What they are, just so we are all on the same page at this point

(see what I did there!)

Despite lots of changes to the google algorithium over the years, page titles are the one thing that has remained pretty stable and of a high value.

For the new guys, the page title is the bit that sits at the top of the browser window. it is also the bit that you read on the google search engine results page after you have entered a search.

Why are they so important? And why you should care about yours.

As mentioned before it is a crucial SEO ranking factor in determining position. Invariably, most sites when they are being built will have a default value set as the page title, which will be the same as the name of the page within the cms (content management system). For example you some time see “home” on some sites home page. This is not ideal, as this is essentially telling google that there is content on this page about “home”.

How should they look?

Page titles should reflect your most important keywords. So what are your most important keywords? Well, quite simply the ones that make you more money. (assuming that the objective of your site is to make more money, which is generally the case, certainly with our clients)

There is very little point ranking on terms that don’t make you more money or are of no interest to your customer.

Here are some general rules and examples to get you started:

Don’t change them too much. Any change may impact position, so make sure it is a good change before you make it and update the page.

Keep it too no more than 65-70 characters. There is however a new additon to page titles that allows double length page titles. So if you have enough creativity in you to write 2, do so. Google will then apply the most relevant one when someone searches for your product/service.

Use the most valuable keyword at the start. Google values the start more than the end. Use your company name at the end of the page title if at all.

Make them all different, even just a little. Duplicate page titles are not good and Google will consider this a negative factor.