Content aside, title and description tags are one of the most over looked and under utilized SEO techniques I have seen. They can also be one of your most powerful allies in dominating in web search.
Case in point, I was working on a SEO project for a small business website. The website itself was nice and clean. They were an established business that had been around before the Internet so their website already had authority and some great links pointing to it. Their biggest problem however was their titles and descriptions.
The problem was they were not clear and concise enough. The description for their main page sounded like an advertisement and didn’t clearly lay out what they in fact did and the services that they offered.
I did some tweaks to their SEO that resulted in more Google search impressions, but it was the changes to their page titles and descriptions that yielded more clicks and a better click through rate. In fact changing them resulted in tripling the amount of clicks from Google every month!
Why?
The new titles and descriptions not only matched more to what the content was about, but also gave potential customers a clear understanding of what their business was about and how they could help.
Customers performing a google search make a decision to click after mere seconds of scanning the search results. If your title and description don’t pique their interest, they’ll move on to your competitor. Simple as that.
Next time you do a Google search, take a second and think about why you clicked on the link you did. Out of all the first page results, why did that one stand out to you? When you figure it out, apply those techniques to your titles and descriptions.
Let’s look at some examples.
A Personal Blog:
DON’T:
Jimmy’s Blog
“I blog about stuff”
DO:
Horror Movie and Pizza Reviews By Jimmy | Jimmys Blog
“I’m Jimmy and I love two things, horror movies and pizza. I review the best horror films and am trying to find the best slice to eat while watching them.”
Bam. Right away if I am searching for “horror movie reviews” or “pizza reviews” and Jimmy’s site comes up in the results, which one would you click? Exactly.
Business Example
Let’s look at a real life example. Here are 2 Google listings when using the search term “custom car parts”.
Which one would you click? Odds are it would be AutoAnything. After a quick glance of their title and description, it’s clear what they are selling, what they do and how they can help me customize my car.
Dante’s Mopar Car Parts is semi clear, but fails to make an instant impact. That’s why AutoAnything is on Page 1 of Google and Dante’s is on Page 10.
Why Titles and Descriptions Matter Most
Sure having good titles and descriptions will generate more clicks, but they are also a great long term strategy for your search engine rankings. They have an avalanche effect. If you are on page 3 and start getting more clicks, Google will realize your importance and start moving you up the rankings. If that trend continues, you’ll continually be moving up as long as your click through rate is higher than your competitors. It’ll take time, but it will happen.
So if you don’t have a lot of time or money to invest in proper SEO at least start with your own title and descriptions. It’s easily the best bang for your buck.
