SEO-friendly headlines: 8 practices for

Q: What is the difference between title tags and header tags?

Both have the same context because they both specify what a web page is about. But title tags appear in search results while header tags are displayed as the header of a web page (inside your website).

Need to know how to write SEO friendly titles? So here are the 8 best practices with examples to make it happen.

Do you want to increase your overall search traffic? Learn the art of writing user-friendly headlines SEO.

If you want Create a blog profitable, your top priority should be to increase your overall organic traffic because search traffic is the backbone of any successful website.

In this guide, we'll talk about best practices for creating search engine-friendly title tags for your pages.

What are SEO friendly title tags?

A title tag is an HTML element that defines the title of a web page or blog post. A user-friendly title tag SEO is generally optimized for search engines and provides a clear indication of the context of the page.

When writing title tags, the goal is to make them as relevant and accurate as possible, providing a concise description of the content of the page. This will allow search engines to accurately interpret the purpose of the page and improve its visibility in search results.

Are title tags still important?

Yes, they are extremely important. Headlines are the first thing people see, not just on search engines, but also on social media, forums, mailing lists and so on.

Did you know that 8 out of 10 people read your headlines first before deciding to read your blog posts? This is why you should write high-quality and compelling titles for your blog posts.

Enough about title tags. Now let's talk about how you can create search engine optimized title tags for your pages to improve your organic rankings in 2024 and beyond.

The 8 Best Practices for Writing SEO Friendly Headlines

1. Write “unique” titles

There's a reason we mention this tip first in the list.

Uniqueness is extremely important when it comes to optimizing your posts, titles and content to get more traffic from search engines like Google.

Yes, there will be a lot of duplicate titles for similar content on Google search results, but you need to make sure to create unique and highly engaging titles if you want to improve your rankings.

You should aim to create titles that are suitable for both search engine crawlers and visitors. Make sure you create relevant titles because Google bots might get it wrong if you write irrelevant page titles for your web pages.

Another important thing is to use unique titles when interconnecting.

You need to make sure that each page on your website has a different title. It should not be the case where the same title is used for multiple pages of your website.

We have noticed that many website owners copy their homepage titles to their internal pages of their site. You should ignore such practices.

2. The length of your titles matters

One of the most important things for SEO friendly titles is to use an optimal title length.

Google often shows the first 50-60 characters of a title tag. There's no hard and fast rule, but it's a good idea to keep your titles short and compelling.

It is advisable to keep the length of your titles below 60 characters. According to Moz, if your titles are less than 60 characters, about 90% of them will show up correctly in Google search results.

However, there is no exact character limit as characters can vary in width. Did you know that titles displayed by Google currently have a maximum width of 600 pixels?

It is also a good idea to avoid characters that generally take up more space, such as uppercase “W” which are wider than lowercase “e”, “l”, “i”, “t”, etc….

Quick note: Absolutely avoid using ALL CAPS letters in your titles, as they are not only more difficult for visitors to search results to read, but they also display fewer characters as they take up more width (and space) in Search results. They are therefore truncated!

3. Avoid using “stop words”

Search engines such as Google do not use stop words. Stop words are the most common words, such as “a”, “an”, “the”, “the”, “or”, etc., which are generally ignored by most search engines. This is done to save space and speed up the processing of large amounts of data when crawling or indexing.

If you are wondering what are the different types of stop words to avoid in title tags, here is a list of some of them:

un
a
et
but
so
on
is
ou
le
a
la
was
with

Try to avoid stop words as much as possible, especially in title tags, to save more space. Also be sure to avoid using these stop words in your URLs and keep them short and concise with your main keywords in mind.

Instead, what else can you do?

Use descriptive words. You can use some descriptive words at the beginning of page titles to make your titles more natural.

Instead of using short keywords, focus on LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords in your page titles. LSI keywords often make your titles more attractive and add additional weight to your marketing efforts. SEO.

