A page title is the most important element of SEO (search engine optimization). It is a headline of sorts that not only tells visitors what is on the page, but also appears in search engine results.
A page title can be the difference between your page being seen or not by potential customers, given that it is the first piece of information they will see. That being said, crafting the perfect page title is essential for good SEO and website successfulness.
What Is A Page Title?
A page title is the title of each page of a website. It sits at the top of the page and is visible when someone uses a browser to visit a web page.
Furthermore, search engines often pull the page title and display it in the search results. This gives visitors an idea of what the page contains before they actually click on it, so it needs to be SEO-friendly (Search Engine Optimisation-friendly) as well as user-friendly.
Think of a page title as an advertisement for the page. It should be engaging, informative and tell visitors in clear language what the page is about.
Page Title Guidelines
When it comes to crafting the perfect page title, there are some key guidelines that you should follow:
1. Keep It Short – keep it to 50-60 characters including spaces.
2. Use Clear Language – make it language that your target audience can understand and use keywords that accurately describe your content.
3. Focus on Target Keywords – think about the keywords your target audience will most likely use to find the page, and include them in the page title.
4. Be Descriptive – include relevant information in the page title so that readers have a good idea of what the page is about.
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5. Be Unique – each page of your website should have a unique page title that is not repeated on any other page, as this can cause confusion for search engines and visitors.
Best Practices
When it comes to crafting the perfect page title, following the general guidelines is a must. But there a few other best practices that you should include:
1. Include Your Brand Name – when crafting a page title, try to use your brand name at the end or beginning of the page title. This will help communicate to users your unique content and will also tie in with your overall brand messaging.
2. Be Relevant – when crafting the page titles, make sure they are relevant to the content of the page and accurately describes what the page contains. This is especially important when crafting meta titles, which are displayed in search engine results.
3. Have a Consistent Format – when crafting page titles, it is important to have a consistent format so that all the titles are easy to read and recognise. Try to keep the format the same for all the pages and include relevant information such as a keyword, action verb and your brand name if applicable.
4. Re-Evaluate Regularly – SEO and user trends change regularly, so it is important to re-evaluate your page titles every few months so that they are up to date and optimised for SEO.
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Page titles are one of the most important aspects of SEO and website success. Crafting well-thought out and SEO-friendly page titles can help you get more traffic as well as engage potential customers.
When crafting the perfect page title, there are some key guidelines and best practices to follow such as keeping it short, using clear language, focusing on target keywords, being descriptive, being unique and including your brand name. Furthermore, it is important to have a consistent format and regularly re-evaluate page titles to ensure that they are up to date and optimised for SEO.
By taking the time to carefully craft page titles, you can ensure that they are informative and engaging, as well as helping search engines to accurately index and rank your pages.