Would Changing the Titles of Root Categories Be Bad?
-
I have researched some more effective keywords to change my root category titles to. I am wondering if it would be a bad idea to change these titles considering all the things that could go wrong. From what i'm gathering there are a LOT of things that can go wrong but at the same time these things do need to be changed sometime!
Is this a good or a bad idea & why?
What could go wrong?
Should I try changing the category titles one at a time instead of risking every one of my keywords / category titles not working out in the serps right away?
-
I change title tags on our massive ecommerce site all the time, it's called optimization
A lot of times I see an improvement in rankings just by doing this.
-
That is a good idea but in this case that pretty much means redirecting every page on my website
-
Good point
-
If your changes do affect the urls then make sure you have working 301 redirects ready so the old urls still work.
-
If it's just the title tag on the pages then you might as well try swapping out one or two and testing your changes.
If those titles affect the URL of the page or of any other pages then you'll need to consider these changes. Changing URLs is the same as creating a totally new page so obviously this is a bad thing.
If it is literally just a title tag change...I'd try it, you can always roll it back after a week.
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
-
Should stop words be used in titles? I'm aiming for natural title structure.
I have fully optimized on-page SEO for the following keyword (not really the one I use, but it can serve as an example): -personal driver in los angeles Even though "in" is a stop word, I prefer to have a natural (non-robotic) structure for the title - I do this by including "in". I believe that "personal driver los angeles" is too spammy and too robotic. Is this a good or a bad thing?
On-Page Optimization | | zorsto0 -
Penalty for Changing Home Page Title Tags
Hey Mozzers I'm certain of the answer to this question, however I wanted to get some input from the experts in Moz-land to hopefully provide some additional perspective. I recently disagree with a client's assertion that there is some penalty Google levels for changing the title tags of your home page. Now, I understand changing the title tags can influence serp rankings, however, is anyone aware of some penalty Google levels for simply changing the title tags? Most of what I've read and experienced has people changing them all the time without some phantom penalty. It seems to me a problem of correlation = causality, in that people often attribute a drop to an action that may not have actually been the cause. Anyway, if you have any particular insight on this top I would appreciate it greatly. thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | BrandLabs0 -
More long tails for longer title
Hello, Will a longer, two big phrase title gather more long tails overall than a title with one short keyword? Example: Would this: Title: Nike Running Shoes, Adidas Tennis Shoes create more long tails overall than this title: Title: Running Shoes or is more dependent on other things, like content? It seems like you'd be more likely to hit more phrases strongly with a long title. If that's true doesn't it make sense to always use a longer title when possible? Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | BobGW0 -
Title Tag Over Optimization
Hey, I've read that adding the company name to the title tag was a waste of space since the more words the less weight each one has, with all this over optimization preventive measures, should I rewrite the title tags format with company names? and if so should it be (company name): (naturally organized keywords) (naturally organized keyword) | (Company name). or can I keep it just naturally organized keywords Also I used to do (keyphrase) - (keyphrase) instead of commas, should I fix this? I asked this question on Randy's post http://www.seomoz.org/blog/6-changes-every-seo-should-make-before-the-over-optimization-penalty-hits-whiteboard-friday but didn't really get an answer. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | nrv0 -
Change 10yrs old home title tag seo safe?
Howdy everyone! Wish you the best for 2012! We have a client who is ranked #1 for keyword "blue widgets". Their site's homepage title has the keyword "blue widgets" in it and has been the same for 10yrs+. Recently they have added other types of widgets to their offering. Is it safe to change their title by adding more keywords to it? For example: "blue widgets | green widgets | brand x widgets". May our client lose their ranking if we change their title? Thanks in advance for your help!
On-Page Optimization | | gerardoH0 -
Redirecting to an exact match root domain: good, bad, or neutral?
We have a client who wants to secure an exact match domain for their new website, but it's very long. They're wondering about securing an additional domain that is much shorter for marketing purposes (business cards, email addresses, etc). We would then 301 redirect the short domain to the main domain. Are we going to see negative SEO implications from that?
On-Page Optimization | | MackenzieFogelson1 -
Footers... Good or Bad?
I know in the past footers have been seen as a bad idea. I need to get up to date. Does having footer links that point to your own site with anchor texts keywords create problems? or is it safe to have? Will it do anything to our google rankings? Is it going to penalize us? As well, how many is acceptable, do I want all 77 links or have 15 with sub-categories?
On-Page Optimization | | HCGDiet0