For effective SEO, doing a lot of the small things right can really add up – title tags are no exception. Google uses user-based metrics (in addition to countless other variables) to help rank your website, so it is important to have effective copy in both your titles and meta descriptions.
Here are 5 title tag tips for more website traffic.
1. Aim For Title Tags With 15-40 Characters
The key is to write a title that is 15-40 characters long and includes keywords for your niche. It also needs to be enticing enough for someone to click on it from google search results. Typically titles will be in the 30-40 character range in order to include the desired keywords. Title tags within this range see 8.5% increased click-through rate (CTR).
2. Try Using Questions In Your Titles
Questions in Title Tags see a 14% higher CTR* than standard titles. Try testing this out by formulating a set of questions around your keyword and producing content that answers these questions.
3. Use An Exact Match Keyword In Your URL
There is a 45% increase in CTR* when the exact keyword phrase is in the url.
A URL is the web address that you type in to get to a web page—in many cases, it’s just the domain name followed by a slash and then the name of the specific page.
For example, if you own an online pet store called Pet Supplies Online, you might create a site at www.pet-suppliesonline.com. You could then create individual pages for each item in your store—like dog food, cat food, dog beds, etc.—and give them names like www.pet-suppliesonline.com/dog-food or www.pet-suppliesonline.com/cat-beds.
4. Add Adjectives & Emotion
Using adjectives and descriptive wording in your titles and/or adding emotion to your title tags improve CTR by up to 13.9%.* Use words such as:
- Simple
- Actionable
- Unique
- Interesting
- Newsworthy
- etc.
The more descriptive you can be, the better.
5. Get Title Tag Ideas From Current Google Ads
This tip was also mentioned in 5 Simple SEO Tips To Massively Increase Website Traffic.
Try opening an incognito window and searching Google for your desired keywords. The chances are, someone else is currently running Google Ads for this product or service.
Go through each ad and examine the titles and descriptions they are using.
In many cases, these title tags are already optimized for you since they have been tested against paid traffic.
*Data and percentages mentioned in this article are from SEO Expert Neil Patel
Are your title tags working for you? Contact us today for a complimentary SEO audit. We will identify where you could be missing out on potential organic traffic.
