A meta title is an HTML element which is crucial for website optimization. It is not the page headline per se, but it acts as a name tag for the web page. A meta title is also sometimes referred to as “title tag,” “page title,” or “title.”
What is Meta Title?
A meta title is referred to as such because it is considered metadata that is located on a web page’s header. Meta title exists for both search engines and visitors and is prominently displayed, often in large blue text, on search engine results pages or SERPs when, for example, you are conducting a search. You can use titles to help people find what they are looking for on your site, both while browsing and in search engine results. A meta title is a concise way of communicating the main topic or subject matter of a page without repeating anything from its body text. ERP Analysis Meta Tags – Use these tags when creating SEO optimized pages that will appear under specific keywords within SERPs (search engines Results Pages). You may also see them show up next time you open Google searchers window as well.
To look for a page’s meta title, you can right click on any area of a page and click on “View Page Source” from the drop-down menu. You will find something that looks like this:
<head>
<title>Sample Title</title>
</head>
However this format may vary depending on the content management system that you are using. If you are using WordPress, for instance, you can add the meta title in general settings under “Tagline.”
Similar to meta descriptions, meta titles also follow a standard for optimal format and length. Ideally, a meta title should be formatted like so:
Your primary keyword – Your secondary keyword | Your Brand Name
In terms of its length, a meta title should have 50 to maximum 60 characters. Anything more than that and you risk your text being clipped by search engines such as Google. If you want your titles to be displayed properly, then it is best to follow the above mentioned title length. A vivid example of MetaTitle can be seen below:
Why are Meta Titles important?
Meta titles give search engines and the visitors a glimpse of what they can find in the certain page. They help them and give the ability to understand what the content on a particular page is about and can play a role in influencing a visitor’s decision to click on your link or not. Meta titles are also great tools to have for branding, especially if you have already established yourself as a trusted name in your industry. You can leverage your brand by displaying it on your title tag, inviting people to click on the page of a brand that they trust.
In the matter of page rankings, meta titles can play a role in how well a page ranks on SERPs, given that they are quite an important on-page SEO component. By putting keywords closer to the beginning of your title tag, there may occur a higher chance for them to rank when it comes to keyword-based searches.
How to write a good Meta Title?
In order to write a good title tag, here are some guidelines you can observe!
Be mindful of your title length: As it was mentioned earlier, it is best to limit your title length to under 60 characters, including spaces. But there is more to it than that. While there is no set limit to how many characters you can put on your title tag, there is also a 600-pixel container that you need to be aware of. You may be wondering why some title tags could appear to have more characters, while others can have fewer than 60 characters, but still get truncated on SERPs. This is for the reason that some characters like Ws and titles in all caps take up more space. Titles in all caps are also more difficult to read, and as a result, can get truncated. Surprisingly when you follow the optimal length for your meta title, search engines may opt to display a different title tag from what you’ve originally provided.
Do your keyword research: When it comes to meta titles, it pays to do keyword research. Page rankings do not just depend on one particular main keyword; they also factor in related terms and other variations, in the case of long-tail keywords. And while it might be tempting to place several keywords in your title tag, avoid keyword stuffing. This can result in a bad user experience and can thus negatively impact your ranking on SERPs.
It is also important to always keep in mind that you are writing for a human audience as well, not just search engines.
Avoid using duplicate title tags: Duplicate title tags can affect the certain page’s visibility on SERPs. Giving each page a unique title can take up some of your time, but making one page stand out from another is ultimately beneficial for you and your page. A unique title makes it easier for the visitors to know what a certain page has in store for them, which makes it all the more inviting to them. This, in turn, translates to more click-throughs for the page.