Best title tag structure?
-
Hi,
In the below example, which one do you think would work best if any.
The website is called greatshoes.co.uk (fictitious)
The category is 'work shoes'
and a page under this cat is lets say 'Size 9 work shoes'
I tend to build my title tags like this:
size 9 work shoes, cheap size 9 work shoes | greatshoes.co.uk
BUT I have read on here it should be more like this:
size 9 work shoes < work shoes | greatshoes.co.uk
Does anyone think it would make a difference when targeting for the term 'size 9 work shoes' which title tag I use.
Cheers
-
This thread is over a year old. I'd actually suggest starting a new question, as it will get more visibility. Thanks!
-
Is there any value in adding semantically similar words in the title tag? For instance, I have an alcohol rehab website www.alcohol-rehab.ltd.uk, I offer local search pages too.
Would the title tag "Alcohol Rehab Bedfordshire | Alcoholic Rehabilitation Clinics Beds" Be more valuable than "Alcohol Rehab Clinics Bedfordshire | www.alcohol-rehab.ltd.uk"
And is is worth wile having the url in each title tag?
Also is it worth while (seo wise) writing a description tag for each page, other than for a call to action that is?
-
Title tags are important not only for SEO but also for CTR. Google doesn't care which order you put your keywords nor give any weight to repeats. As far as I am aware their is some advantage to having your main keywords at start of title tag, otherwise write a title tag attractive to humans. eg Cheap Size 9 Work shoes | greatshoes.co.uk. From this Google will extract cheap shoes, size 9 shoes, cheap work shoes are give your site relevance when any combination of these words is the search term. (The title doesn't have to include the url though is no harm for branding. Another closely linked point not to be overlooked is your meta description)
-
cabbagetoe is right, and so is Ryan:
Repeating the keywork fraces too many times will seem spammy. Personally I would go for something like:
size 9 work shoes | buy cheap work shoes at greatshoes.co.uk
or
buy cheap work shoes | greatshoes.co.uk | size 9 work shoes
all depending on if the brand name is vital. it's kinda trial and error what will work for one site might not work for another. And note that I included a call to action in the title.
Whether u use | - _ or whatever in you title will have the same effect in google. It will ignore them. you could for that matter use a . or a , whatever you chose just bare in mind that you need to make the title easy to read for the end consumer. And you should modify the page title and experiement to find out what generates the most clicks. If you notice your bounce rate jump but and your CTR do the same, then you have a title that generates allot of clicks but the content on the page isn't what the consumer expects or it a bad design or... (could be a gazillion things.)
What I'm trying to say is that there is not one winning strategy, you need to experiment and find out what works for you. -
You are correct. You would not rank as well for "cheap size 9 work shoes" if you did not include the term "cheap" in the title.
-
How about adding a call to action or site slogan in the title tag to increase the CTR?
-
Ok, im not completely clued up on the microdata front, from what I read it helps to break things up a little so indicate product titles, images, links etc.
So im guessing your saying use microdata on the breadcrumb attributes but I didnt think Google would rank for a term without it being in the title.
So 'cheap size 9 work shoes' would not show my result unless it existed in the title tag but if your saying yes you can im guessing it would not rank anywhere near as well as it being in the title tag.
Thanks for responses.
-
Have you considered alternate titles? It seems a little spammy to have the same text repeat itself in the title.
I would prefer "size 9 work shoes | greatshoes.co.uk" for the title. It doesn't include the term "cheap" but you can include that in your meta description. If you use breadcrumbs with HTML5 microdata then your breadcrumb with your categories will appear in SERPs as well. If you find an Amazon result you will see how that works.
-
I tend to use the pipe as the delimiter, but the arrow could work as well. I think that once you get the need SEO information in your title tag (which you do) the next step is to think about usability on the SERPs. I think the second example is more intuitive and visually catching to the eye which can draw you some extra clicks in itself.
Part of the SEO battle is that once you are on the SERPs, what little things can you do to capture the user's attention. I think your second example does that better than the first.
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
-
Brand name in title?
