Website writing tips - page titles
Posted by Vince Nicita on Monday, November 23, 2009
Tips to writing webpage titles that attract search engines and customers
By Simon Hillier
If you want to write copy that attracts search engines and readers to your website or blog there's no doubt that your headlines, subheads, keywords and hyperlinks will play a very important part in making it happen. However, that brilliant piece of search engine optimised copy can go to waste unless you spend some quality time working on the most neglected member of the web copywriting family - your page title.
What is a page title?
The page title is at the very top of your screen in the blue bar above the address bar and menus. Depending on the browser you are using it will usually display the name of the website or web page that you are on, followed by “Windows Internet Explorer” or “Mozilla Firefox”.
For example, on this page it says, "Writing web page titles that attact search engines and customers". That didn't just happen automatically. I needed to create the title for this page.
Why should we write meaningful page titles?
People often forget about page titles because they are added into the html code, rather than onto the page itself. Which usually means the job of writing title copy is left with the web designer. If the designer isn’t a search engine optimisation expert, or hasn’t been briefed to write the title copy, they are often left to their own devises and look something like:
Websitename.com – Windows Internet Explorer
or at best
The Widget Gift Store – Windows Internet Explorer
In this state page titles are little more than a band of alphabetical castaways, stranded in a deep blue sea of pixels - dull, unfulfilling and meaningless to all but those who own the website.
It’s a sad tale, but one that sinks into tragedy of ancient Greek proportions when you understand the potential of well-crafted title copy:
- Titles are used as the heading for your site listing in search engines.
- They influence search engine rankings. Greater relevance, higher ranking.
- People dismiss search engine listings with titles unrelated to their search.
- A relevant title draws search engine surfers to your site.
- When someone adds your page as a favourite, they can easily find you later.
- The title is stored in your visitors History.
- Other sites often use your title as the text link copy to your page. Search engines place high importance on relevant text links.
- RSS generators use page titles to create headlines.
Once you understand just how hard page titles work to help attract search engines and people to your site, is it any wonder they are always complaining about living in the shadow of their flashier, prettier and cuter siblings the headline, subhead and hyperlink?
Here are some tips to help you write page titles that attract search engines and web surfers:
- Keep your title to no more than 60 - 65 characters.
- Make the description clear and in plain English.
- Each page should have a unique keyword focused title.
- Don’t use ‘clever’ or teaser titles that don’t explain what the page is about.
- Put your keywords to the front.
- Don’t use your keyword more than 3 times.
- Make your title a call to action or benefit for the reader.
- Omit unnecessary words. Instead of “Are You Looking For A Cheap Place To Buy Widgets?” write “Looking For Cheap Widgets?”
So next time you are writing copy for a webpage, by all means play with those boistrous headlines and subheads, pander to those pretty paragraphs, keywords and hyperlinks, and get your bullet points looking as cute as a button. Just don’t forget that page title looking down from the bedroom window, wondering why so few website writers appreciate its many hidden talents.
Then smirk to yourself because now you know one of the most simple and effective ways to attract search enigines and customers to your webpage AND stay one step ahead of your competition.
Simon Hillier is a copywriting specialist based in Sydney, Australia. His company, Get There Writing Services can help turn your ideas into words for the web, print copy, e-newsletters, articles, ebooks and scripts that speak to your target audience and make you shine on Google. For more articles and further information visit his website http://www.getthere.com.au
Feel free to share this post
Work-Life Balance - Really?
Posted by Vince Nicita on Sunday, October 25, 2009
These days everyone is talking about work-like balance but is anything really changing?
Two years ago I would have believed the answer was no. I was running a successful business based in the Sydney CBD. Our 25 or so staff all travelled to the office each day. We worked 8:30 to 5:30 - reality was I left home at 6:30am to beat the traffic and didn't leave the office until 6:30pm. Yes, you guessed it - to avoid the traffic. Even so, I would leave the office full of energy and get home thirty kilometres later tired and irritable.
Something had to change and it did - I sold the business.
I took a year off and with my time researched work practices here and overseas. There had to be a better way that works. It was from this that I devised my ideal online solutions business. It had to have flexible working hours and locations for myself and my staff. It had to cut down on travel time - reducing cost, traffic and our impact on the environment. It had to allow time for family, friends and hobbies. Most importantly it had to be fun!
By utilising online technologies - the kind that we develop and sell - we are able to run our projects completely virtual. We have an office in the city which we only use when we have meetings with clients. Otherwise we work from home. I'm still doing as many productive hours per week as before but now it's in my own time. I may work a couple of hours at night once the kids are in bed or get up early. But I'm not wasting time in traffic and I can walk the kids to school if I like.
We are fortunate that the software design and development industry lends itself to this type of work. When managed properly and responsibly it may also work for many others. The two most important factors that we couldn't compromise were customer service and quality of product. If this is maintained, and we still make a profit then the benefits of flexible working environments are enormous.
Feel free to share this post
What does Domani mean?
