Optimizing Titles For Search Engines
May 8, 2009 by Jason
I admit to being far from an expert when it comes to search engine optimization. It’s one of those things I always promise myself to learn more about, but never seem to get around to. However, over the last couple years I have managed to pick up a few nuggets from other people a lot smarter than me on the subject of optimizing blog titles for improved search engine ranking.
Three Simple Strategies for Optimizing Blog Titles
1. Put keywords first. I appreciate catchy titles as much as the next guy, but the fact is that search engines tend to rank higher pages with titles that contain keywords early in the title. Here’s an example of two article titles that essentially say the same thing, but one is more favorably viewed by search engines. Keyword Target: envelope budget system
- Envelope Budget System Saves Time and Money
- How to Use an Envelope Budget System To Save Time and Money
Which one do you think ranks higher in the search engines? That’s right; the first one, because the keyword phrase used throughout the article also appears right up front.
2. Get rid of “stop” words. There are two places to consider removing “stop” words: the article title and the post slug (what makes up the unique URL for your site).
In the example above, you can see that the second title reads well, but has a number of words not related to the article topic. The words how, to, use, an, to, and don’t really add any value to the title for the topic “envelope budget system.” In the first title the words saves, time, and, money have some relationship to the topic (besides and), and they do not break up the keyword phrase.
3. Clean up the post slug. If you cannot easily come up with an article title that avoids “stop” words, at least remove them from the post slug. If using an editor like WordPress you should see an editable “Permalink” field just below the title. This field, by default, includes all words from your post title, separated by a dash (you can change what post information displays here in the Settings/Permalinks area of WordPress).
Remove “stop” words from the permalink, leaving only words relevant to your topic. So using the same example again, the post slug for the second article title would read “/envelope-budget-system” without the other words.
If you are like me and neglected these title optimization tips early in blogging, you can go back and optimize your article titles. However, it is advisable that you do not manipulate the post slug after it is published because search engines listings and individual site referral links to your post will no longer be valid.
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Interesting… and very helpful! Had no clue about these specifics of SEO… always hear “optimize” but wasn’t here of the details. Thanks!