Are Your Title Tags Geared Towards Robots?

Here’s something to try, look at a single page on your website, it doesn’t have to be the homepage. Once you have selected a page, take a long careful look at your title tag….

Here is an example I found buried deep in the search results for the term “Photo Frame” on Google:

“Photo Frames Direct Photo Frame”

Now, many people will not see anything wrong with this title tag and some SEO companies may even suggest this as a good idea but this is just a wasted opportunity.

The main focus of the site in question here is indeed photo frames so it is at least relevant, the problem here is that this particular title tag is being used only to manipulate keywords in an effort to fool the robots (search engines).

Including the singular and plural versions of the same keyword is not going to buy you any favour with the engines, they are quite capable of seeing the correlation between singular and plural phrases, without being spoon-fed the information by simple keyword manipulation.

To make matters worse, when/if a searcher sees this website’s entry in the search results they are confronted with a title that doesn’t read well and is slightly confusing to look at – probably best to click on someone else’s listing. This is very likely to happen given the appalling description accompanying the advert that reads:

“photo frame, photo frames, birthday photo frames, anniversary photo frames,
picture frame, standard size frames, christening photo frames, wedding photo…”

If your website looks anything like this then consider re-writing it as soon as possible. Starting from today, write your title tags for human beings, robots can’t buy your products, visit you business premises or pick up the phone and ask you a question… well, not yet anyway!

Keywords are still important and it is still best practice to include the keyword or phrase as close to the start of the title tag as possible, just don’t sacrifice readability by doing so. Tell your potential visitors what you have to offer, and give them a reason to click on your advert. Even small changes to the wording of an advert can have dramatic effects on click-through rates and it is not uncommon for a lower placed advert to outperform a higher ranking page because of a superior title.

What Should The Title Tag Look Like?

My personal recommendation for writing title tags is to write a short sentence that looks and reads like a newspaper or book title whilst remaining on-topic and keyword focused, this isn’t always possible but this should be your target, options for this particular site could include:

1. Photo Frames Direct – Buy Online At Great Prices    [straight to the point, no confusion]
2. Buy Photo Frames Online For All Occasions    [includes the buy keyword modifier]
3. Photo Frames & Picture Framing Products    [adds a variation of the key phrase without resorting to repetition]

There are many different options available, the three shown above provide some useful hints to the searcher about what might be available on the site and encourage a click. No matter what changes Google, Bing or any of the other search engines make to their algorithms, those titles are unlikely to be ever penalised for over optimisation or keyword stuffing.

Now is your chance to write the best title tags in your market sector, potentially gaining positions in the SERPS whilst at the same time helping to future-proof them. So have a good look at those all important 70 characters at the top of your web browser and ask yourself if they are really good enough to attract a click from a real human being.

JP – SEO IGNITION

Overall Website Excellence – Quirky.com

E-commerce sites can be difficult to get right no matter what you are trying to sell. Good web design often takes a back seat over usability and the generic look and feel of online shops that we are now used to creates often dull and uninspiring pages.

Quirky.com and specifically the shop section really does stand out as an amazing example of how to create a stunning online shopping experience. High quality photographs are everywhere to try and tempt you into buying the latest gadget or gizmo, whilst engaging product descriptions and details about each invention’s story just give you extra incentives to read more.

I must have spent at least an hour on this site when I first found it and I keep going back – always the sign of a good site.

The minimalist design still incorporates everyday features such as social sharing and information links but none of these detract from the overall look and feel which fits the products on offer.

I could go on but it is much more beneficial for you to have a good look around the Quirky.com site and see for yourself.

Note: A slight flaw with the Quirky.com has been found by our review team, you will notice the category highlighter in the navigation menu stays on ‘Kitchen’ no matter which page you click on. Even the best sites can have a few little issues, this is a good example of what our Free Website Reports can find.

JP – SEO IGNITION

Take Off That Black SEO Hat For Good

Yes, it is finally time to hang up that black or grey SEO hat for good. Tactics and schemes to try and fool Google into thinking your website is better than it actually is are a thing of the past, now it is time to embrace the future of search marketing.

