What is meta title? A meta title is basically a HTML element needed for optimizing a website. It is not necessarily known to be a web page’s headline. Rather, it acts as a name tag for the web page (just like title page ideas). At times, a meta title is also referred to as the ‘Title Tag’, ‘Page Title’ or ‘Title.’ It might have a role in title page design.
What is meta title? As explained above, It is often referred to as such as it is considered as metadata which is located on a web page’s header. It exists for both search engines and visitors. It is displayed quite prominently in large blue texts on search engine results pages (SERPs) especially when internet surfers conduct a web search.
What does a meta title tell search engines?
A meta title briefly and accurately explains to search engines and visitors what the web page. Other than appearing on SERPs, meta titles can also be found on the tab of the web browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Brave etc.).
When searching for a page’s meta title, users should right click any area of the web page and click on the option ‘View Page Source’ from the emerging menu. They will find the following:
- <head>
- <title>Sample Title</title>
- </head>
But such a format usually differs, and is dependent on the content management system in use. WordPress users can easily add the meta title in general settings under an option titled ‘Tagline.’ Like meta descriptions, Meta titles also follow a standard in terms of optimal length and format. Here is how the latter should be formatted:
Your primary keyword – your secondary keyword | Your brand name
A meta title should have approximately 50 to 60 characters in length. Anything more than that will result in the text being cut and shortened by search engines (yes, Google especially). If digital marketers want their titles to be displayed nicely, then it is best to follow the title length mentioned earlier. That’ll also help them generate worthwhile title page ideas.
How important are Meta Titles?
Meta Titles give search engines and their visitors a glimpse of what they can find on a web page. They aid in helping surfers understand what the content on a particular page/section/stage is about. Moreover, it also plays a role in influencing a decision of a visitor to click on a particular link, or not. Title page design might be influenced by meta titles to an extent.
They are also worthwhile tools present when it comes to branding, especially if the business/brand/organization has established itself as a well-known name in the industry or in its own domain. When it comes to title page ideas, meta titles are helpful here too.
Companies and businesses alike can leverage on their brand by displaying it on their title tag. This helps bring in more people to click on the page or the link of the brand they trust quite well.
When it comes to Page Rankings and title page design, meta titles play a good role for the way a page ranks on SERPs, given the fact that they are an important component of on-page SEO. Putting keywords closer to the beginning of the title tag gives a higher chance for them to be ranked in terms of keyword based searches.
Writing a good meta title – the steps involved
Here are some steps worth following to create a worthwhile meta title:
Being watchful of the meta title length
As mentioned earlier, it is wise to limit the meta title length to below 60 characters or equal to it. Spaces are included but there is more to that too. This might affect the title page design to a minor extent.
In reality, there is no set limit to how many characters can be put in the meta title length. But there is a 600 pixel container SEO professionals must be aware of. They find it unusual that some title tags appear to have more characters while others can have less than 60 characters. Yet they can get truncated in most SERPs.
This is due to the fact that some characters, especially Ws and capital letters take up a lot of space. Titles in all capital letters are much harder to read and hence get truncated. Even if professionals follow the optimal meta title length, search engines might opt to display a different title tag from what they have provided originally.
Professionals conducting their own keyword research
It is worth carrying out keyword research when it comes to meta titles. Professionals and companies should do it on their own. Page rankings do not just depend on just one certain keyword. Rather, they also factor in relevant terms and other variations, especially in the case of long-tail keywords. Title page ideas might get slightly affected but need consideration too.
It is indeed tempting to place a lot of keywords in the title tag but it should not be done. Keyword stuffing in titles tags must be avoided at all costs. It causes poor user experience and can have an adverse impact on the SERP ranking. It should be understood that content writers and marketers are writing not just for search engines but for a human audience too.
Duplicate title tags should not be used in any circumstance
Duplicate title tags can affect the web page’s visibility on both SERPs and the title page ideas. Each web page should be given a unique title. It can take some time, but it helps make one page stand out from the other. It is also beneficial for the website.
Unique page titles also help visitors understand what a certain webpage has for them. This in turn improves the click-through rates for the page.
