Search engine optimisation is undoubtedly difficult—you’re not only competing against other businesses but also against the algorithm, and the expectations of consumers themselves. While much of your SEO efforts will go into the content itself in order to benefit from high rankings on SERPs, you still need be able to capitalise on the increased discoverability that this brings. That’s where page titles come in.
Regardless of how vague the search in question, customers glancing through the results generally have something specific that they’re looking for in mind, and attractive titles help you stand out from the rest of the crowd at a glance. While this can be accomplished in a number of ways, there are a few time-tested tricks that you can make use of in order to quickly and efficiently experience dramatic improvements to your click-through rates. This article is going to be focused on just that—the four steps necessary to improve the allure of your page titles.
#1. Find the Right Length
Title length is something that is heavily debated in the world of SEO. While almost everyone is in agreement that it’s better to err on the side of titles being too long as opposed to too short, excessively wordy titles can also be problematic—many consumers distrust lengthy links that seem to exploit search engine algorithms. Unfortunately, there’s no magic word count to strive for. Some pages may get away with three or four-word titles, while others may require six or seven. It truly depends, so experiment until you find the perfect title that is not only sufficiently concise but also effectively summarises the page to customers.
#2. Implement Numbers
Words are effective weapons, but numbers can be equally useful in drawing the eye of prospective customers. You may have noticed a fairly recent trend in which list-based articles are becoming increasingly popular—there’s a good reason for that! Breaking up longer articles into smaller subsections is not only helpful for SEO ranking, but it also enables titles to be quickly summarised. For example—4 Digital Marketing Trends to Watch. The “4” calls out to the eye, especially when displayed against purely text-based links, and gives customers an immediate idea of the length of the article before they even click the link.
Likewise, including dates in your titles can help signal relevance, especially in industries that are quick to change. Someone making a search today in 2019 will be more likely to click an article with 2019 in its title, since they’ll know that the information will be relevant to their needs.
#3. Address Curiosity
Generally, consumers conduct searches because they have a question that needs an answer. Eight percent of all search queries are direct questions, with many more being indirect—that is, consumers relying on algorithms to contextually deliver information based on a few highly specific keywords. If you want to capitalise on these search trends, it’s imperative that you use page titles to anticipate questions, and provide an answer in the associated content. If a consumer wants to know about the best SEO strategies for 2019, then they’re more likely to click on a link titled “What Are the Best SEO Strategies for 2019?” as opposed to “Improve Your SEO in 2019.”
#4. De-emphasise Keywords
Keywords are undoubtedly important for SEO purposes, but the best web content is written for people, not algorithms. Note, however, that “de-emphasising” does not mean removing. It simply refers to a more restrained practice of keyword integration. For example, if there are five highly popular keywords pertaining to your article’s niche, it’s far more natural to use only one or two in your title tags as opposed to all five. Implementing more keywords than are necessary demonstrates that you’re writing for discoverability, and not necessarily for quality. Restraining yourself demonstrates authenticity in your writing, something that greatly improves consumer trust in your content.
There is a seemingly endless supply of SEO tips that can be implemented to improve rankings on SERPs, but all of that hard work would be for naught if consumers ignore the link in front of their eyes. The tips that we’ve outlined today may not rocket you up to the first page of search results, but, assuming they’re used in conjunction with other time-tested SEO approaches, will definitely improve your click-through and conversion rates.