SEO-friendly titles 8 practical tips with examples

SEO-friendly titles 8 practical tips with examplesSEO-friendly titles: 8 practical tips with examples for 2020

• Do you want to increase your overall search traffic? Learn the art of writing SEO-friendly titles.

Do you want to increase your overall search traffic? Learn the art of writing SEO-friendly titles.

If you want to create a blog to make money with, your top priority should be to increase your overall organic traffic, since search traffic is the lifeblood of any successful website.

In this guide, we'll cover practical tips for creating search engine-friendly title tags for your pages.

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What are SEO-friendly title tags?

A title tag is an HTML element that describes the title of a blog post or page. An SEO-friendly title tag is usually optimized for search engines and usually specifies the context of a page.

So your goal in writing title tags should be to make them as relevant and accurate as possible and they should provide a good description of the content of a page.

Are title tags still important?

Yes, they are extremely important. Titles are the first thing people see. Not only on search engines, but they appear everywhere, including social media sites, forums, email lists and so on.

Did you know that 8 out of 10 people read your headlines before deciding to read your blog posts? That is why you should create high-quality and compelling titles for your blog posts.

Enough said about the title tags. Now let's talk about how to create search engine friendly title tags for your pages to improve your organic rankings in 2020 and beyond.

8 Practical for writing SEO-friendly titles

1. Write "unique" titles

tipsThere is a reason why we include this tip # 1 in the list.

Uniqueness is extremely important when it comes to optimizing your posts, titles and content to get more traffic from search engines like Google.

Yes, there will be a lot of duplicate titles for similar content in Google search results, but you need to make sure to create unique and very engaging titles if you want to improve the rankings.

You should focus on creating titles that are good for both search engine bots and visitors. Make sure to create relevant titles as Google crawlers can get confused when you write irrelevant page titles for your web pages.

Another important thing is to use unique titles when linking.

You need to make sure that every page on your website has a different title. The same title should not be used for multiple pages within your website.

We have noticed that many website owners copy the titles from their homepage to the internal pages of their website. You should ignore such practices.

2. Length of your titles is important

One of the most important things for SEO-friendly titles is the use of an optimal title length.

Google often shows the first 50 to 60 characters of a title tag. There's no thumb rule, however, but it's a smart idea to keep your titles short and attractive.

Try to keep your titles under 60 characters. According to Moz, you can expect about 90% of your titles to show up correctly in Google search results if your titles are less than 60 characters.

However, there is no exact character limit because characters can vary in width. Did you know that Google's display titles are currently up to 600 pixels?

Another smart thing to do is to avoid characters that usually take up more space. For example, a capital letter "W" is wider than a lowercase letter such as "e", "l", "i", "t", and so on.

Take a look at the screenshot below to understand it better:

As you can see in the example above, width is of great importance. Therefore, use smart characters that do not take up more space when displaying in search results.

Quick note: Avoid using ALL CAPS letters in your titles at any cost because not only are they more difficult for visitors to read, but they also display fewer characters because they take up more width (and space) in the search results. So they break down!

3. Stop using "stop words"

Search engines like Google avoid processing stop words. Stop words are the most common words like one, one, the, and so on that most search engines avoid. This is usually done to save space and speed up the processing of large data during crawling or indexing.

If you're wondering what different types of stop words should be avoided in title tags, here's a list of some.

• A

• And

• But

• So

• On

• Or

• The

• Was

• With

Try to avoid stop words as much as possible, especially in title tags to save more space.

Also, make sure you don't use these stopwords in your URLs as well and make them short and sweet by keeping your primary keywords in mind. Here's what it looks like;

As you can see above, your URLs look SEO friendly without stop words and are also great for the user experience.

What else can you do instead?

Use descriptive words. Yes, you can use descriptive words at the beginning of page titles to make your website titles look more natural.

Instead of using short keywords, focus on LSI keywords on your page titles. LSI keywords often make your headlines more click-worthy and add extra weight to your SEO efforts.

4. Create headlines that generate more clicks

You should create eye-catching titles that actually generate organic clicks from search engines like Google.

There are the 3 main elements involved in creating click-worthy titles, namely;

• Curiosity

• Benefit

• Emotion

Let's talk a little about each of them with examples.

