After choosing the focus of your website and showing up on the search results page, the next step is making sure people click on the link to your page by nailing the SEO titles.

Title tags are typically displayed in a browser’s title bar and used by search engines to identify the page. They also appear in many other places, such as social media and email services which aggregate links from around the internet.

Title tags are among the most important on-page factors for both users and search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO is the process of affecting the visibility of a website or web page in a search engine’s unpaid results—often referred to as “natural,” “organic,” or “earned” results. This process includes both improving the ranking and increasing the number of visitors to your site.

This blog post will discuss why dialing in on your focus keyword can get you showing in the search results and how you can achieve an increased clickthrough rate by tweaking your title tags.

Knowing your why

Something magical happens when you decide on your website’s focus keyword. When all of your content works towards a common goal, with a consistent theme, search engines know what type of website you are and the types of searches relevant to your business or service.

Your focus keyword must appear as much as possible on every page of your website to rank well in the search engines. In addition to the content, the keyword should show up at least once in the title tags and meta descriptions.

For service industries, this focus keyword should include the city or area you serve. By following this approach, you’re putting yourself in the best position for showing up on the search results page.

But once you show up in the search results, how do you get people to click on the link to your website?

Keeping consistent title tags

Before we dive into the three different types of title tags that increase clickthrough rate, there are some aspects you must keep consistent.

The first: make sure you choose a form of punctuation and stick with it throughout the site. For example:

• New York SEO Services – Restoration Website Optimization
• New York SEO Services (Restoration Website Optimization)
• New York SEO Services | Restoration Website Optimization

Also, make sure you are using the title case. Generally speaking, this is capitalizing the first letter of each word. If you’re not sure about the rules, use your favorite word processor’s transformation tool.

Optimizing 3 types of title tags

There are three main categories of title tags for a website:

• Home page
• About page
• Service page

Optimizing the title tags for each of these is slightly different since these three pages all serve unique purposes.

Home page

Just like the rest of the title tags on your website, optimizing your home page’s title tag starts with the website’s focus keyword (including a city or region for local SEO).

The difference is the second half, the part after your chosen punctuation.

That’s when you include your reasoning for why someone should click on your website.

examples include:

• free estimates
• 24/7 service
• download your free checklist

The focus keyword gets your result showing in the search results; the second half of the title tag convinces people they should click.

In time, this high clickthrough rate will show search engines that your website is a quality result, propelling you up the rankings.

Example: New York SEO Services (Next-day SEO audits)

About page

The about page is for getting information about your business to people looking for your services. Most people put “About [their business].” Or worse, “About Us.”

This strategy is a huge missed opportunity to inform search engines about your focus keyword!

Title tags for about pages are more straightforward than the other two examples because they are just the first section before the punctuation, the part that includes the focus keyword. 

By adding your website’s focus keyword (and location information), you’re giving yourself a leg up on the competition.

Example: About Our New York SEO Services

Service page

The service page title tags are the only ones where you need a little help from Google. Specifically, take a look at your query data on Google Search Console for that particular page. There, you’ll see the Google searches for when your page showed. These are the second half of your title tags!

As an example, let’s assume our website has an SEO Services page. Taking a look at a hypothetical Google Search Console tells us that Google showed that page for people looking for website optimization.

So, the title tag for this page would be: New York SEO Services (Website Optimization).

This title tag includes the focus keyword for our website (New York SEO Services) and precisely what users are looking for when Google shows our page to them (website optimization).

Using this method, searchers will see their exact search in the title tags and hopefully click on the result!

Optimizing title tags with Algorithmic Global

SEO is one of the most complex and challenging fields there is when it comes to marketing. The search engines regularly update their algorithms, meaning SEO professionals are constantly working on staying one step ahead.

While choosing and including the focus keyword throughout your website ensures it’ll show on the search results page, optimizing title tags helps generate the clicks that bring searchers to your site.If you are looking for help with your title tags—or with SEO in general—give the SEO professionals at Algorithmic Global a call or reach out via our contact page. Our SEO audits will illuminate any weak areas of your website, and our competitively-priced optimization packages can help bring your pages to online searchers!