The importance of a good page title
The title of your page or article on your website is extremely important. We are not talking about your header at the top of the page, but about the title tag that you attach to your page. Of course, the first headline, the so-called H1, is very important and should immediately show what the page is about, but the page title, called the meta tag title in SEO, is perhaps even more important.
The title is an important factor for the position of the page in search results. For example, in Google search results, it is the first sentence that the visitor reads. Although many web specialists know that the title is very important, we often see that it is not used optimally. This is mainly due to complacency. The website is ready, the page is finished, the article written. Hup, on to the next one. But it's also often because internet marketing specialists focus too much on SEO. Strange statement, of course, because we're just saying it's important for SEO and for your position in the rankings. What we mean by that is that you often see titles that are filled with general keywords that are important to the company. For example, a store that sells shoes has the title: nice shoes | leather | paint... we'll just name a few terms. This is because they want to be found on these terms. And that while the page may be about shoe care and may provide 10 good tips to last much longer. Very interesting for someone looking for this information. So put that in the title: 10 tips for 10 more years with your shoes.
Google is also increasingly focusing on valuable information and wants to give content back to visitors. Because the better the answers to the questions that visitors ask Google, the more often they come back and the more important Google becomes. So if someone searches for How can I maintain my shoes properly, it's important that you tell the visitor, and therefore Google, that you have the answer on your site. That page will automatically take you higher in the search results, giving your entire website a boost.
Where do we all see the title coming back?
The title appears in various places on the internet and in your browser. Interesting to know so you can take it into account.
Your browser tab
The title of the page is partially displayed in the tab of your browser. Below you can see a 3-page screenshot of our website. In addition to our A, the tab shows the first few words of the title. You'll see that we match it to the URL and on the homepage, you'll see that we also describe the header, our H1, roughly the same. They are not 100% the same, but we do keep the same important words coming back. Clear for the visitor and also clear information for Google.
The title in the search results
The title of the page is the most prominent text in the search results. See the example below if you search by logo and corporate identity in Haarlem. We will then get quite high in the results. And besides the fact that we have this in the url, this is also in the title. Very clear.
Social media, rss feeds, bookmarks
When sharing articles from your website on social media or when someone puts your webpage in their favorites, the title is automatically copied 1 to 1. Whoever does this can change it, but hardly anyone actually does.
Conclusion
So pay serious attention to the title of your page or blog or news article. Make sure this is a clear message about the content. Make it unique and make sure you really write it for the reader. Try to encourage the reader to open the page. Do you want help? Then let us know. Our copywriter can help you and our web designers will help you get started if you don't know how to change the title. Good luck!