4. Create eye-catching titles that generate more clicks.

You need to craft compelling titles that actually generate clicks organically from search engines like Google.

Here are the 3 most important elements for creating titles that attract clicks:

Curiosity
Profit
Emotion

Let's briefly talk about each of them with examples.

Curiosity : Creating curiosity in headlines is important to increase organic clicks.

Look at the following example.

As you can see above, you will instantly click on it for more details, especially if you are desperate to get rich. This is the power of curiosity. So use it wisely when writing your titles.

Advantage: Want to dramatically improve your organic clicks? Show the benefits in your title tags and you'll get amazing results.

As you can see from the example above, this is a benefit-focused title about how green tea can help you lose weight, which is very interesting, especially for anyone looking reduce their abdominal fat.

emotion: Do you know why most people shop online? They connect to the emotions of other brands (or a particular product). People buy Apple products for that "ultra-premium" feeling.

If someone going through a breakup finds an emotion-driven headline like this, they're very likely to click on it for more information.

So. Use these 3 elements smartly based on the topics you cover (or the keywords you target) to create click-worthy titles.

5. Use this 3-step framework for SEO titles

If you are looking to create irresistible SEO title tags, here is a 3-step framework exclusively for you.

Step 1: Find a main keyword for each title

A main keyword is extremely important and if you want your pages to rank in search engines like Google, you need to target at least one main keyword for each page. Find some keywords principals is simple when you have access to tools such as Semrush.

Just be sure to include your main keyword in your title for better rankings.

Step 2: Find relevant LSI keywords to target

Yes, you absolutely must include a main keyword in your title tags, but if you want to optimize your titles naturally, you should target LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing) keywords.

LSI keywords are semantically relevant keywords for a particular keyword. For example, "Apple" is an LSI keyword for iPad, MacBook, iPhone, etc.

If you want to find LSI keywords for SEO, use appropriate tools like Semrush, Ubersuggest, etc. as they provide you with a wide variety of keyword phrases.

Step 3: Analyze the top 10 search results for your topic

Finally, keep an eye out for any page titles that rank in the top 10 for the topic you're writing about. Find out if they write tutorials, list articles, or something else. Did you notice anything in common? Write your titles accordingly.

Important Tip: Put Important Keywords First

Do you want to know the BEST SEO tip for writing SEO friendly page titles? Use your main keyword first.

For example, if you're targeting a keyword like "abdominal fat reduction tips," there are several ways to write SEO titles, including:

Belly Fat Reduction Tips: How To Lose Belly Fat Fast
How to Lose Belly Fat: Belly Fat Reduction Tips

Of these two cases, you will benefit more from search engines by using #1.

For what ? Because the keywords still play an important role and crawlers easily find users' context if you use your keywords targets in important places, such as at the start of your title tags.

But you need to make sure not to use too many keywords in the title tag section of your page.

6. Use of Trademark in Titles

Should you add your brand name at the end of every title tag you create? This is an interesting question that we will try to answer in the best possible way.

If you have a recognized brand, you should definitely include it for better conversions and click-through rates. But if you're just starting out and nobody knows your brand name, you should try to avoid this as it takes up more space (so you'll have less space and width to target your main keywords in titles).

Also, it is important to focus on the localization of your titles. If you're aiming to get higher rankings for certain keywords in certain geographies, you should include them in the title section of your page.

For example, if an SEO company offers SEO services in a particular city like Paris, they should include Paris in their title markup with keywords relevant to that page. Their website meta title could be something like “Premium SEO Services in Paris” or something similar.

7. Create relevant meta descriptions

When it comes to organic search result listings, only three things show up in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages):

Title
The URL
The meta description

As you can see above, a search result includes a title as well as a URL and a meta description.

You can also implement a rich snippet for product reviews (which is why star ratings appear in some SERP results as well).

So far we have discussed creating search engine friendly titles, now let's talk about how to create better meta descriptions to improve your overall organic rankings.

