Ask Dave Taylor
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • Videos
  • Most Popular
  • Top Categories
  • Books
  • About Dave
  • Ask Me
  • > Donate <
  • Home
  • SEO & Marketing
  • Is there any hidden importance to the page TITLE?

Is there any hidden importance to the page TITLE?

May 17, 2004 / Dave Taylor / SEO & Marketing / 1 Comment

Here’s a search engine optimization concept that most people don’t think about: make sure you have keywords and key phrases in your TITLE tag. You know what the TITLE tag is, it’s the tag that gives you the name of the page on the Window frame in your browser, and it’s remarkable how few sites pay any attention to what’s in that critical search engine optimization (SEO) field.

Let’s take a quick tour of some big sites and have a look, shall we? HBO.com has a title tag of “HBO Online”. ESPN.com has “ESPN.com” as their title. No kidding. NYTimes.com is better, with “The New York Times > Breaking News, World News & Multimedia”, Microsoft has “Microsoft Corporation”, though, and, finally, BMW.com has “BMW International Website”.
What’s wrong with these? The problem is that each and every word in a TITLE tag is considered quite important by search engines (e.g, Google) when they figure out what your page is about and how relevant a given topic is on the page. Keyword density is definitely important in this regard, but one of the easiest ways to become more relevant to a given search result is to ensure that the keywords or key phrases you want to match are in the TITLE tag.
The downside is that sometimes the TITLES look a bit weird – as is demonstrated on this very site – but the upside is that if you want to have a site that Google thinks is an excellent match for, say, “acupuncture information”, then having a TITLE like “Acupuncture Information for Everyone” will yield a definite improvement.
If nothing else, please, do me a favor and don’t use “Welcome to”, “Home Page”, “Website” or any other empty words in your TITLE. After all, with all due respect to BMW, I think it’s pretty obvious that if I’m looking at their information on the Web with a Web browser that it’s a Website. So why bother saying so in the TITLE?
Frankly, for BMW, I think I’d suggest that they have a TITLE more like “BMW:Luxury Automobiles and Sports Cars from Germany for over 80 Years” which is still readable and friendly, but now it includes other keywords that can help with searches, making it a more relevant match for “luxury cars”, “luxury automobiles”, “sports cars”, “German cars”, etc. See how that works? Simple, but surprisingly effective.
So take five minutes and think about your TITLE tag. Is it doing the job you want? And keep in mind that Google and other search engines look at pages, not sites, so you need to ensure that the TITLE on every page of your site is helping your relevance with search engines.
This is still just search engine optimization (SEO) 101, but it’s important.

Let’s Stay In Touch!

Never miss a single article, review or tutorial here on AskDaveTaylor, sign up for my fun weekly newsletter!
Name: 
Your email address:*
Please enter all required fields
Correct invalid entries
No spam, ever. Promise. Powered by FeedBlitz
Please choose a color:
Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

One comment on “Is there any hidden importance to the page TITLE?”

  1. Alan says:
    October 28, 2007 at 6:38 pm

    I would disagree partly. What if someone is looking for your home page and not a secondary page on your site and not other sites with your name etc. etc. It seems to me that when someone hits gold and finds MY web site, I should reward them. Other than the real index page for the entire site, I would agree with you.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Search

Recent Posts

  • How Can I Prevent Remote Access to my Windows PC?
  • The Easy Way to Add Contacts to my New Android Phone?
  • How Can I Hide or Report An Offensive Advert on Facebook?
  • Switch “Paste” & “Paste and Match Style” Keyboard Shortcuts on MacOS?
  • How Can I Easily Create a QR Code For My Web Page?

On Our YouTube Channel

AUKEY Omnia 100W + Minima 20W Power Chargers -- DEMO & REVIEW

Roborock S6 MaxV Robot Vacuum Cleaner -- DEMO & REVIEW

Categories

  • AdSense, AdWords, and PPC Help (106)
  • Amazon Echo & Kindle Help (79)
  • Amazon, eBay, and Online Shopping Help, (157)
  • Android Help (160)
  • Apple Watch Help (49)
  • Articles, Tutorials, and Reviews (327)
  • Business Advice (192)
  • Computer & Internet Basics (720)
  • d) None of the Above (160)
  • Facebook Help (365)
  • Google, Chrome & Gmail Help (157)
  • HTML & Web Page Design (244)
  • Instagram Help (44)
  • iPad Help (137)
  • iPhone & iOS Help (571)
  • iPod & MP3 Player Help (173)
  • LinkedIn Help (79)
  • Linux Help (149)
  • Linux Shell Script Programming (86)
  • Mac & MacOS Help (833)
  • Most Popular (10)
  • Outlook & Office 365 Help (10)
  • PayPal Help (68)
  • Pinterest Help (53)
  • Reddit Help (12)
  • SEO & Marketing (80)
  • Spam, Scams & Security (84)
  • Trade Show News & Updates (23)
  • Twitter Help (212)
  • Video Game Tips (66)
  • Web Site Traffic Tips (62)
  • Windows 10 Help (831)
  • Wordpress Help (201)
  • Writing and Publishing (72)
  • YouTube Help (43)
  • YouTube Video Reviews (159)
  • Zoom, Skype & Video Chat Help (42)

Archives

Social Connections:

Ask Dave Taylor


Follow Me on Pinterest
Follow me on Twitter
Follow me on LinkedIn
Follow me on Instagram


AskDaveTaylor on Facebook



microsoft insider mvp


This web site is for the purpose of disseminating information for educational purposes, free of charge, for the benefit of all visitors. We take great care to provide quality information. However, we do not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this site or on any linked site. Further, please note that by submitting a question or comment you're agreeing to our terms of service, which are: you relinquish any subsequent rights of ownership to your material by submitting it on this site. Our lawyer says "Thanks for your cooperation."
© 2020 by Dave Taylor. "Ask Dave Taylor®" is a registered trademark of Intuitive Systems, LLC.
Privacy Policy - Terms and Conditions - Accessibility Policy