Page Title
Every web page is considered a unique document. Unlike a book or a brochure, where pages simply flow from one to the next, each web page should be given its own unique purpose to perform before sending the user on to the next page or pages. Therefore, each page must have it’s own title to briefly describe that page’s its purpose and/or contents.
The title of each web page is found in the < title > tag between the opening and closing < head > tags in the HTML code, unseen to the visitor except in the top bar of your web browser.
< head >
< title >E-Marketing Intelligence – Up to date search engine marketing information from the Internet marketing experts.< /title >
< /head >
Search engines will generally show the title of each ranking page in SERPs (search engine results pages), which is the clickable text that leads you to the page.
Many people want their business name to be at the very front of the title tag. This is a great tactic for branding, but if you’re not Target or Nike it will be more important to use your title to let people know what that page is about. For marketing purposes the title tag should contain your primary keywords in a natural sentence format. If you must have your business name in the title tag it is generally best to place it at the end. The length of the title tag should remain in the confines of common sense. Most are in the range of 3-15 words in length.
Each page of your website should have its own unique title. It’s easy to get lazy and simply cut and paste the title of the home page on every other page. From a search marketing perspective, this is a mistake. Take the time to make each title tag unique.
Search for all posts in this series on Constructing Effective Web Pages, or follow the links to previous posts.