I’m often asked, “how do I optimize my Web site?” I love this question. Just ask anyone I work with, I can answer it for hours on end. I can go on so long partly because search engine optimization (SEO) is a complex process and partly because of my general fascination with search engines and search behavior.
Optimizing your site generally requires numerous changes. They aren’t unmanageable or even very hard, but they do require patience. SEO is not a quick fix and takes time. That being said there are a few relatively easy things you can do to change the way your site ranks. One in particular has resulted in improved rankings every time I’ve done or recommended it.
Write better page titles.
Page titles are the text that appears in the blue bar (gray for Mac users) at the top of your Web browser. They look like this:
More importantly they are what appear most prominently in search results. Here’s how they appear.
Here are some easy guidelines for writing better page titles and improving your search rankings. Optimized titles should:
- Be 5-8 words long
- Contain keywords
- Describe the page subject
- Read easily
A couple of additional considerations
- Try to locate keywords at the beginning of the page title
- Don’t place your company name/brand at the beginning of the title
Do this and you’ll be on your way to higher rankings.
Tags: search behavior, search engine optimization, search engines, search marketing, SEO
