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SEO Series Lesson 1/Part 1
The title tag is one of the most important, underlooked elements on a web page. I don't mean underlooked in the "nobody uses those" sense, but in the "lets not put much thought into that" sense. Today I think I'll go on, probably at length, about what the title tag is, what it does, how important it is for Search Engine Optimization, and how to properly write one. (Note: This is part one in a series based on SEOMOZ.org's Search Engine Ranking Factors 2009 - when they release 2010, I'll have to shuffle these and re-deal. ~Steve)
What is the Title Tag?
The title tag is a piece of web-page metadata (data about the page) which sits in between the <head> and </head> tags on a website page. It is formatted like this:
<title>This is the Title</title>
[ibimage==81==product_full==none==self==null]
Not something you terribly need to know, if you aren't actually building the web page - and if you are, chances are you already know what the title tag is. But if you want to find it in the code of your web pages, that is where to look.
What does the Title Tag do?
This is the area that is important for anyone who has a stake in a web property, whether you are actually creating the code or not. The title tag serves as to make any web page distinct to a user, giving anyone on your page a clear idea of where they are (on the Internet) and what the page they are on is for. The title tag shows up in the tabs of your browser, like in the screenshot below:
[ibimage==93==product_full==none==self==null]
It also provides the text when someone bookmarks your page. Finally, it is the text which appears in a search engine results page when your website shows up:
[ibimage==85==product_full==none==self==null]
How important is the Title Tag?
Very.
SEOMOZ ranked "keywords anywhere in the title tag" as the fourth most important SEO element, and under the Keywords section, the title tag claims the top two spots (for keywords anywhere, and keyword as first word). HighRankings.com calls the title tag "one of the most important factors in achieving high search engine rankings." Also check out What Does a Title Tag, Title Tag, and Title Tag Have In Common? from SearchEngineGuide.com and Title Tag SEO Tips from SEO.com. But more importantly, I've done content work on many websites, and experience tells me that a unique and well-formed title tag always makes a difference.
The title tag is important for the user, because it gives him/her a ground, a beginning point from which to understand a page. It is an easy reference, much like a book title (though the analogy wanes a bit as you realize that every web page needs a distinct title - maybe it is better to say "chapter title").
And, as Google will tell you over and over, what is good for the user is good for Search Engine Optimization. Keywords used in the title tag are more important than keywords used anywhere else on the page. Logical structure is important as well, though more for the user than the search engine spiders.
If you only have time to get one element optimized for a search engine, make it this one.
Part II - How to Write Effective Title Tags - coming soon!