Spammy page titles and the consequences
-
Hiya Mozzers!
A pal who works in SEO has suggested I add the following type <title>tag structure to my pages:<br /><br />Bars in New York - Bars New York [no brand name]</p> <p>Pizzas in New York - Pizzas New York [no brand name]</p> <p>Firstly, I think this looks spammy, secondly, can't understand the logic of both combinations, thirdly, my understanding is brand name lessens importance of keyphrases, but it's still important from a branding point of view.</p> <p>Fourthly, is this sustainable? I mean, Google could identify this as spammy in the future, with penalty, no? Any feedback on these points would be very useful.</p> <p>Also, he said that I should play around with title tags on an ongoing basis, but I haven't changed any single title tag more than once/6 months for fear of being flagged for manipulative SEO practice by Google. Guidance here would be great as well.</p> <p>Thanking you in advance, Luke</p></title>
-
I guess there's a risk Google may flag spammy close-repeat page titles in the future too?
** actually you can change as many times as you want as long as it makes sense with the content on the page.
How often is it safe to change page titles too, without upsetting Google? I've heard of people experiencing problems because Google can flag regular changes (or perhaps this is simply an urban myth of some kind ;-))
** It won't get upset but ranking will change - better or worse.
You can only upset it if the title tags will read one thing and the content will be on a totally different subject - that can be interpreted as manipulative but it won't ever get you into real trouble like a penalization (actually as long as you don't do it on a large scale - thousands or more pages like this as that can trigger a manual penalization).
-
Thanks eyepaq and Jeffrey. I agree with you guys totally. Strange how many SEOs do spammy stuff these days. From a sustainability perspective, I guess there's a risk Google may flag spammy close-repeat page titles in the future too?
How often is it safe to change page titles too, without upsetting Google? I've heard of people experiencing problems because Google can flag regular changes (or perhaps this is simply an urban myth of some kind ;-))
Thanks again, Luke
-
If you point some links using the anchor text "Bars in New York" will solve this. But remember to dilute the anchor text, use different anchor texts including the domain name and your brand so everything.
Even if you don't have the "in" in the title tag you will rank for variation of those keywords - what's important is how other link to you / to this page (external links).
Internal, your own links, are not as powerful as the inbound links but still can send the right signal so make sure in your site on other pages, but still in a natural, user friendly way, you link to this page by using "Bars in New York", "bars", "new york". It will help.
Can you share the link of the page and site ?
-
I agree with eyepaq. Your friend is mostly likely suggesting this in an attempt to rank for both of the phrases - "Bars in New York" and "Bars New York"
If that's the case, there are better ways to target different keyword phrases than trying get it all into the title tag.
-
Thanks eyepaq yes that sure makes sense, and helps
I was wondering about that - the 'in' - I mean might you pick up more long-tail results without the in? Or perhaps it doesn't make much difference one way or the other...
-
It makes no sense to go with your friend approach
You won't get a penalty for it but for sure it won't help you either.
Brand at the end ? It's a choice - personally I always place it at the end as I think it makes sense.
having the duplicate and small hang between the two phrases ? Doesn't help.
I would go with " Bars in New York | brand " if that mess sense with the page and all.
What you could mix up is to have a different h1 - slightly different if possible as google doesn't like to be told what to rank based on what
Hope it makes sense. hope it helps.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
How to create this image effect for my home page
How do I make a wide, somewhat fast loading image effect like this home page has: 3dcart.com work on my website bobweikel.com I'm asking for how to create the effect (with small enough image kb to load) and what the image should be of in your opinion. Thanks!
Web Design | | BobGW0 -
Content Migration & cost of moving pages
Hope you are all having a great day! I am wondering if anyone would be able to provide general feedback. I work for a medium size company in Chicago. Currently our site is static html and we are seeking to migrate to Wordpress. After speaking with a number of website companies and receiving proposals, I am trying to understand if there is an approximate going rate or range for moving content from static html to a CMS like Wordpress? i.e. a cost per page? We don't have any dynamic content. Most of our pages are text and images. The site itself, including the blog is around 220 pages. Thanks in advance for any insight or resources!
Web Design | | SEOSponge0 -
40 percent redundant content on landing pages with 60 percent unique information.
I have searched schema.org for tags to use for our redudant content on 25 unique local landing pages. The redundant content references our services and abilities on each page. Could anyone tell me how to retain this content and direct the search engines to disregard this portion of the landing page. We are a WordPress site -- if there is a plugin - I would love to know which one might work, although I have not been able to find one that will protect us from duplicate content issues. Thank you in advance.
Web Design | | seant1190 -
A Not Linked Page Question
Hello, I have a page for opening an account in my website, this page is not accessible from my website menu, the only way to reach this page if you have the URL, I send the URL for specific users I want them to open an account in my system. I have two questions regarding this: does this harm or cause damages to my website SEO ? blocking this page in Robots.txt will cause any issue/will help ? waiting for your answer.
Web Design | | JonsonSwartz
Thanks in advance,
Joni.0 -
404 page in Windows IIS. HELP!
I run a real estate website.
Web Design | | Jeepster
My webmaster needs to create a 404 page for listings when they get deleted.
So far all he's come up with is 302-redirect to a standard "error template" page.
Can anyone suggest a 404 how-to guide I can show him?
Thanks0 -
Will keyword optimization for a landing page impact SEO for subsequent pages?
For example, if I optimize keyword “pleurx” really well on our landing page, I'd like to know if subsequent
Web Design | | Todd_Kendrick
pages linking back to that landing page will rank higher than before for “pleurx”
even if “pleurx” wasn't optimized on the subsequent pages. Thanks! -Andrew0 -
Custom 404 Page Indexing
Hi - We created a custom 404 page based on SEOMoz recommendations. But.... the page seems to be receiving traffic via organic search. Does it make more sense to set this page as "noindex" by its metatag?
Web Design | | sftravel0