Which would you click on?
If your house was on the market and your realtor came by and put the "For Sale" sign in the backyard...yikes! You'd get them to move it out front and fast. You know how much selling that sign is going to do back there. None...duh!
If you think of your Web page titles/title tags (the blue strip at the top of every page) in the same way, you'd be sure you packed as much punch into them as you could. Like a "For Sale" sign in the backyard, poorly written title tags cost you money.
Winning Title Tags Get You More Clicks
The title tag is the first thing your prospective shopper sees in the organic (free) search engine results page (SERP). Like the "For Sale" sign, this is the place you want to grab a Web searcher's attention.
Think about when you search the Web. You're searching and wondering...what's available to solve my problem? What should I click on?
Then you decide based on the listings you see on the SERP...you find something that attracts your attention and you click.
Here's the thing with title tags:
- Google and other search engines give them a lot of weight in their rankings
- They tell the search engines what your page is about
- It's your visitors first impression of your web page, and
- It helps your visitors decide whether your page is what they're looking for
You want to grab your prospect's attention immediately from the search page.
How to Create a Killer Title Tag
The first thing you want to have in the title tag is the main keyword (or phrase) that you want the page to rank for in the search engines. If you're selling shoes, then "shoes" is your main keyword.
But the secret to winning title tags is that you add some more words to the tag...enticing sales words. Go ahead and Google "shoes." The first page you see will list websites selling shoes (obviously!) Notice the title tags all underlined in blue. What catches your eye?
Here's what I see...
Listing for Macy's
Shoes at Macy's - Women's Shoes, Men's Shoes,...
Then,
Listing for Zappos
Shoes | Zappos.com FREE Shipping
My eye stopped at Zappos with the offer of free shipping. I always feel gouged by high shipping costs. I like free shipping! Macy's? I was already pretty sure they offer women's and men's shoes. Seems like wasted space to repeat that in their title tag.
Macy's wouldn't get my first click, though their brand is a powerful motivator. Still, I'd click Zappos first, and quite possibly never make it back to Macy's.
And that's the point. Once you've got your visitor on your site, your content is boss. If it's good, they'll stay.
But what about the length of the title tag...what shows on the search page is very short! Usually 65 characters or so. But you control what goes into your title tag, so even though it's short, you must make it count.
The upshot...review the title tags on your pages and look for two elements of content: 1) Be sure your keyword is very near or at the beginning of the tag and 2) Place enticing sales copy that gets searchers to click on YOUR site first, not the competition's.
So, get your website "For Sale" sign in the front with content that generates valuable clicks.
Until next time,
Nick
Other helpful posts that will help you get clicks:
What Do Organic Search and Email Have in Common?
4 Questions for Better Internet Marketing
