The Most Important On-Page Ranking Factor

There are nearly 200 known factors used by Google’s algorithm to determine what results should be shown when a search is conducted. They range in complexity as well as influence, but the Title tag has been the single most important on-page SEO factor for years.

The influence each factor has may shift from time to time, but the Title tag reigns supreme.

What is a Title Tag?

A Title tag is an HTML element used to add a title to a page on your website. While a user won’t be able to see it within the content of the page, it can be found within the tab of your browser and search engines use them as the main title of most search result listings. 

Title Tag in a tab

Title Tag in a search result

Title Tag in the source code

Why the Title Tag is Important

The title tag of a page should contain a concise title clearly conveying the subject of the page’s content. When you write a good title and deliver on what the title says, you are building trust with your reader in that you will deliver what you say you’ll deliver. Similarly, when Google reads your Title tag they expect it to be a truthful indication of what content can be found on the page, therefore they put considerable value in this raking factor.

Writing Good Title Tags

Okay great, you’re convinced Title tags are important so let’s look at how to write great titles that Google will love and your users will be attracted to.

1. Size Matters
   The optimal length for your Title Tag is between 50 and 60 characters. While writing really long titles won’t necessarily hurt your ability to rank, they will get cut off in a search result and make it much easier for a user to choose another listing to click on. Here’s an example:

You can see here that the first title clearly says what they need to say in 53 characters while the second one gets cut off instead of showing their full 106 character title tag. Chances are, the first listing is going to get more action because they don’t make you guess what else is being said. A clear choice can be made.

2. Important keyword first
   The order of what you say in your title makes a difference. The most valuable part of your Title Tag is the very beginning so always start with your most important keyword that you want the page to rank for. 
3. Don’t forget your brand
   A common mistake we see all the time is a website that places their brand at the beginning of the Title Tag. It is important to keep it in the title but put it at the end. You’re going to rank well for your brand so use up valuable characters that can be better used on keywords that matter.  
4. Use separators
   Using separators such as a pipe can reduce the space you use and it is a clean break between thoughts when you’re not writing a complete sentence. 

A good title using a pipe separator might look like this:

5. Make it Unique
   Each page of unique content deserves a unique title. Make sure you take the time to write a unique Title Tag for each page of your site. While this may seem daunting, keeping yourself organized during this process can really help you plan when to update a page or group of pages. I’ve created this template for creating Title Tags to help you. Make a copy of it and use it to list out all the pages you need to write new titles for. 

How to Update Your Title Tag

Depending on the AMS or content management system you use to run your website, this may vary. Often times, when editing the content of a page there is a Title field that will be used to update your title tag. 

If you’re using iMIS for example, you’ll go to System Setup > Set up content management > Search configuration. You can find more info on updating content records here

In WordPress it is a bit different. The Title field at the top of any page your editing will, by default, populate the Title Tag for the page in addition to the H1 tag. If you’re using the Yoast SEO plugin, the Title and Meta Description tags are edited in a box near the bottom of the page. 

If you’re not sure where to update your website or want to brainstorm the best way to write titles for your pages, we are always happy to lend a hand at Association SEO. 

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Levi Wardell is an energetic digital marketer with over two decades of experience doing what he loves; getting brands noticed in the interactive space. He is CEO of Association SEO.

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