the theme of the website. When a search for keywords is conducted, the Title tag is given heavy consideration by most search engine algorithms. As I said earlier, since each page in your website is unique so it needs a different Title tag.

So, Writing relevant and meaningful title tag is something which may achieve high rankings in search engine result pages (SERP) and result high clickthroughs to your site. The Meta Keywords Tag and Meta Description Tag also need to be taken care of and optimized equally in addition to that of Meta Title Tag to secure a place at the top of the search engines and in convincing a search engine that your site's contents are more relevant than that of your competitor's.

Article Author: Prashant K Shukla
Article Source: Deposit Articles

[govindseo]

Very well nice article thanks for sharing...

[letsnurture]

hey its good information regarding metatag.

Unfeigned Regards

Letsnurture.co.cc

[Azher Memon]

Meta tag it is old age not working now a days...but still i have to say its nice effort.

[sofomor]

Great post! although everybody knows about that but it was detailed yet short and to the point good work!

[Webnauts]

I saw this article on at least 10 forums. Try the url using Copyscape - Website Plagiarism Search - Web Site Content Copyright Protection

[dharrison]

Well done John. I've never heard of meta title tag. I assumed they just meant title tag.

[CPL]

Good post Pshukla, however, one thing that has bugged me with "repeated" keywords, example:- you used the word "tours" three times in your example and arguably "tour" four times".

"tour operators, travel agents, car rental,bay area tours, san francisco tours - Larry Tours and Travel".

Is it ok to have 20%-25% of title tag the same? I'm not criticising just wanting to clarify how many times is ok before you would be clobbered.

[A Phoenix SEO]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

I saw this article on at least 10 forums. Try the url using Copyscape - Website Plagiarism Search - Web Site Content Copyright Protection

Ouch... You see this a lot if you visit lots of forums. They always seem to use the same user name as well.

[wige]

If this is in reference to the meta name=title... tag, the one thing I notice is that when Google did their review of common tags and attributes in web documents (Google Code: Web Authoring Statistics: Metadata) they felt that the meta title tags were so unimportant that they didn't even merit discussion.

[inertia]

Three words:

GET A BLOG!

[myx20]

Very well said... this is very informative. Keep it up!

[inertia]

FFS myx20!!!!

Why have you just been through loads of dead/old threads and left one line posts which don't have any reasonable purpose other than getting your post count up???

DONT POST IF YOU DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY!

[myx20]

Originally Posted by inertia

FFS myx20!!!!

Why have you just been through loads of dead/old threads and left one line posts which don't have any reasonable purpose other than getting your post count up???

DONT POST IF YOU DONT HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY!

I'm new in this SEO field and I feel glad whenever I read a topic that gave me new information. I'm very sorry if that's what you think but I just said that because I want to praise him/her for a job well done. Simply because he/she helps me....

[A Phoenix SEO]

We never waste the page title by using the companies name... It is way to valuable! We prefer to use the company name in the page description.

[full house]

nice article but its too long . . . If I see this first time I won't read this, one way of creating article to make it attractive don't make it too long. One strategy that I use.

[inertia]

@myx20.

Im a mod at another SEO forum and ive got a big issue with posters who contribute nothing. Lucky for you im not a mod here. Heres an email ive sent to one poster in particular...

Hi *****,

Please try and contribute more to this forum through your posting and topic replies.

Posts such as these...

... do not constitute as contributory of productive. When forum members receive a topic reply notification they expect to return to the thread and find a constructive response to their post. It is highly frustrating when posters do not offer anything to the discussion and it is a waste of forum members (often precious) time.

These type of one line replies are exceptable if you contribute well in other areas of the forum but not when they constitute your only input.

Best Regards,
Matt

[myx20]

@inertia

I'm very sorry sir. I didn't mean it. As what I have said, I'm new in this SEO field and even if I want to share my knowledge, I'm afraid that it is not that good and I'm afraid that if I'm going to post like for example: "Title: SEO TIPS"... I'm not so sure if I'm going to be right...

I'm very sorry sir and thanks for the lessons. I promise you that if I develop my skills in this SEO field... I will share the best of my knowledge.

[bcdxer]

meta tag does not have any value now.

[inertia]

@bcdxer - the meta description is still one of the most important aspects of SEO. It is like the door to your house or the welcome mat if you'd prefer! It entices people in and makes an impression before theyve even entered the door. You must get it right...

[inertia]

There is some shocking advice coming out of this forum nowadays!

I feel sorry for newbies who stumble through here reading some of the crap and taking it as gospel.

I have a tear in my eye when i think back to all that great stuff I've learnt here. Good times...

(rant over)

[shinzo159]

Hi... What does meta tags do with Search Engine Market Reasearch? I mean, is there any connection?

[A Phoenix SEO]

Originally Posted by inertia

There is some shocking advice coming out of this forum nowadays!

I feel sorry for newbies who stumble through here reading some of the crap and taking it as gospel.

I have a tear in my eye when i think back to all that great stuff I've learnt here. Good times...

(rant over)

This is why it is so important to learn early on what our the trusted sites... Who are the big dogs of SEO... I learned early on to trust those who make a good living at this stuff rather than an unknown on a forum.

I now, use forums for the resources that come up from time to time that I hadn't heard of before...

I always say "whatever advice you get on a forum go verify it on three authority sites before implementing... And then do one thing at a time very slowly... Then see what happens before trying something new."

[innominds]

What should be the ideal length of the title? Could u specify it in terms of characters?

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by innominds

What should be the ideal length of the title? Could u specify it in terms of characters?

The best is 64 characters including spaces. If you really think must be longer, never more than 70 characters including spaces.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by A Phoenix SEO

We never waste the page title by using the companies name... It is way to valuable! We prefer to use the company name in the page description.