Curiosity: You need to spark curiosity as you create titles to increase your organic clicks.

Consider the following example.

As you can see above, click it right away for more information especially if you are desperate to get rich. That is the power of curiosity. So use it wisely when creating your titles.

Benefit: Do you want to drastically improve your organic clicks? Start showing benefits within your title tags and you will get amazing results.

Here is an example of this.

As you can see from the example above, it's a benefits-oriented title that says how green tea can help you lose weight, which is really interesting, especially for those looking to reduce their belly fat.

Emotion: Do you know why most people buy online? They match the emotions of other brands (or a particular product). People buy Apple products for that 'ultra-premium' emotion.

Here is an example of what an emotionally driven title looks like;

The above example is what an emotional title looks like. If someone who is going through a breakup and finds an emotionally driven title like the above probably clicks on it to get more information.

There you go. Make smart use of the above 3 elements according to the topics you cover (or keywords you target) to create clickable titles.

5. Use this 3-step SEO title framework

If you want to create irresistible SEO title tags, here is a 3-step framework exclusively for you.

Step 1: Find a primary keyword for each title

A primary keyword is extremely important, and if you want to rank your pages in search engines like Google, you must target at least one primary keyword for each page. Coming up with primary keywords is easy when you have access to the tools like SEMrush.

We've written a detailed guide on how to use SEMrush to find profitable keywords where you can find a lot of details. Make sure to include your primary keyword in your title for better rankings.

Step 2: Find Relevant LSI Keywords to Target

Yes, you should definitely include a primary keyword in your title tags, but if you want to optimize your titles, of course, you should target LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords.

LSI keywords are semantically relevant keywords for a particular keyword. For example, "Apple" is an LSI keyword for iPad, MacBook, iPhone etc.

If you want to find LSI keywords for SEO, use the right tools like SEMrush, Ubersuggest etc. Because they offer you extensive keyword combinations.

Step 3: Analyze the top 10 search results for your topic

Last but not least, keep an eye on all the top 10 ranking titles for the topic you are writing about. Find out if they use how-to's, post messages or something else. Did you notice anything in common? Make your titles accordingly.

Important tip: put important keywords first

Do you want to know the BEST SEO tip when writing SEO-friendly page titles? First, use your primary keyword.

For example, if you target a keyword like 'tips for reducing belly fat', there are several ways to create SEO titles, including;

1. Belly Fat Reduction Tips: How

2. To Lose Belly Fat Fast How To Lose Belly Fat: Belly Fat Reduction Tips

From the above two cases, you will benefit more from search engines by using # 1.

Why? Because keywords still play a prominent role, and search crawlers can easily find the context of users if you use your target keywords in prominent places, such as they use at the beginning of your title tags.

But you should make sure that you don't use too many keywords in your page title tag section.

6. Use of brand in titles

Should you add your brand name at the end of each individual title tag you create?

That is an interesting question that we are trying to answer as best we can.

If you have a recognized brand name, you should definitely include it for better conversions and click-through rates. But if you're just starting out and no one knows your brand name, you should try to avoid this because it takes up more space (so you have less space and width to target your primary keywords within titles).

Also focus on making your titles localized. To get a higher rank for certain keywords in certain demographic categories, you should use them in your page title section.

For example, suppose if an SEO company offers SEO services in a certain city like Delhi, it should include Delhi in their title tag with keywords relevant to that page. The meta title of their website can be something like 'Premium SEO Services in Delhi' or something similar.

7. Make sensible meta descriptions

When it comes to organic search listings, there are only 3 things that occur in SERPs (Search Engine Results Page).

1. Title

2. URL

3. Meta Description

This is what most SERP results on Google look like;

As you can see above, a search result contains a title, a URL and a meta description. We also implement a rich product rating snippet (which is why it appears in star ratings also the SERP results).

So far we've talked about creating search engine friendly titles, so now let's talk about how to make better meta descriptions to improve your overall organic rankings.

Writing search engine friendly meta description like a pro

According to the blogGoogle,there is no limit to how long a meta description can be, but the search results are often shortened as needed (usually to fit the device width like desktop, laptop, smartphones etc.).

The length of the meta description is between 120 and 158 characters, up to 920 pixels.

