Title tags happen to be an age old on-site search engine optimisation (SEO) technique. This basic factor has long been one of the most important routes to the top of the search engine rankings. There are several ways in which title tags can be used and manipulated to give your website the almighty push up the to the top of the search engine results page (SERP). In addition to better rankings, an appropriately selected title tag can result in a higher click-through rate and most certainly improve the overall exposure of your website.

Why the Title Tag?
For Google, Yahoo and every other search engine out there, the title tag is the text that is displayed in the link on the SERP. This means that what you put into that HTML title code matters. Keywords are the top priority, of course. But beware of stuffing them because of the penalties that may be imposed. The best practice is to place relevant keywords to succinctly and uniquely describe the page content. This can be followed by the name of your company and maybe a local area reference. Keywords provide the search engine spiders with pointers to your content for searchers. Your company name helps build brand recognition. Finally, a location is useful when your service is geographically significant.

Good Title Tag Practice
Some technical guidelines to follow when creating title tag text are listed here.

• Always use title case to write out your title tags. This is a common error across the web. The main reason is the look of professionalism that this gives on the SERP. Also remember to use title case for your paragraph headers.


• Avoid DUPLICATE titles. If you've taken trouble to create unique content, you stand to lose a lot of time and money invested by duplicating titles.


• The 65 character count on Google should be the indicator of primary page title. Google only displays 65 characters of the title tag on the SERP. Make sure that this contains relevant keywords that best describe the page.


• Reflect page content, to prevent visitor abandonment. Remember that a visitor has followed a link because the title indicates something of interest to them. If your content differs greatly from the title you can be sure they'll leave immediately,

Title tags are not the most arcane SEO tactics and yet, many SEO firms fail to properly manipulate them. They are a fundamental part of the search marketing world and must be used properly.