What is a Title Tag?

En Title Tag (also called a page title) is a short headline that summarises and creates interest in the content of the page. It appears in Google search results as a blue, clickable headline:

The title tag is important for your position on Google, and it is also important for click rates, i.e. the percentage of users on Google who choose to click on your website rather than your competitors' websites. The title tag is not included on your website itself, but is typically filled in the page management of your CMS system, where you also write the page content.

The Good Title Tag

A title tag should:

• be unique and reflect the content of the page
• be meaningful and appealing to the reader
• have a length of 45-65 characters including spaces
• contain the page's main keywords 1-2 times (possibly in different inflections)
• have the primary searchword standing as far to the left as possible
• if possible, include a secondary keyword 1 time
• as far as possible, contain promotional words such as buy, order, get or book
• use dashes (-) or vertical lines (|) to separate sentences (not periods)
• include your company name at the end (e.g. 'Text... | LEGO').

It is important that the page title is not a list of keywords, but an appealing and easy to understand text that makes the user want to click on your website in the search results. A good position on Google is worth nothing if users do not click on it. Examples of good page titles:

• Sofas | Large selection of Danish designed sofas - Sofahimlen
• Financial advice | Get a free financial check - Finanscentrum
• What is compulsory liability insurance? - DE Insurance

Be aware that your website may be set up to automatically add your company name to the end of all your page titles. In that case, don't type the company name at the end yourself, but count it towards the maximum length of 65 characters. If your page title is longer, you risk Google not being able to display the whole title, in which case the last part will be replaced by '...'.

You can get inspiration for your page titles by doing a Google search for the topic you're writing about. You can also use the Yoast, that can automatically give you advice on both page title, page description and body text when writing.

Publication of Title Tags

Most websites today are built in a CMS system (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, etc.), which means that you can edit your website via a graphical user interface without having to worry about HTML codes and without having to work with more or less incomprehensible tags.

Most of these CMS systems have a wide range of plugins that can help you search engine optimise your website, including writing Title Tags. If you use WordPress, we highly recommend Yoast SEO, which allows you to edit your Title Tags based on the view on Google:

With Yoast SEO, you have full visibility and control over how your site appears in Google. Yoast SEO also evaluates your Title Tag and provides suggestions and advice on how to improve it.

Please note that it may take several days from the time you change or create a Title Tag until the change is visible in Google. Google may not check your page for changes on a daily basis, so you'll need to be patient.

If you need help or guidance for your work with Title Tags, please feel free to contact us and find out more about how we can help you. We work specifically with content optimization of websitesand we have extensive experience in increasing our clients' visibility in Google.

Technical implementation of tags

Technically, the Title Tag is written as part of the page information that appears in the area of the HTML file. The Title Tag is usually written in conjunction with a so-called Meta Description and might look like this:

.



.

Note that a Title Tag is not the same as a heading (which in the HTML file can be indicated by a

or

tag, for example). A page can have many different headings and subheadings, but a page can only have one Title Tag.

---

Google does not always show your Title Tag

Google doesn't necessarily show the Title Tag you've typed. If Google can find a more relevant description of the page's content for the user, Google will display that description as the title instead. So your page may appear in different ways in search results depending on what the user is searching for:

In the above example, Google has first used the page's Title Tag and then used a headline from the page as an alternative title, because the headline from the page is more relevant to the user in that case. If Google does not have space to display the entire title, Google will select the most relevant part and display this part to the user (see bottom example above). In addition to using page headings, Google may also find it useful to use link texts (internal or external links pointing to the page in question) to find a relevant title for the page.

Please note that the display of your page will differ depending on whether the user is using a computer or a mobile device for the search. Google displays slightly longer titles in the mobile version, which is why in the example below (identical to the example above) a company name has been included in the title:

In most cases, Google will display the Title Tag you've written, but the page content, headings and link text, as well as the user's choice of keyword and search device (computer/tablet/smartphone), can all influence how your page appears in search results.

How to write the perfect Title Tag

Achieving a good ranking in Google requires much more than a good Title Tag - but there is no doubt that the Title Tag is one of the most important parameters when working with on-page search engine optimization. A well-written Title Tag with the right keywords can make your website rank higher in Google, making it easier for potential customers to find your website. Therefore, there is good value in working purposefully and systematically with Title Tags.

There is no exact formula for the perfect Title Tag, because it depends very much on the content of the page and the purpose of the page. Different pages require different Title Tags! Basically, though, it's about optimising each Title Tag for the keywords and search phrases your potential customers are most likely to use, and the keywords and search phrases that create the most value and revenue for your business.

Above you have got some general advice for title tags. The following more specific advice and guidelines can help you write the perfect Title Tag:

1. Use one - and only one - Title Tag on each page

Make sure every page on your website has a Title Tag. If you have a very large website with many sub-pages, you can use Google Search Console (free) to check if you have missed any Title Tags: select the menu item 'Appearance in search' and click on 'HTML enhancements'. Please note that you may not have two Title Tags on the same page, and that a Title Tag must always be placed in the area of your HTML file.

2. Write unique Title Tags

A Title Tag must be unique, and the same Title Tag must not appear in several places on the same website. If you have a webshop and you name all pages "Cheap clothes for sale online", it will be impossible for users - and for Google - to distinguish the pages from each other, and your website will appear fewer times in search results and get fewer visitors. So avoid repetitive and standardised Title Tags - both because Google values quality content and because it increases usability for your visitors.

