What does a correct meta title look like

What does a meta title mean?

The meta title of a web page is one of the mo st important aspects when it comes to SEO optimization. Not only does it he lp with effective indexing when used correctly, but it is also the first thing a potential visitor sees when using a search engine or when it is distributed on social networking sites. In other words, a rele vant and attractive meta title will be able to significantly increase the number of visits.

Displaying the meta title in google:

Displaying the meta title in google

Because it is also displayed in browser tabs, a relevant meta title is also beneficial when it comes to the user experience. This is very useful when identif ying open pages in the web browser, especially when we are talking about a large number of open windows.

relevant meta title is also beneficial

How do I add a meta title to a web page?

The meta title must be added to the section of the page, between the and tags.

It will look like this:

<head>

<title> Desired title </title>

</head>

Using a CMS (eg WordPress ) can simplify the process of customizing meta titles, there are many options and modules that help it.

More details about the meta title tag can be found on the w3schools website.

How do I write a correct meta title?

Because the meta title of a page is so important for on-page SEO optimization, but also for the visitor experience, it must be written carefully, following the following aspects:

Include the relevant words in the meta title

We have already seen that the meta title is essential for SEO optimization, because of this, the main keywords will be added to it. For example, if we have a page with Kokum Syrup, entering the words “Kokum Syrup” in the title will have a beneficial effect on the page’s position in the SERP for these search words.

Add the most important words to the beginning of the meta title.

It is recommended to add the most important words to the beginning of the meta title because they will have the greatest impact.

For example, a title like “Kokum Syrup Manufacturers and Exporters” will have a greater impact on the words “Kokum Syrup” than it would on “Health Drinks”

We recommend using the following structure: Main words, Secondary words | Brand name.

The brand name is usually added at the end of the title after separators such as “-“, “|”, “*”, or others.

In rarer cases, depending on the strategy adopted, you can choose to add the brand name at the beginning of the title when you want to consolidate it.

Keep a decent length of the title meta

If we use a meta title that is too long, we risk that it will not be displayed in its entirety by Google in search results. To avoid this it is recommended to limit ourselves to a total number of 50-60 characters (including spaces).

Google does not have a certain character limit but displays the title according to its total number of pixels. Ex: a title that contains letters that occupy a larger number of pixels, such as: “w”, “u”, “g”, will force us to write a title with a smaller number of characters than if we have used letters that occupy a smaller number of pixels: “i”, “r”, “t”, etc.

It is good to know that search engines can display different titles on desktops than those displayed on mobile devices. In some cases, the titles displayed on mobile phones maybe even larger than those on the desktop.

To check if our title will be displayed in full by Google, we can use various free tools offered by Portent, Web Site Advantage, or other available tools.

Avoid using excessive words

Repeating keywords in different forms can lead to penalties. This is also useless because search engine algorithms understand word variations.

Example of incorrect meta title: “Cheap Kokum Syrup, Buy Kokum Syrup, Best Kokum Syrup”. Instead, we can use a simple title like: “Cheap Kokum Syrup to buy”

Use unique meta titles for each page

Having a different title on each page, we will help search engines understand that each page has unique content.

In the case of sites with a lot of pages, having a unique title on each page seems impossible. However, most CMSs are made in such a way that we can set a unique title on each page.

For example, in the case of an online store, on the products page, we can have a title of the form: Product name – Category | Brand.

Can google show me another meta title?

Yes! There are situations when Google can generate a different meta title than the actual title of the page.

This can be quite frustrating. However, it can be solved quite easily after you have identified the cause of the problem.

The reasons why Google can show you a title other than the one you want are:

There is an alternative title on the page

In some cases, alternative titles such as meta titles for Facebook, Google, Twitter, can make search engines display a title other than the one in the tag.</p>

Words used in excess

As you have seen, repeated use of words should be avoided. In the desire to provide a better user experience, this may be another reason why search engines may display another title.

The title is different from the words the user is looking for

When the user uses a search engine for a certain word or phrase, and they are relevant to the content but do not correspond to the title, Google may choose in this case to display a different title to indicate to the user that the result is relevant to him/her.

The title has recently been changed

If you have made recent changes to the title, they may not be displayed yet, because Google has not “visited” your site since the last changes. Wait a while for the changes to take effect.

You can check the indexed version of google by accessing the cache option offered by it.

check the indexed version of google by accessing the cache option

3 Misspelling mistakes to avoid

Identical title on several pages

One of the methods by which search engines detect duplicate content is to check the date the site title is displayed on several pages. Identical titles should be avoided as much as possible.

Titles written only for search engines

Out of a desire to target as many keywords as possible, many forget that titles should actually be written for users, not for search engines. This is how titles that contain words written in excess appear.

Irrelevant title

Irrelevant headings such as “Home page”, “First page”, “New page”, are other common mistakes in the content of a title.

Conclusions

As I hope I have already convinced you, the meta title is an extremely important aspect of a site optimization campaign. This action is one that does not require much effort in relation to the benefits brought. An important thing to keep in mind when writing a title is that the meta title will be written for users.
Therefore, pay special attention to the titles, and the positive effects will not be long in coming.

How important do you think meta titles are in the overall optimization of sites?

By Swastik Saraf

Swastik Saraf is a growth hacker, negotiator, & strategist with a sharp mind & having 5+ yrs of experience. He mainly worked with the CxO's and learned from them.