{"id":14323,"date":"2022-12-06T09:05:00","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T16:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/showit.com\/?p=14323"},"modified":"2024-05-09T09:39:28","modified_gmt":"2024-05-09T16:39:28","slug":"how-to-write-the-best-page-titles-for-seo-and-your-audience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/showit.com\/website-tips\/how-to-write-the-best-page-titles-for-seo-and-your-audience\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write the Best Page Titles for SEO (And Your Audience!)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Page titles are important. Like, super<\/em> important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, eight out of ten people will read your headline, but only two out of ten will read the rest of your page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That means your headline needs to work hard<\/em> in order to catch the attention of your audience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also means Google \u2014 which wants to reward you for attracting (and keeping) the attention of your website visitors \u2014 pays really close attention to your page titles!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do you write the best page titles for both search engine optimization (SEO) and<\/em> your audience? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind when writing page titles for your website or blog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with Keyword Research<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first step in writing a great page title (or in attempting any other SEO strategy) is to conduct keyword research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyword research<\/strong> is the process of finding the search terms for which you want to show up on Google \u2014 and for which you can realistically rank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You might want to rank for \u201cdestination wedding photographer,\u201d for instance, but unless you already have rock-star SEO status, you\u2019re probably not going to. You\u2019re better off trying a less popular keyword, like \u201cOmaha wedding photographer\u201d or even \u201clight and airy Omaha wedding photographer\u201d: long-tail keywords<\/strong> that don\u2019t have as many other websites competing for that coveted first search engine results page (SERP).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keyword research tools<\/strong> like Semrush<\/a> and Ahrefs<\/a> can help you identify relevant keywords for your business. With metrics showing keyword difficulty, search volume, clicks, and more, these tools can help you narrow down your long list of potential keywords and choose the best ones for your business to focus on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you aren\u2019t ready to pay for an SEO tool just yet, you can conduct keyword research for free by downloading the Keywords Everywhere<\/a> browser extension \u2014 or even just heading to Google itself. Type in a keyword you may want to rank for, and check out the drop-down list of related keywords for other ideas of what you could write about. You can also scroll down to the bottom of the SERP for more related keyword ideas.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Example of related keywords based upon searching “Omaha wedding photographer”.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Once you\u2019ve found a keyword that has good relevance to your audience, fairly low competition, and high enough search volume<\/strong> to be worthwhile, you can begin crafting content around that keyword. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Include your focus keyword (and variations of it, like \u201cwedding photographer in Omaha\u201d as well as \u201cOmaha wedding photographer”) throughout your page or post, including the body copy, the meta description, image file names and alt text, and \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 the page title.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Know the Difference Between Your Page Title and Title Tag<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A quick caveat: The term \u201cpage title\u201d is sometimes confused with the term \u201ctitle tag.\u201d Although these can<\/em> be the same thing, they aren\u2019t always.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A page title <\/strong>usually refers to the big text at the top of your page or post, often denoted with the HTML text tag H1<\/strong>. It\u2019s what tells readers (and search engines) what your page is about and reassures them that they\u2019ve found what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Example of this post's Page Title<\/strong> found at the top of the post.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

A title tag<\/strong>, on the other hand, is the blue, clickable title that appears on a search engine results page. Google often uses your page title as<\/em> your title tag, but sometimes it modifies the title tag \u201cto best represent and describe each result.\u201d<\/a> Depending on your website or blog platform, you may be able to set your title tag separately from your page title (see Setting Your Title Tag in Showit <\/em>below).<\/p>\n\n\n

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Example Title Tag<\/strong> on a Google search result.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In this post, we mostly use page title and title tag interchangeably, since the recommended best practices are similar for both \u2014 but we encourage you to modify your page title or title tag as necessary!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Use Your Focus Keyword in Your Page Title<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It probably goes without saying that you should incorporate your focus keyword into your page title \u2014 but where, and how?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We recommend using your keyword as early in your title as possible<\/strong>. Not only will this help your audience understand immediately what your page is about, it also helps your SEO. Although Google says there\u2019s technically no limit on the length of your title tag<\/a>, most browsers are able to display only the first 50\u201370 characters or 600 pixels, so do work that keyword in early.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Be sure to use only one unique keyword per page<\/strong>. A long page title with multiple keywords will just bore your readers; plus, you don\u2019t want different pages on your website to compete with one another for the same keyword. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And no keyword stuffing<\/strong>! Although you may think you\u2019re getting extra points for writing a page title like \u201cOmaha Wedding Photographer | Omaha Weddings | Wedding Photographer in Omaha,\u201d you\u2019re actually hurting your SEO. Google sees right through that old black-hat SEO strategy and will penalize you for trying it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIP: Learn how to adjust your SEO Page Title<\/a> settings in Showit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026But Add Some Pizzazz!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cclickbait\u201d has a certain connotation, but there\u2019s a reason online publications like Buzzfeed resort to clickbait-y page titles: they work!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We aren\u2019t suggesting you should shock or mislead searchers, but you should<\/em> craft your page titles in the most interesting (and accurate) way possible. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Put yourself in the mind of your audience. If you were searching Google, which page title would you<\/em> be most likely to click on?<\/p>\n\n\n\n