Adding Keywords in Your Title Tag, Does It Really Help?
When it comes to the Title Tag way too many Search Engine Optimization Professionals are under the impression that the only thing they have to do is put their keyword phrase into the title. Then they buy a few links with their keyword in the anchor text and think they are done.
This is a false assumption. Ranking at the top of the search results in popular search engines is still possible without putting the keyword in the title. Certain off-page SEO factors allow this to be possible, but that is for later.
It is a fact that titles no longer carry quite as much weight when it comes to ranking as they once did. Some people would say “I can achieve number one rankings for long tail keywords simply by using the Title Tag.” The truth is anyone can outrank anyone without using their keyword phrase within the Title Tag, or anywhere else on the page for that matter. The only thing the person has to do is use the correct incoming links.
This is for people who are still under the impression that the title tag has not lost its value. Here is an example, using the search phrase “Job Search.” Over half of the results in the search contain this keyword, but that doesn’t mean it is vital to ranking. JobSearch.com actually has the keyword within the title. Observe, the Monster website holding the number one result does not have the keyword in the title.
Another example would be to do a search for “search engine.” It will show that all of the results that are displayed do not have the keyword anywhere in the title.
Most would just think that the only reason those websites can be at the top of the search results without the title in the keyword is because they are such big, strong, and reputable sites. Zero out of the ten websites in the search results has the keyword in the title when a search is done for “hotel discounts.”
Another example of these exceptions where a smaller not so strong website ranks in the top ten search results would be the keyword “online computer store.” It is clear that out of the ten websites on the first page in this search, none of them have the keyword in their title.
Here are a few more examples of this:
- “Find a job.” One out of ten websites on the first page use the keyword in their title.
- “Online transcription service.” Zero websites for this search use the keyword in their title.
- “Discount books.” A total of two websites in the search results use the keyword in the title.
- “Disney vacation Orlando.” Zero websites within the top ten results are using the keyword in their title.
- “Home repair.” Only two websites use this keyword in their title when a search is performed.
On the flipside, there are lots searches that can be done with various keywords and all of the websites in the top ten results will have the keyword in their title. An example of this would be “used cars.”
The point here is not to convince anyone not to use their keyword in the title. The point here is to allow people to think outside of the box a little bit. This enables a person to stand out from the crowd in the search results. Thinking of ways to stand out is much easier once a person understands that the Title Tag does not completely control their ranking, and keywords do not always have to be used in the title for great ranking.
It is believed that Google has been messing around with the Title Tags for a website recently. Google has been changing the Title Tags on some websites to something they think is more relevant. If Google actually started to ignore titles tags that are optimized, that can seriously change the way search engine professionals think, work and optimize. Most SEO professionals believe the title tag to be the number one element when it comes to on-page optimization. Google might start treating the title tag as a meta-description. I believe that the importance of on-page optimization will become increasingly more important when ranking in Google and other search engines in the future.
Fred Meek is a professional Search Engine Optimization consultant with MindBOX SEO in Austin Texas.
Latest posts by DST Contributor (see all)
- Guidelines for Enhancing Social Media Sharing - June 17, 2013
- Is Search Engine Optimization Growing Faster In New York Than The Rest Of The Country? - June 12, 2013
- SEO Campaign Management: Top 3 Requirements - June 5, 2013
19 Responses to “Adding Keywords in Your Title Tag, Does It Really Help?”
Newsletter
Join the Contest!
Tags
Our Projects
Google lays out their bast practices for Title Tags
1) Accurately describe the page’s content
2) Create unique title tags for each page
3) Use brief, but descriptive titles
get the seo starter guide from Google here http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2010/09/seo-starter-guide-updated.html
While there are some interesting ideas in this post, I’m not sure that’s the spin I would take on the subject.
Even though I think the Title tag is significantly important as a ranking factor, I think its role is much greater and we should not loose site of its purpose. Here are some of those roles:
- it is a required part of the html header for a page.
- in most browsers it is displayed in the Title Bar of the browser when the page is active.
- it is usually the default description for any bookmarks created in the browser
- in tabbed browsers it is usually the title in the tab.
- in search engines it is typically the first line (in blue and underlined) in a search result listing and forms the text for the link to the target page.
In addition, the conventional SEO wisdom indicates the Title will be used to help set the theme of a page for correlation with the themes of any pages which provide inbound links. The strong this correlation the higher the value of the link.
I think these points make it imperative to write a descriptive, succinct and keyword rich phrase. Even better if it can incorporate a call to action.