And what is about establishing your brand?

[A Phoenix SEO]

I personally feel branding with the page title is just a waste of a valuable resource. A better place to do it is in the page description. Since so few people look for product by the company name why use it here. For those who who are searching by a company by the name, that company will often be the first position anyway... So why bother?

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by A Phoenix SEO

So why bother?

OK. And what about my homepage title?

[inertia]

Branding = future business through reputation and market awareness. Just pushing the keywords is great for quick keyword orientated sales sites but it fully depends on what type of business you're marketing.
If you're looking to set-up an affiliate site or a generic e-commerce site then branding may not be as important. But if you were wishing to establish a world renowned SEO company, for example, then branding is critical.

my2c

[coolguy27]

The article is good but instead of pasting it here.. You can post it in your blog as what inertia have said.


Of course in SEO the meta title is of great importance since we already knew long time ago and it is still being used by the SE as one of the factor....

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by coolguy27

Of course in SEO the meta title is of great importance since we already knew long time ago and it is still being used by the SE as one of the factor....

The title meta attribute or the title tag? Can you be more specific? Since those are two different pair of shoes.

[A Phoenix SEO]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

OK. And what about my homepage title?

I have never used a business name in the title of any page, especially the home page. We use the page titles to target a minimum of two keyword phrases per page and we treat every page as if it were a landing page.

[innominds]

Originally Posted by Webnauts

The best is 64 characters including spaces. If you really think must be longer, never more than 70 characters including spaces.

So one should plan below 64 characters title. But in some cases, I've observed that the title is just too long. Is that simply spamming the title with keywords?

[kamalnisa]

Very nice article. Thank you for sharing. Meta tags are still very important for SEO.

[A Phoenix SEO]

Originally Posted by innominds

So one should plan below 64 characters title. But in some cases, I've observed that the title is just too long. Is that simply spamming the title with keywords?

I am comfortable up to 65. I have seen a title once that had 70 so I am ok with that... beyond this point I would think its starting to look spammy.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by A Phoenix SEO

I am comfortable up to 65. I have seen a title once that had 70 so I am ok with that... beyond this point I would think its starting to look spammy.

Since you are comfortable with 65, can you please explain us why with 65 and not with 64? There is a reason about that 64. How about your 65? Comfortable? I hope that is not the reason.
And longer than 70 has nothing to do with looking spammy. There are other reasons. But since you are commenting my posts, please explain us why is it not good having more than 70 characters.

Thanks.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by bcdxer

meta tag does not have any value now.

Are you telling here that the description meta tag has no value in the organic search engine optimization? I really hope not.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by A Phoenix SEO

I have never used a business name in the title of any page, especially the home page. We use the page titles to target a minimum of two keyword phrases per page and we treat every page as if it were a landing page.

Since you are an SEO, did you ever hear about "Online Reputation Management"?

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by shinzo159

Hi... What does meta tags do with Search Engine Market Reasearch? I mean, is there any connection?

The description meta tag is what search engines use in the search results snippets beneath the titles. If it is well written, like calling for action or so ever, you can increase your clicks and conversions rates.

Look for an example how I use it here: seo workers - Google Search

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by dharrison

Well done John. I've never heard of meta title tag. I assumed they just meant title tag.

Debbie the title meta tag exists. It is a tag which spammers used attempting to deceive the SE, which thanks God, all SE ignore it.

If you are using the Dublin Core Title Meta Tag is legitimate, since you might probably need it, if you your site is marked up in XHTML+RDFa like mine. Still I have some work to do, but so far I cannot tell that I will really need it.

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by inertia

Branding = future business through reputation and market awareness. Just pushing the keywords is great for quick keyword orientated sales sites but it fully depends on what type of business you're marketing.
If you're looking to set-up an affiliate site or a generic e-commerce site then branding may not be as important. But if you were wishing to establish a world renowned SEO company, for example, then branding is critical.

my2c

Matt there is another very important reason. Couple months ago some scammers from India reserved the domain seoworkers.co.cc and have setup a forum with vBulletin and called it SEO Workers. Their intention was to outrank me with my own brand! Anyway, no fears, since my brand is pretty well established, and I closed them down, and I own that domain now.

Just a little example.

[Web Design Company]

Originally Posted by bcdxer

meta tag does not have any value now.

I disagree. Though Google may not be giving it that much importance now but Yahoo and MSN still do. Having the proper title, meta description and keywords can help in your SEO efforts a lot.

[A Phoenix SEO]

Originally Posted by Web Design Company

I disagree. Though Google may not be giving it that much importance now but Yahoo and MSN still do. Having the proper title, meta description and keywords can help in your SEO efforts a lot.

I wonder where people come up with these ideas... But this is what makes forums so interesting... For me.

[mehtaamit12]

do you not think title tag is much more long, 12 word is enough

[Webnauts]

Originally Posted by mehtaamit12

do you not think title tag is much more long, 12 word is enough

If you can fit 12 words in a length of max. 70 characters including spaces why not?
But I am sure you did not understand the appropriate implementation of the title tag when it comes to its relevancy to the page content.

[Webnauts]

One last comment. I read the article of the OP for the first time today. A hell a lot of inaccurate information.
Therefore in my words: It sucks! The posts of this thread where great though.

[mark.smith]

As far as the meta tags are concerned and what i have seen till the date with my experience The "META TAGS" still rules Search engines. Specially The Title tag is having very worthy when you are there for optimization.
You can't ignore these tags...but can't depend on them also....

...........

[Philippines]

Study your stats and see what keyword phrases people used in the search engines to find your site. By changing your title tag accordingly your SE ranking should go up for those keywords.

[full house]

good article! But you better blog it. Post it in your blog or in other blog.