SEO By The Page – 3. Document Title

One of the most confusing things to non-technical people trying to apply SEO techniques to their web pages is the term document title or just title. This does not refer to titles or headings in the content displayed on your web page but rather it is a specific section in the HTML coding of your page.

Near the top of the page coding is an HTML tag set called the title element. It looks something like this:

<title>Title Text Goes Here</title>

where the phrase Title Text Goes Here will be replaced by the document title for this particular page. The content contained here is not shown on the web page itself. It does appear in the top border of most browsers. Here is a screen capture of an OSA page viewed in the Firefox browser:

I have underlined the document title in red. You can see it near the top left of this image. It is created in the HTML document using this HTML tag:

<title>OSA: Online Selling Association - a place for online business owners to learn and share.</title>

You should see the same, or a similar, document title at the top of your browser as you are reading this document.

The document title should be descriptive, clearly stating what the site is and what it is about. The document title is often considered to be one of the most important elements of your page, both for SEO purposes and in serving your visitors needs. Many people using the Interent have no idea what-so-ever about a document title. They don't even know one exists. I am always running into people who are surprised when the title is pointed out to them at the top of their browser. Many have used the Internet for years without noticing it.

But, if they have ever used a search engine like Google or many others they will have seen the document title without even knowing what it is. Here is a capture of the first search engine return page (SERP) from a Google search for the term online selling association.

The red arrows point out the first line of each return. That line is derrived from the document title. The content of your document title is used by search engines to first indicate what your page is about and by people using the search engine to first decide if they are interested in what you are offering. Choosing the content of the document title is important for both of these things. Additionally, many search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN, index pages in part based on the content of the document title.

It is important that the content of your document title refer directly to the actual content of your page. Some believe that the text in the document title should always appear, in whole or in individual parts, in the content of the viewable page as well. The following guidelines are useful for developing content for your own web site document title:

• Where possible give each page on your website a different, unique, and descriptive, document title.
• Keep the document title brief. Approximately 66 characters including spaces is about right. If you do need to use a longer document title, never exceed 120 characters including spaces.
• Don't load your title with lots of extraneous keywords just for the sake of it. Do use keywords in each title, but make sure the keywords you use accurately describe the actual content of the page. Remember, if all your pages use a unique title, you will have plenty of opportunity to use a variety of keywords across the various.
• Use titles that have a meaning, especially to your live people viewers. Don't use vague titles such as Page 7 or My Blog.
• Write in plain English. Avoid marketing hype but do write in a way that will catch attention.

The old adage, "You don't get a second chance at a first impression!" was never more true. The document title is the first point of contact between you, the search engines, and your site visitors. Use it wisely. Use it effectively.