HTML Title Tags and Descriptions

An HTML title tag is displayed at the top of your browser and is seen first when someone is viewing your website. The HTML title tags are the most important facet of basic SEO. If you are in a rush to publish your website and for some reason don't have time to implement other SEO techniques, make sure that your HTML title is optimized and search engine friendly. The HTML title tag is the first aspect of your website that a search engine bot (spider) sees when it arrives at your page. This tag sets the stage so to speak about what this particular page in your website will cover.

When creating your HTML title, keep the following in mind:

1. Your HTML title tag should be catchy with the idea of compelling your audience to click on your listing on a search engine results page (SERPS).

   
   
   More often than not, your HTML title tag is what is displayed in the link that visitors will click on to access your website from a search engine like Google. It is of critical importance to concentrate on having a title tag that converts. When a searcher sees a title tag that is well put together and to the point, it can lead to more traffic. Not only more traffic total, but highly targeted traffic.

2. Your title tag should target your 2-3 main keyword phrases.

   
   
   It is crucial that you target your HTML title tags with your most important keyword phrases. When you include your top phrases in your title tag, you are boosting your relevancy for those terms tremendously. If your particular page is asking your visitors to take some sort of call to action, then state that in your title tag. For example, if you are creating a title tag for a page that deals with signing up for your newsletter, the following title may be appropriate:
   
   <title>keyword phrase 1 | keyword phrase 2 – Free Business Cards!</title>
   
   If you are creating a title for a product page in which you are selling a certain widget, then the following title tag may be beneficial:
   
   <title>keyword phrase 1 | keyword phrase 2 – Greast Financing Deals!</title>
   
   The above HTML title tags both are optimized for certain keyword phrases and are also leaving no doubt to the potential customer that they can purchase what they are looking for on that specific page.

3. You should also limit your HTML title tag to about 70 characters.

   
   
   Google will only show about 70 characters in the title link when your listing appears. Making your HTML title tag longer than the suggested 70 characters will often times truncate your title and will leave a potential customer with an incomplete message about your website. Do your best to add your top 2-3 keyword phrases as well as relay some sort of positive call to action. Make sure too that you are not repeating the same keyword phrases in your HTML title tag. This ill advised practice is called keyword stuffing. Search engines look at keyword stuffing as SPAM and can even get your website banned.

4. Great title tags show in browser history – helps to get return traffic!

   
   
   An effective HTML title can also lead to return visits to your website's specific pages. How many times have you found yourself looking back in your browser history to find an old website that you recently visited? Probably a lot of times. With a compelling and specific HTML title, you make it very easy for past visitors to see your page's title in their history and then come back. If your title tag is specific to the website that the visitor saw, it raises the chances of that visitor coming back to your website more than once.
   
   When someone bookmarks your website, your HTML title is the textual content that is saved. Just another reason to make your title tag interesting, catchy and eye popping!

5. Consider creating HTML Titles after you have completed on page content.

   
   
   Often times, webmasters and SEO's will create HTML title tags when they have completed their on page content. You may find it easier that way as well. After writing your copy, you can then analyze the entire page at the end and then choose what keyword terms are best highlighted. This may be easier than coming up with 2-3 keyword terms and then conforming your entire page copy to those terms. One may find it more natural to write the copy without constraint and then pulling out the most popular aspects of the verbiage for use with HTML title tags.