Hi all, I have noticed that a lot of companies put there brand/company name at the end of their page title. To me, that seems like a huge sacrifice of your limited 60 characters. Wouldn't it be better to use characters for words that people might actually be searching for?
On-Page Optimization | | RaoulWB0 -
Google Showing H1 Title Instead of Doc Title in Search Results?
I see this often for my website: Google displays my pages' H1 title instead of the document title in its search results. Is there any particular reason for this? Do we have any kind of control on this?
On-Page Optimization | | sbrault740 -
Can I use Same Keyword for Multi pages Title Tags?
Hello All, I am working on client website and currently they are targeting One Keywords for multi pages. As I have search with Allintitle: Search query and Google display around 37 pages of website which carry same keyword in "Title Tags". I have told to client to change the "Title Tags" but they want that keyword for all relevant pages. So I want to know is that harm in Search Engine Ranking? Note: They have not done the link building activities for multi pages with same Keyword, they are using only in "Title Tags" only
On-Page Optimization | | jemindesai0 -
Google Results Title Tag HELP
Can anybody tell us why Google changes your title tag in the SERP? If you check out the below link or type in 'days inn', you will see the 2nd result for www.daysinnrc.co.uk just says 'Days Inn' but on the actual site the title tag for this page is 'Days Inn UK | Days Inn | Daysinnrc.co.uk' http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=days+inn&oq=days+inn&gs_l=hp.3...4110.4110.4.4297.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0...0.0...1c.1.kWVC24EnCHE&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=7680231318a44bb0&bpcl=35466521&biw=1920&bih=934 This has happened with another site too, does anybody know why? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | SEOwins0 -
Are meta tags useless?
I thought they were, but I don't work for a full-fledged SEO agency. I'm a copywriter at a marketing firm so my SEO efforts are generally limited to inserting keywords into on-page content, page titles, and URLs. However, one of our clients works with an SEO agency. Whenever we add a new page to the client's website, they ask the SEO agency for keyword recommendations, which are then passed along to us to implement. The recommendations always include meta tags, so I guess I was wrong about them being useless? Can anyone tell me the purpose of meta tags? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | matt-145670 -
Fixed horrible title tag on home page, and lost ranking. Will it come back?
I was helping out someone on their site and its home page ranked on page 2 for their term, and the title tag was horrible. It was 160 characters long with lots of near repetitive keywords ([keyword] - adjective [keyword] - adjective [keyword] - adjective [keyword] etc.) -- typical title that Google would penalize when it got around to it. So I created a title that made sense, for the keyword, and that followed the best practices of Google recommendations. Now it's dropped off the index. (EDIT: sorry, still in index, just not even in top 1000) Is this something I should not have done? I was just trying to keep them from getting slammed. And, how long should I expect it to take to get my ranking back? This is the only page title I changed.
On-Page Optimization | | bizzer0 -
SEO Titles and Keyword Density
Hey guys, I'm doing some on page SEO for a few clients and I've always wondered about this question. I have read tons of articles on the perfect <title>tag, but they don't often mention this.</p> <p>So my titles, like most others follow this format:</p> <p>Keyword 1 | Keyword 2 - Company</p> <p>So say for example I am trying to rank for 'life insurance' and 'life insurance quote' for 'axa sunlife'.</p> <p>It's my assumption that the title should be:</p> <p>Life Insurance Quote - Axa Sunlife</p> <p>rather than:</p> <p>Life Insurance | Life Insurance Quote - Axa Sunlife</p> <p>Am I right in thinking that putting it twice has no added value, and could in fact have an adverse effect?</p> <p>Thanks,</p> <p>Lewis.</p> <p> </p></title>
On-Page Optimization | | SEOMyGod0 -
Page title structure?
From an SEO and user perspective what structure do you recommend for page titles. For example (given that they shouldn't ideally be more than 70 characters) :- Keywords (maybe two or three) | Company Name | more keywords I understood the best place for the company name was about second place. Is this now the considered view taking into consideration 'branding' which has been flagged up as the way forward. Keywords are separated by the vertical bar | - any thoughts? For 'house keeping' pages such as Privacy Policy - should this be optmised or simply stated as 'privacy policy' Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | PH2920