Web page titles to promote your website

Are you missing out on a simple, no-cost website marketing strategy? By assigning meaningful and effective titles to your web pages, you can boost your search engine ranking, increase brand exposure and differentiate your listing from competitors in search engine results and bookmark lists.
 

What is a web page title?

A web page title is the name you give to each of your web pages and is inserted in the HTML tag <title> located in the HEAD of the document.
 

Importance of web page titles

1. Brand exposure
   
   The web page title is displayed in the browser window title bar. And when printed, the page title will appear at the top of the page. People will be exposed to your brand each time they view a page from your site and also be reminded of you if they print your information.
   
   Title for my homepage:
   
   
    
2. Search engine ranking
   
   Web page titles weigh heavily in the search engine ranking equation. Use different titles for your web pages to increase the number of opportunities to rank on search engine  results e.g.:

   Page title using the title of an article
   (extra keywords: branding, favicons)
   

   Title for my ‘About us’ page
   (extra keywords: Henriette Martel-Lawson, Perth, website strategist)
   
   
    

3. Listing on search engine results
   
   The page title is usually used as the heading for your web page listing on the search engine results. Relevant and useful headings will guide qualified visitors to your site.
   
   
   
    
4. Bookmark and history entries
   
   The page title is used as the default entry in favorites (bookmarks) and history lists. It provides
   a direct link for repeat visitors.

Web page title strategies

• Make sure each web page has a title. Otherwise your web page will be part of the thousands anonymous listings ‘Untitled Document’ in search engine results.
   
• Use meaningful titles especially on pages more likely to be bookmarked. This will help jogging people’s memory for when they scan entries in their bookmark list.
   
• Keep your title relatively short to fit in browser title bars and search engine listings to avoid being snipped off.
   
• Write title relevant to your web page to attract qualified leads from search engine results.
   

Avoid...

• Fillers e.g. ‘a’, ‘an’ and ‘the’. When possible, replace them with keywords that will better your chances of high ranking on search engine results.
   
• Redundant words e.g. 'Home', Homepage' and ‘Welcome to'. Use keywords instead of these useless words. If bookmarked, a page title starting with 'Welcome' could end up last in an ascending alphabetical list.
   
• Sensational sales messages e.g. ‘First Best Diet Pill’. Outrageous claims are viewed as blatant commercial messages that lack credibility.
   
• Strings of keywords e.g.
  ‘Marketing - Marketing Strategy - Marketing Plan - Marketing...’ Such listing looks like a directory listing and not a credible web page with information.