Write search engine optimized meta descriptions like a pro

According to google blog, there is no limit to the length of a meta description, but search results are often truncated based on device width (usually to fit desktop, laptop, and smartphones, etc.).

The length of the meta description is between 120 and 158 characters, up to 920 pixels.

Keep in mind that Google users also read the meta description of your pages that appear on Google search results along with the titles.

The meta description is what goes under the titles of your pages on Google search results. By using your targeted keywords even in the meta description, you can get ultimate SEO traffic. So don't forget to optimize your rich snippets (aka meta description).

Always complement your SEO-friendly titles with a great meta description every time you publish an article. This way, you can improve your click-through rates as well as user engagement on your sites and web pages.

Keep your meta description between 120 and 150 characters, otherwise Google search results ignore extra characters (so they are truncated). Write your meta description for users first, Google obviously gives you priority. Never stuff your meta description with keywords and optimize them naturally.

8. Use the right optimization tools

If you use WordPress, we have a simple tip for you: install an optimization plugin.

By using plugins like Yoast SEO, you can implement most of the elements covered in this article (including titles, meta descriptions, and other tags). These plugins are free and even SEO beginners can use the suggestions given by the Yoast SEO plugin to get more organic traffic to their website.

So what are the recommended optimization plugins?

We have 2 recommendations which are listed below.

WordPress SEO by Yoast

When it comes to on-page optimization and creating attractive titles for Google, the Yoast SEO plugin is the best.

It is the most downloaded SEO plugin with over 20 million downloads and its free version also offers a wide range of features to optimize your content.

Rank Math

Rank Math is a relative newcomer but it has quickly gained popularity among the blogging community as it offers a ton of useful features ranging from optimizing for up to 5 keywords to creating sitemaps, integrating LSI tool, the 404 monitor, the redirect system and the list goes on.

It's extremely easy to set up and you can adjust any SEO-related changes you want, from adding nofollow links to setting up sitemaps, importing settings from other plugins, etc.

If you are looking for a Yoast SEO plugin alternative, Rank Math is definitely worth a try as it offers great features.

SO ! Start using optimization plugins to get more traffic and better search engine results without much effort.

SEO Friendly Title Tags FAQ

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about title tags.

Why isn't Google ranking my titles?

There are many reasons why a title tag may not appear in first page results, including the following:

Your titles are stuffed with too many keywords (avoid over-optimizing your titles because using a main keyword in your titles is enough most of the time)
Your titles don't match the query or intent of the user (so create titles that set the context and intent of the topic you're addressing)

What is the difference between title tags and heading tags?

Both have the same context as they both specify what a web page is about. But title tags appear in search results while header tags are displayed as the header of a web page (inside your website).

What is the optimal length for title tags in 2024?

Google currently displays up to 600 pixels on a desktop computer. It is therefore best to limit the number of characters in your title to 50 to 60 characters. You can use SERP preview tools like Sportibo, Portent, etc. to easily adjust the length of your title.

How do I track title-based keyword rankings?

You can use Google Search Console (GSC) to easily track keyword rankings based on your title tags. Here's how:

First of all, log in to Google Search Console
Go to Performance
Click on the “Pages” tab
Now just find a list of all the pages you want to measure, click on it. Next, click on the “Queries” tab.

Can we include multiple keywords in title tags?

You SHOULD NEVER over-optimize your titles with too many keywords. That being said, you can use ONE main keyword for each title and you can also use LSI keywords relevant to that main keyword for better organic rankings. But don't overdo it.

Browse other tutorials:

Final reflections

Before publishing your blog posts, make sure your page titles are less than 60 characters.

Find and use your targeted keywords in your page titles to rank higher and use them at the beginning of your titles to give them more weight. Don't over-optimize. Use a compelling meta description along with good titles to increase your organic click-through rates from the SERPs.

Do you have any other questions about writing search engine optimized titles? Share your thoughts in the comments.

SEO Friendly Titles: 8 Best Practices with Examples for 2024

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