Opinions differ on the number of factors Google uses to determine ranking position. Most agree it is in excess of 100, some say as high as 200. I’m not sure the real number, but I’m comfortable thinking it has 3 digits. No serious SEO professional that I have heard or read thinks you need to convince Google to give you a positive tick in all of these 100+ boxes to achieve a high ranking. Most aim to meet the standard in as many categories as possible always balancing between effort and reward.
In the shallowest analysis, we are always striving to rank better than our competitors. Every factor we outperform them creates that opportunity. Regardless of the ranking importance you determine for any particular factor it is still better to do it better than your competitors.
The Title tag is staying near the top of my list of things to do well for any page I control.
Great thought but i am afraid i am not ok with this. I still think having a keyword in the title and title for the rankings have its impact on rankings… maybe not as important as few years back but it still there as a part of the ranking signal…
1. Titles are not for search engine and brand name in the title does not talk what the page is all about to in a border area its a bad user experience if you are not using keywords in the title tag (most of the cases)
2. ‘heating and cooling’ 4 out of 10 on the 1st page are using the head match and rest are using the related keywords that gives the weight.
3. Search engine never means Google, else then Google there are search engines like Bing and yahoo and i am sure that title tag have fairly good importance in yahoo and bing.
Yes, I agreed to Moosa. Me too think that having a keyword in the title and title for the rankings have its impact on rankings.
Marketing Services
http://www,amarketforce.com
Hi
The argument is correct however we can not say that the proper use of keywords in title tags has lost the importance. If you search for click here the first result is Adobe’s website which does not have the click here in title, its the no of back links with anchor text ‘click here’ that has done the magic. If you think your website can gain these many no of back links with a particular keyword as anchor text then you can consider the arguments in the article but for the people who can’t compare themselves with these big brands the keywords in title tag does matter.
Thanks
Web Empire
As has already been mentioned, title tags are probably most important in helping Google separate unique pages on your site. If you’ve been a good SEO and built quality links to multiple pages on your site and have decent architecture that flows link juice, then long tail keywords in title tags along with other on-page optimization can be really effective.
Title keywords are important, but let’s not forget that another person besides Google looks a the title tag, the end-user: I.E. The buyer. This is the bottom line and is why we do SEO and backlink building isn’t it? The end result is a click or a conversion alot of times based on a good title. Which goes to the point that Google makes over and over again, relevant, authoritative content (a title is content) gets Google trust and page ratings. Check out: http://www.seo4internetmarketing.com/seo-faq/ for more on this.
Fred,
There seems to be so much conflicting advice about title tage and SEO that it’s hard to know what to believe. How much info does Google really give us?
I think it’s trial and error with title and meta tags, but then again, I can’t be sure…
I’m learning about SEO. My site is definitely not optimized, but as I’ve been providing transcription for marketers and others, I’ve learned a few things along the way, including that videos seem to help in the rankings. Also, it doesn’t hurt to have a transcription of the video contents for more keywords and to perhaps easily turn the video content into articles.
Adding keywords to title tags really does your ranking boost because I’ve tried this one on my site. It’s more easy for WP users to add it if you also have all in one seo pact plug in.
I like to think that CommentLuv gives your readers benefits as well. Even if they don’t comment your article , they may find other blogs that are relevant to the topic they are searching for commenter are leaving behind their most relevant post in relation to your article topic and it can help to the readers to understand there wants . It is like having additional resources at the end of all of your posts. Thank you to the master in this site
GOD BLESS
Thanks for the article! I was in doubt if adding keywords to the title tag was helpful or not! This sure clarifies a bit more!
xoxo Hayley
Ofcourse they will help.
Why do you otherways think 97% of all that handles SEO does like this?
The keyword is the most important thing in our site. It must be in the Title. So when the visitors check the Google Search Engine Reseult – they see the KW in the title. And they go like wow, we got to click on that. Then they do that, and maybe if you are lucky, you get good paid for each visitors that visit your site.
I have created a site that contains outsourcing news, computer maintenance and troubleshooting tips, entertainment and more. But I need to update it more. But how I can add keyword on my site. Pls help me. Visit and suggest me.
www.pctrouble.weebly.com
Thanks
You have made some excellent points there. Used to do military services has started round the subject and barely found any specific particularly other websites, on the other hand great that needs to be here, seriously, thanks.
Hello,
This site contains of outsourcing, pc troubleshooting, entertainment and more. Also have site of an institute www.riva-computers.blogspot.com www.spbs.weebly.com is now under construction Pls visit and advise me for update.
Thanks
www.pctrouble.weebly.com this site can help you.
I do not think adding key words to the title is totally irrelevant. This is because rankings depends on so many things apart from the key words. I think what works for one site may not work for another one.
Probably it is just as important to have the keywords in the domain and/or title as it ever was. The major difference is thaht the competition is so much higher today that it takes a lot of other efforts to be seen in Google.