Creating Effective Titles & Descriptions
September 1st, 2008
Your website´s title and description are the most important factors when preparing your site for search engine registration. Not including a title for your web page is similar to publishing a newspaper without a headline. The title not only displays at the top of the browser window, but also appears when potential customers perform a search in a search engine and review the results. The description is equally important, as its purpose is to entice customers to click once the title has their attention.
In this discussion, please understand that we are referring to your web page title and description, not your company or position title/description. We are referring to the actual title and description of your web page, as defined by the title and meta name HTML tags.
Where are the Title & Description?
These tags are in the HTML code in the <HEAD> tag near the top of the document. They look like this:
<HEAD>
<TITLE>Your Page´s Title Here</TITLE>
<META NAME=”description” CONTENT=”Your Site´s Description Here”>
</HEAD>
Important Note: Some search engines do not use the description tag. Instead, they index the first 30-40 words of your site or the text around the keyword phrase being searched and use that as your description. For this reason, you should plan a well-rounded strategy for achieving high search engine rankings. This series is designed to help you create this type of strategy.
Tips for Writing Titles and Descriptions
Think of your title and description as an advertising campaign and spend as much time writing an effective title and description as you would writing an important ad.
Include Your Researched Keywords: To have a realistic chance of being listed on search results for certain keywords, make sure those keywords are used in your titles and descriptions. This is because when a search is requested through a search engine, the search engine gives highest priority to the words within the title tag. Since each page of your website can have its own unique title, it is vital for you to customize each page with its own keyword-rich title, focusing on just one keyword phrase per page. Tip: Do not use keywords multiple times in the same title or description tag.
Evoke Emotion: Don´t make the mistake of using just your company name for the title or stuffing keywords in the title with no other emotional pull. Your web page´s title MUST grab attention, create curiosity, and evoke emotion. Pay close attention to TV and radio news programs and how they use short “hooks” to keep viewers and listeners through a commercial break. The same “hooks” can be used for your title and description.
Use Compelling Words: What words are compelling? We have compiled a short list of compelling words to choose from: bold, breakthrough, magical, revealing, accomplish, favorite, security, save, stunning, personal, outrageous, you, announcing, warning, secrets, enormous, love, best, earn, more, wealth, protect, dazzling, exciting, incredible, free, fear, imagine, succeed, gain, money, sale, stunning, how-to, proud, health, prosper, future, easy, extreme, and fate.
Make Titles Short: Shorter titles are more effective than longer ones because web surfers scan the words on a search result page—they don´t read them.
Avoid Search Engine “Tricks”: There are many “tricks” out there to allow you to have more than one title tag, a title longer than the maximum 78 characters, and multiple descriptions. We advise against these methods because search engine criteria and algorithms change frequently. Unless you are keeping up-to-date on the latest changes, what may be legal today could draw a penalty tomorrow.
Make Sure You Can Support Your Claims: Make sure you can back up any claims you make in your title and description. If you can´t, you may be sued. Recently a large online site was sued for stating they were “The World´s Largest Bookstore.” They weren´t. They were sued. They lost.
Use Capitalization Wisely: Do not use ALL CAPS. They are difficult to read and are considered “shouting” on the Internet. Instead, capitalize the first letter of each word (when appropriate).
Make Titles under 78 Characters: Generally, your title should be 78 characters or less (including spaces). We prefer short, crisp titles. Some search engines only display a maximum of 78 characters, so by following this guideline, you are assured your title will not be cut off.
Examples
Your title and description will be the catalyst for traffic coming to your website. Just because your site ranks at the top of the search engine results does not necessarily mean you will receive the most traffic of the sites listed in the results. In fact, if your title and description are more compelling than your competitor´s title and description, you can attract more traffic than the #1 listed website in terms of referred traffic.
Effective Title Example: For a Corporate Help Desk, instead of using the title: “XYZ Corporation—Corporate Help Desk,” use “Corporate Help Desk: Meeting Core Business Demands, Keeping Users Productive.” This title is more effective because it incorporates the main solutions the service provides.
Effective Description Example: “Meeting your core business demands and keeping your users productive is your top priority. It is ours too. Allow us to be your Corporate Help Desk with guaranteed response times and high-quality service.”
Search engines do not alphabetize the results, so refrain from using symbols such as “!!” or “AAA” in your title. Place your most important keyword in this tag, but keep it readable and descriptive, with an emotional pull. Don´t just make your title a list of keywords.
Poor Title Example: For “Hawaiian Vacations,” one website´s title is: “windsurfing vacations lodging Maui budget accommodations Hawaiian vacation ren.” This title fails because it´s not only unappealing, but also doesn´t read well; therefore, few will click on this site, even if it´s listed as #1. The last word, “ren,” is actually “rental,” but was cut off, as the title was longer than the search engine allows.
Suggested Title: “Hawaiian Vacations in Maui—Budget Lodging Available.” Result: A shorter, more effective, and descriptive title.
Don’t Use Two Titles for One Web Page
Although using more than one title on a page is allowed on some search engines, others (including Google) will heavily penalize you.
Questions to Ask Yourself
Read your finished title and description and ask yourself:
- Are my title and description compelling?
- Do they solve a problem?
- Do they suggest that my product or service solves that problem quickly?
If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, you may need to rewrite your title and/or description. The bottom line is, when a search is performed on a search engine, two elements are displayed in the results list—the website´s title and description. And based on that title and description, your website may be welcoming potential customers—or turning them away.
Popularity: 75% [?]
Simplicity Management Group has become a global technology leader through the development of Simplx, iRebate Technologies, iCart Commerce, and other eCommerce web solutions.
November 6th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
This again is very to the point and helpful.