It has happened to all of us that we have chosen a book not only because of its cover, but also because its title has caught our attention. The same can happen with our content: a good SEO title can make all the difference.
You may be wondering what I’m talking about. So first of all, let’s make clear what a title is, what we mean when we talk about SEO titles and why it is very important to have them optimized to be effective.
In fact, we will differentiate between the title of a text (within the post), and the title we see in search results (the meta title). Because it doesn’t have to be the same. Let’s start!
Table of contents
what is the title of a text?
A title is usually a phrase that serves as a presentation of a text, fulfilling a double function: it identifies it and also exposes what it is about.
When we talk about the title of a digital content, we talk about the H1 tag or Title 1. For example, when you write in Word applying the type of titles that are available in the document, if you then paste it into the text editor of your page, it will inherit that hierarchy.
This type of titles, although they are not important at an organic level, they are important for people who have already entered your site. For example, if you have a blog, it is very common to see related articles in the footer or sidebar. If they have a good title that attracts attention, the user will not leave your site and will go on to read that other content they have seen.
The advantage of these titles for the text is that they can be as long as you want (but do not write a paragraph) and for example, you can put secondary keywords instead of the main one. This way it doesn’t get so repetitive. But this depends a lot on how many keywords you have, their semantics and what you really want to highlight.
what is an SEO title?
When we talk about SEO titles we are actually talking about the meta title as SEO title. They are not inside the text, like the H1, but we put them to be seen in the SERP (search results pages). That is, when we navigate the unfathomable waters of Google and it shows us several results in response to what we are looking for, what we see is the title that we have put to do SEO:
what does an effective SEO title give us?
Among the hundreds or thousands of factors that Google takes into account to position your page, one of them is the title you show in the search results. And it is not only important for positioning, but also to attract clicks and therefore, potential sales. Since its main purpose is to arouse the user’s interest so that he/she visits your site.
This is achieved, above all, if you make it clear that you can solve the problem that the user has and why he is doing the search that has led him to your content (hence the importance of choosing the right keyword, we talk about this below)
That is, the meta title is important for SEO, because it is the first thing that will catch our attention and will make us click, because whether it is the title of a product for eCommerce or an SEO title for WordPress or any other content platform, it is about capturing the user’s attention.
To achieve this, you have to take into account several factors that will make it an effective title. We summarize them in a series of tips.
Tips to make the perfect SEO title
Adequate length
When our results appear in the SERP, we can only occupy a certain space, we can not make titles as long as we want. Well, we can, but the user won’t read it, because it will be cut off.
There are two ways to make sure that the title is the perfect length: that it does not exceed 70 characters or that it is around 550 pixels. Also keep in mind that more and more users are doing their searches on mobile, so titles look even shorter. Therefore, if you can stay under 63 characters, all the better.
Include the keyword
Content always revolves around a concept. This concept can be summarized or represented in a keyword, which will be the one by which users can find us on Google. So as you can imagine, choosing the right keyword is fundamental. And that is why it is important to always include it in your SEO titles.
To know which keyword to choose, you can use tools like:
And also Google Trends, to know if the search trend for that keyword you are about to choose is going up or down.
Title structure
Speaking precisely about including the keyword, people in the western world read from left to right and this rule is also valid for Google. So the keyword has to be as far to the left of the title as possible, so that it is the first thing that is read.
It is also well valued, to make brand image, that the name of your page appears at the end of the title, so that users can easily identify the content as yours. Many times, this is what makes the difference between clicking on one or another result: if they see a brand that generates trust because it always has valuable content, they will click there before clicking on those they do not know.
Unique and natural titles
Just as every piece of content on your page has to be unique (there’s no point in talking about the same thing everywhere), your SEO title also has to be unique. Otherwise, you fall into that old friend of organic positioning called cannibalization: since you talk about the same thing in several places, Google doesn’t know what to show when users make a query or query X, because it turns out that you have answered it in several URLs.
But apart from unique, the language you use must be natural. Be careful that by placing the keyword in the title and that it is as far to the left as possible and also matches the keyword exactly… you don’t end up with a title for your text that is unintelligible or that sounds really weird. Because if the user doesn’t even understand your title or it sounds terrible, they can already imagine what your content is going to be like.
