Law Students

6 steps to optimize (and make money on) your Web site - Title Tags

By joy

As a real life, in the trenches Web Marketer/Web Designer, I am often asked questions about Web site optimization. This is a subject I think about because the focus of my work is to create Web sites that drive traffic, increase conversions and, of course, make money. Aside from designing and building, I take the time to research other sites - BtoC, BtoB, E-commerce, content, corporate, you name it and try to figure what makes these sites work.

So, with this focus in mind, I’m going to discuss the elements of a successful, traffic driving, high conversion Web site - all in 6 steps.

STEP 1: The Title tag - The title tag is simply the text which appears at the top of your browser bar. When examining X/HTML markup, the title tags are located between the two head tags.

Traditionally, the title tag was mainly used to display where one was within the site navigation, but recently, it’s importance in terms of search engine optimization has been recognized. Google, in particular, has been placing an increasing emphasis on keywords in the Web page title tags.

Here’s an example of a Google SERP for fashion jeans. Notice how the searched keywords show in the SERP.

Question: Should the title tag have keywords then site name listed or site name then keywords?

Answer: It depends on how important site branding is to you. For example, you could have your site name then keywords listed on your site’s home page, but as someone goes deeper into your site, you can reverse and list keywords first, then site name/navigation location. Listing keywords and/or product name first is more important on a site where you have product listings - whether it’s an e-commerce site or a manufacturer/product information site. If you are working with a content or information site, you may also consider placing the subject or headline of the page first, then list the site name.

Remember though, Google and other search engines only display the first 50 or so characters.

Example 1: BIGCO.com :: Accounting, Accounts Receivable and Payment Solutions for Industry.

Example 2: Men’s French Cuff Designer Shirt > Men’s Apparel > MyStore.com

Example 3: SMALLNONPROFIT.com | Frequently Asked Questions | Helping families in our community for over 100 years

Example 4: Why use Our Brand(TM) Car Parts - CarPartManufacturer.com

Technorati Tags: Web Marketing, Web Design, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Keywords, Title Tags

Full post as published by Confessions of a G33k on February 02, 2008 (boomark / email).