If you have to write many Title Tags about the same type of product (for example t-shirts), you can vary your Title Tags by using different words about the product's brand (Gant, Ralph Lauren, etc.), colour (black, red, yellow, etc.), material (cotton, wool, synthetic fibre, etc.), size (small, medium, etc.) and target group (children, men, women, etc.). Long Title Tags that vary by only one word should be avoided because they contain a lot of identical text. You can use the 'HTML enhancements' tool in Google Search Console to check for identical Title Tags.

3. Pay attention to the length

Google can display Title Tags with a maximum length of 600 pixels, however, Google often shortens the Title Tag significantly before the 600 pixels are used up (especially on desktop devices, and especially if there are long words at the end of the Title Tag). It is impossible to set a precise maximum number of characters because of differences in the width of letters (for example, m's take up more space than l's and i's). We recommend that you write Title Tags between 45 and 65 characters long - this reduces the risk of Google cutting important words. You can use our word counter to keep track of the length of your title tags.

For readability reasons, a Title Tag should consist of a maximum of eight words. As most users very quickly form an overview of the search results and quickly select the most relevant page, it is important that users can easily read and understand your Title Tag. If your Title Tag is too long to be displayed in full length, Google will automatically select the most relevant part for the user - at the risk of reducing comprehension because parts of your Title Tag are missing.

4. Write a relevant Title Tag

A Title Tag must be relevant to the content of the page it describes. You therefore need to ensure that there is a match between the page content and the page Title Tag, which in practice means that you need to optimise your Title Tag for the same keywords or search phrases that you have optimised the content of your page for. In this way, you make it easy for both the user and Google to identify what your page is about.

5. Conduct a keyword analysis

En keyword analysis can give you an insight into which keywords and keyword phrases your target audience uses most often, and which keywords and keyword phrases have the greatest potential to increase your revenue and earnings. Based on a keyword analysis, you can optimise your content and Title Tags for the most valuable keywords, thereby increasing the return on your search engine optimisation efforts.

If you optimise your Title Tags for keywords that are never searched - or keywords where the competition is so strong that your website disappears into the crowd - your work is wasted.

6. Optimize your Title Tag after a search phrase

You'll usually get the best results if you optimise your Title Tag for a search phrase (a short, meaningful sentence) rather than a series of separate keywords. This is because a keyword phrase is more readable for the user, and readability is one of the things Google values most. A search phrase such as "Cheap ink cartridges for your printer" is clear and readable, whereas a search phrase such as "Ink cartridges | Printer cartridges - Cheap ink cartridges" is very messy and difficult to read.

7. Write the most important keywords first

Google weights keywords (keywords and keyword phrases) at the beginning of your Title Tag higher than keywords at the end of your Title Tag. This is most likely because users can more quickly see through a page's content and relevance if the most important words are first in the title. Therefore, make sure that the most important keywords are at the beginning of your Title Tag. This is especially important for very long Title Tags that exceed a length of 512 px, where Google often cuts off the last part.

8. Write a Title Tag that meets the user's needs

The purpose of a Title Tag is not only to rank high in search results. It is equally important that users actually click on the Title Tag (link) to your website. Therefore, think carefully about what the user is looking for and how you can write a Title Tag that meets the user's needs. Your Title Tag is the first thing the user reads about your website, and if it seems boring and uninteresting, you risk the user clicking on one of your competitors instead. So you need to write for people as well as search engines!

9. Avoid vague and redundant words

A Title Tag should be as descriptive and concise as possible for readability. Therefore, avoid vague and superfluous words (e.g. "Home", "Welcome" and "Article") that do not tell you anything about the content of the page, and also avoid too many stop words (e.g. "and", "or", "the", "a", "but" and "so"). However, a moderate number of stopwords can be important to use if you want to write a meaningful Title Tag.

The best Title Tags are composed of nouns (things, living beings, concepts and phenomena) or verbs (actions and states) in combination with one or more adjectives (descriptive words) and possibly a place name (countries, regions and cities).

10. Use upper and lower case letters

Use a natural mix of lower and upper case letters, just like in any other text you write. You won't get more attention by using capital letters only, but you'll appear frivolous and untrustworthy. Abbreviations such as "SEO" can of course be capitalised.

11. Avoid spelling mistakes

It almost goes without saying: Avoid spelling errors in your Title Tag! Spelling errors make your page look untrustworthy, they annoy many users and they can put off both Google and potential customers. You rarely get anything out of deliberately using a typo because you have an expectation that the user will type the same typo - because in most cases Google automatically corrects typos in searches.

In rare cases, however, there may be advantages to optimizing a Title Tag after an error word. This is the case when the misspelled word is so different from the real word that Google cannot guess what the user is actually searching for.

12. Separate phrases in your Title Tag

Use vertical bars | or dashes - to separate phrases (including key phrases and keywords) in your Title Tag. Avoid using commas and periods as they do not separate text clearly enough. For example, a Title Tag with two separate keywords might look like this: "Ink Cartridges | Buy cheap ink cartridges for your printer". For example, a Title Tag with one search phrase and a separate company name might look like this: "10 tips to keep your finances on track | Penge.dk".

13. Be careful with special characters

Be careful about using special characters such as @, ©, - and → in your Title Tag. Google automatically removes some of these characters because they seem frivolous and distracting, so at best they have no effect. Many special characters are only supported by a few browsers, so you also risk the user seeing just a ? or an empty square instead.

14. Avoid repetition of the same keyword (keyword stuffing)

In some cases, it may make sense to have the same keyword twice - or in very rare cases three times - in a Title Tag. As a rule, however, there is no need to reuse the same keyword many times. A title such as "cheap ink cartridges, cheap ink cartridge, ink cartridges, cheap" appears unreliable and frivolous, both to users and to Google. At best, such a Title Tag has no meaning - at worst, you will be penalized by Google for manipulation.