Don’t clickbait
The term clickbait refers to saying one thing in the title and when you enter the content, it is actually about something else. This applies mostly in journalism, but it can also happen with the content of any page.
Users search on Google because they have a question or need information, and if in your SEO title you promise to solve it but when they enter it is not so, no SEO or title or anything. It is a user that you have lost because they will no longer trust you when they see you again in the results, you have lost credibility.
Include CTR elements
We return to the point that a title must be able to attract the user’s attention. Not only for what it says, but literally: to catch the user’s eye, to make the eye instinctively turn to it.
For this we use CTR elements such as emojis – my favorites are the ones on this page. Just as rich snippets (rich search results) give you star ratings, or bring up images in the results, CTR elements are put directly in the titles for SEO.
The same example that we have seen before about the brand name is useful. I’m sure you noticed that there was a little yellow bag and brackets. Well, these are CTR elements.
By including these eye-catching elements, it usually happens that the CTR increases (that’s why we call them so). But be careful, not all of them work, there are some that Google does not detect and instead an ugly white square appears.
So a TIP: once your page is indexed, check its display in the SERP with the command index:url-address to see how it looks.
Tools to optimize SEO titles
We have just discussed this. When the URL is already indexed, you can check how it looks with the above command. But when you are in the process of creating the WordPress SEO title you can always use plugins like YOAST or SEOPress to see the preview.
If this is not the case, there are online tools like SERP Simulator that also do the job. Just like the plugins, it gives you the character limit, which is quite useful.
They also highlight the keyword in the title, URL and meta description, so it’s an easy way to know you’re not wasting any fields to use it. But use it only once, don’t SPAM yourself by repeating the keyword several times. Remember that everything must always be in a natural language.
Examples of SEO titles
Now that we have seen the theory, let’s see the practice. The best advice and something important when creating optimal SEO titles is that they reflect the user’s search intent. You’ll know this when you do your keyword research, but sometimes it’s also about applying a bit of logic. Let’s see.
For example, there are people who search every year for a vacation destination, what is the best way to solve their doubts? In this case, TOPs or comparisons work very well, like this one:
- The 3 Best European Cities for your Holidays
Users are constantly looking for tutorials to do things, or definitions because they don’t know exactly what something means. And in that case, you have to use titles like this:
- How to Prepare a Potato Omelet Easily
- Guide to Installing a WordPress Blog
- what is a Keyword and What is it Used For?
And many others, especially for physical businesses, the best thing to do is to add the Geolocation of the business. This way, whoever is in your city and is looking for what you have, it will be clear that they can come to you:
- Enjoy the Escape Room Experience in Bilbao
Another TIP for a good SEO title: as you can see, all of them have some word in capital letters. This, like everything else, is done to attract attention. Do not capitalize all the words, only the most important ones.
Hierarchies of titles
Here I want to make an aside about what was mentioned at the beginning of the post, when I talked about the titles for the texts. Well, at SEO level it is very important to work well its structure within the post, or what is the same: the hierarchy of titles.
If you look closely, at the beginning of the article there is a table of contents. That is the hierarchy: the way in which you order the texts with internal titles such as H2 and H3 (it is not advisable to put more levels, although it is not the end if you do)
Let’s look at this example of title hierarchy in this post on copywriting.
The first one refers to the general content of the article, it is the main one and the one that gives you an idea of what the post is about. And as you can see, it is the H1 we mentioned at the beginning.
The article in turn is divided into several blocks that are the H2 and illustrate the main doubts that will be resolved throughout the text. And finally, within these blocks there may be other sections, which complement the information of the H2 and will be the ones that carry the H3. In short: a hierarchical structure. And a very good index so that Google knows what your content is about.
Conclusion
In the end, everything has its secret. Even something as simple as writing a title that works well in SEO is something that, especially if you do not have much experience in the subject, you have to meditate and know how to do to meet the standards of Google or any other search engine. Remember the main thing is to respect the length and know how to reflect the user’s search intent. Go for it!
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