Titles are extremely important for your site’s SEO. It is known that the search engines give weight to words within titles throughout your site. The position and number of keywords that should be included in title tags and headers is a source of constant debate in SEO circles. What is often forgotten is the fact that titles matter for more than search engine reasons.
A well-written title can be the difference between content being read or passed over, video being streamed or set aside, products being bought or ignored completely. Since print publication became widespread, the power of the title has been used to sell a piece’s content. The difficulty most businesses face is in working search engine optimisation tactics into their titles. The result is usually fairly bland, with obvious keywords sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb. Worse still, some businesses simply chain keywords together for more SEO power. The result is off-putting, to say the least. This is one of the many reasons businesses seek the advice of professional SEO consultants. You can talk to us at on your titles and SEO.
The difficult thing is in finding a balance between a catchy title and an optimised title. Sometimes, the answer is something in between. There are plenty of catchy titles available for every subject, so much so that writers have developed formulas for them. You’ll often see bloggers posting ‘Five steps to a better website’ or ‘How to blog with the best.’ Often, these can be rearranged to present your keywords foremost, but retain the hook.
For example, take the common title format ‘What everyone should know about [subject].’ This is a commonly seen title because it’s eye-catching. It conveys the idea that there is something the reader doesn’t know which could do them harm, and provides the promise that the article will solve any problems. It is not particularly search engine-friendly, because the keyword is at the very end, giving it the least importance in search engine terms. However, a simple shuffle can see the keyword in the best possible place, for example ‘Virus scanners: What everyone should know.’ Not only does this bring the keyword to the fore, but it also presents the user with the subject immediately. It also increases the urgency of the overall message.
Another way to formulate a title is to put as few words as possible before the keyword. For example, the common title ‘The secret of [subject]‘ could be ‘Secrets for [subject] success.’ This is not an excellent SEO title because the keyword is stuck in the middle. However, it’s important to remember that users will get tired of ‘[keyword]: Whatever the title is’ formats fairly swiftly. Balance is needed.
It can be easy to become too entangled in SEO principles when optimising your site. The important thing to remember is your user. Search engines base their algorithms on predicted user needs. Basing your site’s behaviour around your user needs is a way to satisfy both the search engines and the people who ultimately matter most.