Note that Google users will also read the meta description of your pages displayed along with the titles on Google SERPs.

Meta description is what's under your page titles in Google search results. By using your targeted keywords, even on meta description, you can get ultimate SEO traffic, so don't forget to optimize your rich snippets (also known as meta description).

Always supplement your SEO-friendly titles with a great meta description every time you publish a post. This way you can improve your clickthrough rates and user engagement on your sites and web pages.

Keep your meta description below 120 to 150 characters, otherwise Google SERPs will ignore the remaining extra characters (so it will be truncated). First write your meta description for the users, Google will of course give you the highest priority. Never enter your meta description with keywords and of course optimize them.

8. Use the right optimization tools

If you are a WordPress user, we have a simple tip for you: install an optimization plugin.

Using plugins like Yoast SEO can help you implement most of the things covered in this article (including titles, meta descriptions, other tags, etc.). These plugins are free and even SEO beginners can use the SEO by Yoast plugin suggestions to get more organic traffic to their websites.

So what are the recommended optimization plugins?

We have two recommendations listed below.

1. WordPress SEO by Yoast

When it comes to optimizing pages and creating great titles for Google, the Yoast SEO plugin is the best. We have been using this great plugin (we are already using a premium version though) for a long time and we are very happy with the features and results.

It is the most downloaded SEO plugin with over 20 million downloads and the free version also offers a wide range of features to optimize your content.

This is how the interface looks from the backend;

As you can see above, you can easily add a focus keyword, change your title, add meta description, improve your social media settings and so on from one place.

2. Rank Math

Rank Math is the new entry, but it quickly became popular among the blogging community as it offers a lot of useful features ranging from optimizing up to 5 keywords to sitemap creation, LSI tool integration, 404 monitor, redirect system and the list goes on.

Here's what it looks like;

As you can see above, it is extremely easy to set up and you can tweak any SEO related changes ranging from adding nofollow links to setting up sitemaps, importing settings from other plugins and so on.

If you are looking for an alternative to the Yoast SEO plugin, Rank Math is definitely worth a try as it offers excellent features. There you go! Use optimization plugins to get more traffic and better search engine results without breaking a sweat.

Frequently asked questions about SEO-friendly title tags

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about title tags.

Why doesn't Google rank my titles?

There are many reasons why a title tag does not appear in the results of the first page, including the following.

• Your titles are filled with too many keywords (avoid optimizing your titles too much as using one primary keyword in your titles is usually enough)

• Your titles don't match user search or intent (so create titles defining the context and meaning of the topic you are discussing)

What is the difference between title and heading tags?

Both are contextually the same, because they both indicate what a web page is about. However, title tags appear in search results, while header tags appear as the headline of a web page (within your website).

You can use the same content for both title and header tags, or you can use alternative titles. Usually it's always a better idea to keep your title tags short and relevant to the context and use descriptive head tags for a better user experience.

What is the title tag length for 2020?

Google currently displays up to 600 pixels on a desktop. So it is better to keep your title characters below 50 to 60 characters. You can use SERP preview tools like Sportibo, Portent etc. to easily fine tune the length of your title.

How to track keyword rankings based on titles?

You can use Google Search Console (GSC) to easily track keyword rankings based on your title tags. Here's how you can do it.

This is what it looks like;

Now just find a list of all the pages you want to measure, click on it. Then click on the "Queries" tab.

It gives you a list of all page-level searches that affect rankings and click through rates over time. Based on that data, you can make the necessary changes to your title tags (by adding new keywords or modifying existing primary keywords) to further improve your rankings.

Can we include multiple keywords in title tags?

You should NEVER over-optimize your titles with too many keywords. That said, you can use ONE primary keyword for each title, and you can also use LSI keywords relevant to that primary keyword for better organic rankings. Just don't overdo it.

View More SEO Tutorials:

Final Thoughts

Before publishing your blog posts, make sure their page titles are less than 60 characters.

Search and use your targeted keywords on your page titles to rank high and use them at the beginning of your titles to gain more weight. Do not optimize too much. Use engaging meta description along with great titles to increase your organic click-through rates from SERPs.

Do you have any questions about writing search engine friendly titles? Share your thoughts in the comments.