Posted by Vince Nicita on Monday, September 21, 2009
Put simply, Domani means tomorrow in Italian. Why? Well my Italian heritage obviously played a role but more than that Domani is intended to be a company for tomorrow. I’ve owned and run software development companies for 20 years but Domani is my vision of the future for this industry.
The digital industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The technology we are using is changing every day. It can be overwhelming and many companies in our space are unable to keep up the pace.
I believe the days of being a one-stop-shop are over. It’s impossible to be a jack-of-all-trades anymore when each technology, each stream is a specialisation that requires deep knowledge and experience. At Domani we bring together specialists from around the world – we speak their language so we can manage them effectively.
We now live in a very connected world. These days I can speak more frequently to a suppler in another city, or even country, than I often did to my own staff sitting a few feet away. Using sophisticated online project management and collaboration tools means we are able to work more efficiently, improve our quality of life and leave a smaller footprint on our environment.
Feel free to share this post
What's with the car?
Posted by Vince Nicita on Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Alfa Romeo 8C depicted in our imagery is an achingly beautiful, exquisite, rare, red-blooded sports car for the true enthusiast. It represents the passion and excitement that we have here at Domani. Passion for digital, for our clients and for life. It’s this passion and love in our work that produces terrific results. When meeting potential partners I always first meet with the owner. If he/she doesn’t have that twinkle in the eye when talking about the work they do then it goes no further.
Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. Clients have often told me that after working with us they have felt more enthused about their own business. We enjoy learning about out clients and their businesses. It’s the passion, the adventure and the journey that keeps us at the forefront in everything we do.
Feel free to share this post
Domani Digital launches
Posted by Vince Nicita on Monday, August 31, 2009
Domani Digital officially launches today, September 1 2009. After selling Relate, I spent a year researching technology, process, management styles and the digital industry. Domani is the result of this research. It is my dream of the ideal digital services company for tomorrow.
How is it different? The emphasis is on results and customer service. I have developed a methodology for extracting and expressing a company’s needs, their culture, their objectives and their goals. We spend more time up front developing an online strategy with measurable results. Only once this is completely understood do we then consider the most appropriate technology.
This only works when run by experienced online professionals. To this end, all Domani consultants will have at least 10 years hands-on experience working with digital projects in a customer focussed role. Customer empathy is critical to a successful outcome.
We have over 30 technology partners located around the world. We intend to reach over 100 within the first 12 months. Each has met our exacting criteria of value, quality and service. They are all privately owned companies where the owners are still very actively involved in the business.
For more information contact Vince Nicita on 1300 883 295 or vince@domani.com.au
Feel free to share this post
Website writing tips - page titles
Posted by Vince Nicita on Monday, November 23, 2009
Tips to writing webpage titles that attract search engines and customers
By Simon Hillier
If you want to write copy that attracts search engines and readers to your website or blog there's no doubt that your headlines, subheads, keywords and hyperlinks will play a very important part in making it happen. However, that brilliant piece of search engine optimised copy can go to waste unless you spend some quality time working on the most neglected member of the web copywriting family - your page title.
What is a page title?
The page title is at the very top of your screen in the blue bar above the address bar and menus. Depending on the browser you are using it will usually display the name of the website or web page that you are on, followed by “Windows Internet Explorer” or “Mozilla Firefox”.
For example, on this page it says, "Writing web page titles that attact search engines and customers". That didn't just happen automatically. I needed to create the title for this page.
Why should we write meaningful page titles?
People often forget about page titles because they are added into the html code, rather than onto the page itself. Which usually means the job of writing title copy is left with the web designer. If the designer isn’t a search engine optimisation expert, or hasn’t been briefed to write the title copy, they are often left to their own devises and look something like:
Websitename.com – Windows Internet Explorer
or at best
The Widget Gift Store – Windows Internet Explorer
In this state page titles are little more than a band of alphabetical castaways, stranded in a deep blue sea of pixels - dull, unfulfilling and meaningless to all but those who own the website.
It’s a sad tale, but one that sinks into tragedy of ancient Greek proportions when you understand the potential of well-crafted title copy:
- Titles are used as the heading for your site listing in search engines.
- They influence search engine rankings. Greater relevance, higher ranking.
- People dismiss search engine listings with titles unrelated to their search.
- A relevant title draws search engine surfers to your site.
- When someone adds your page as a favourite, they can easily find you later.
- The title is stored in your visitors History.
- Other sites often use your title as the text link copy to your page. Search engines place high importance on relevant text links.
- RSS generators use page titles to create headlines.
Once you understand just how hard page titles work to help attract search engines and people to your site, is it any wonder they are always complaining about living in the shadow of their flashier, prettier and cuter siblings the headline, subhead and hyperlink?
Here are some tips to help you write page titles that attract search engines and web surfers:
- Keep your title to no more than 60 - 65 characters.
- Make the description clear and in plain English.
- Each page should have a unique keyword focused title.
- Don’t use ‘clever’ or teaser titles that don’t explain what the page is about.
- Put your keywords to the front.
- Don’t use your keyword more than 3 times.
- Make your title a call to action or benefit for the reader.