Can you guess what the future of SEO is?

The answer is simple, you need to concentrate on creating unique, high quality content that demonstrates you have more passion for your website and the products or topics that you promote. Back links, page titles, keyword relevancy, domain authority and other metrics will always be part of the overall equation but it is the high quality content that Google craves – can you provide it?

3 quick tips to improve the quality of your website:

• Stop using your title tag as just a place for your keywords to hang out, write it like an actual title that encourages people to read more. By all means include keywords but do you really think that: “keyword1 | keyword2| keyword1 abc.com-keyword1” encourages people to click on your search listings or is safe from being penalised in the future?
• Choose one page on your site and re-write the content, think about what the visitor is expecting to see and what more you can do to convert that visitor into a customer or lead. Try reducing the number of keyword repetitions and write natural sentences. Find new ways to express your opinions or information, provide extra images and link to useful information and related pages. When you have finished, make a plan to start working on the rest of your site.
• STOP using bold/italic formatting for key phrases, it just doesn’t help with SEO and can create really awful looking web pages.

The future of your website is in your hands, don’t let anyone tell you that there is one secret tactic or a standard formula for creating high ranking web pages. Unique content is now king, treat it like royalty!

JP – SEO IGNITION

Beware Of Poor SEO Reports

A common sight amongst nearly all SEO agencies and web marketing websites these days is the all too familiar FREE website review or SEO audit, this magical document is promoted as the saviour of your website and the key to solving all your on-site technical problems.

This all sounds good and its free – what can be the harm? 

The problem arises from website owners expecting real answers from these reports, forget it, these so called audits are normally so generic that they are next to useless. I have seen documents created by so-called professional companies where really unsuitable keywords have been selected as targets for the website in question, which they will later try to convince the client to spend large sums of money on promoting those keywords.

This practice is indeed a sales tactic and they are hoping you get scared into thinking its all too difficult or confusing and that they can convince you to sign up for their overpriced services. SEO reports or audits need to be specific to each website, every website is configured differently and has specific needs. For example, e-commerce sites can come with unique SEO problems such as duplicate content and technical issues that affect how SEO is approached. Other sites may need to address significant web design problems as a matter of urgency before any optimisation can occur.

This is why we offer Free Website Reports here at SEO IGNITION that cover a variety of topics including SEO, usability, web design and more. Yes they are completely free, no strings attached, no hidden agenda – just helpful information that you can use to improve your website.

JP – SEO IGNITION

Free Add To Cart Buttons For All

Here we go with the first of many free gifts to help you all improve your websites, today we have 3 stylish add to cart buttons for you in a variety of colours. If you are currently using a default style grey-blue button on your e-commerce website, try changing it for one of these to see if you can improve your conversion rate.

Please let us know if you would like to see other versions of these buttons in different colours, shapes, fonts etc. and we will do our best to create more bespoke buttons available for you all.

JP – SEO IGNITION

So what exactly is SEO?

For a long time SEO was regarded as a job only for the techno nerds, each one knee deep in html code and merrily stuffing keywords into every available facet of a poor quality web page in order to grab that all important page 1 ranking. Things have moved on considerably since then, we are all still chasing that elusive top 10 position but the path to achieving this has many more avenues to explore and finally we are seeing that good quality content is coming to the fore.

SEO has always been split into 2 categories: on-site and off-site, on-site optimisation deals with how your content is displayed and ensures that pages are targeting search terms that are relevant to the product or service that you are offering. Off-site optimisation is mostly based around obtaining back links to pages within your site but also now includes marketing activities such as pay per click advertising and the new giant that is social media marketing.

Other tasks that are incorporated into the SEO umbrella now include user experience and conversion rate optimisation, these are best described as making changes to the styling and sales copy of a website in order to increase sales/leads, these play an important role in building a successful website.

That’s the end of this first post but this is just an introduction to the principles of SEO, don’t worry we will be going into much more depth with each task in upcoming posts.

Stay tuned for more great SEO content.

JP – SEO IGNITION