- Omit unnecessary words. Instead of “Are You Looking For A Cheap Place To Buy Widgets?” write “Looking For Cheap Widgets?”
So next time you are writing copy for a webpage, by all means play with those boistrous headlines and subheads, pander to those pretty paragraphs, keywords and hyperlinks, and get your bullet points looking as cute as a button. Just don’t forget that page title looking down from the bedroom window, wondering why so few website writers appreciate its many hidden talents.
Then smirk to yourself because now you know one of the most simple and effective ways to attract search enigines and customers to your webpage AND stay one step ahead of your competition.
Simon Hillier is a copywriting specialist based in Sydney, Australia. His company, Get There Writing Services can help turn your ideas into words for the web, print copy, e-newsletters, articles, ebooks and scripts that speak to your target audience and make you shine on Google. For more articles and further information visit his website http://www.getthere.com.au
Work-Life Balance - Really?
Posted by Vince Nicita on Sunday, October 25, 2009These days everyone is talking about work-like balance but is anything really changing?
Two years ago I would have believed the answer was no. I was running a successful business based in the Sydney CBD. Our 25 or so staff all travelled to the office each day. We worked 8:30 to 5:30 - reality was I left home at 6:30am to beat the traffic and didn't leave the office until 6:30pm. Yes, you guessed it - to avoid the traffic. Even so, I would leave the office full of energy and get home thirty kilometres later tired and irritable.
Something had to change and it did - I sold the business.
I took a year off and with my time researched work practices here and overseas. There had to be a better way that works. It was from this that I devised my ideal online solutions business. It had to have flexible working hours and locations for myself and my staff. It had to cut down on travel time - reducing cost, traffic and our impact on the environment. It had to allow time for family, friends and hobbies. Most importantly it had to be fun!
By utilising online technologies - the kind that we develop and sell - we are able to run our projects completely virtual. We have an office in the city which we only use when we have meetings with clients. Otherwise we work from home. I'm still doing as many productive hours per week as before but now it's in my own time. I may work a couple of hours at night once the kids are in bed or get up early. But I'm not wasting time in traffic and I can walk the kids to school if I like.
We are fortunate that the software design and development industry lends itself to this type of work. When managed properly and responsibly it may also work for many others. The two most important factors that we couldn't compromise were customer service and quality of product. If this is maintained, and we still make a profit then the benefits of flexible working environments are enormous.
What does Domani mean?
Posted by Vince Nicita on Monday, September 21, 2009Put simply, Domani means tomorrow in Italian. Why? Well my Italian heritage obviously played a role but more than that Domani is intended to be a company for tomorrow. I’ve owned and run software development companies for 20 years but Domani is my vision of the future for this industry.
The digital industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. The technology we are using is changing every day. It can be overwhelming and many companies in our space are unable to keep up the pace.
I believe the days of being a one-stop-shop are over. It’s impossible to be a jack-of-all-trades anymore when each technology, each stream is a specialisation that requires deep knowledge and experience. At Domani we bring together specialists from around the world – we speak their language so we can manage them effectively.
We now live in a very connected world. These days I can speak more frequently to a suppler in another city, or even country, than I often did to my own staff sitting a few feet away. Using sophisticated online project management and collaboration tools means we are able to work more efficiently, improve our quality of life and leave a smaller footprint on our environment.
What's with the car?
Posted by Vince Nicita on Sunday, September 13, 2009The Alfa Romeo 8C depicted in our imagery is an achingly beautiful, exquisite, rare, red-blooded sports car for the true enthusiast. It represents the passion and excitement that we have here at Domani. Passion for digital, for our clients and for life. It’s this passion and love in our work that produces terrific results. When meeting potential partners I always first meet with the owner. If he/she doesn’t have that twinkle in the eye when talking about the work they do then it goes no further.
Passion and enthusiasm are contagious. Clients have often told me that after working with us they have felt more enthused about their own business. We enjoy learning about out clients and their businesses. It’s the passion, the adventure and the journey that keeps us at the forefront in everything we do.
Domani Digital launches
Posted by Vince Nicita on Monday, August 31, 2009
Domani Digital officially launches today, September 1 2009. After selling Relate, I spent a year researching technology, process, management styles and the digital industry. Domani is the result of this research. It is my dream of the ideal digital services company for tomorrow.
How is it different? The emphasis is on results and customer service. I have developed a methodology for extracting and expressing a company’s needs, their culture, their objectives and their goals. We spend more time up front developing an online strategy with measurable results. Only once this is completely understood do we then consider the most appropriate technology.
This only works when run by experienced online professionals. To this end, all Domani consultants will have at least 10 years hands-on experience working with digital projects in a customer focussed role. Customer empathy is critical to a successful outcome.
We have over 30 technology partners located around the world. We intend to reach over 100 within the first 12 months. Each has met our exacting criteria of value, quality and service. They are all privately owned companies where the owners are still very actively involved in the business.
For more information contact Vince Nicita on 1300 883 295 or vince@domani.com.au
Search Blog
Tag Cloud
Comments
Post has no comments.