Choosing A Web Page Title

Aside from the URL address itself, your page title is undoubtedly the most important aspect you can address when both attracting search engine attention and establishing a decent listing.

First, it will mostly likely be used in the search engine listing itself. That's why it's important that the title contain relevant keywords, ones that viewers will utilize when trying to find your particular product or subject matter.

In the eBookHelper example, the title contains both possible keyword searches... "create ebooks" and "publish ebooks". Certainly, this establishes what the website is all about. More importantly, having two extremely relevant keyword phrases within the title boosts the possibility of a higher rank in search engine listings.

Naturally, whether or not you have relevant keywords in your title isn't all that you need to be concerned about, but it definitely provides an additional advantage over merely using the name of the website.

And because the title shows up at the top lefthand corner of the viewer's browser window, you have the opportunity of letting the viewer know the overall content of the page they're on.

More than likely, you yourself have visited a website and the only thing displayed at the top of your browser window was "untitled document" or "index.html". That's because the owner didn't bother to include a title in their HTML coding and what appeared there showed up by default.

It's the same thing with search engine listings. If no title tag is available within the HTML coding, a viewer could very well see "index.html" or "untitled document" above your website description rather than a carefully chosen and relevant title.

Another mistake many beginners make is deciding that the title should be the actual name of their business. And that's fine if the name of the company accurately describes the website itself. But what if the name of your particular company or business is The Murphy Corporation?

And let's say you got lucky and even managed to snag the same domain name (TheMurphyCorporation.com). Granted, it's definitely the title of your business. Problem is, it doesn't tell viewers a thing about who you are or what you have to offer. Nor does it contain any relevant keywords that might show up in an online search.

So let's pretend that The Murphy Corporation specializes in developing computer software for financial institutions. Now we've got some specific keywords to work with such as...

software
computer software
software development
financial software

Based on those keywords, here are three examples of quality titles for your website's home page.

1. Financial Computer Software Development - The Murphy Corporation
   
   
2. We Develop Computer Software For Financial Institutions - The Murphy Corporation
   
   
3. Specializing In The Development Of Financial Software - The Murphy Corporation
   

You'll notice that in each example the name of the company was included as well. Although it won't have any bearing on keyword relevancy, it's always a good idea to state your business name whenever and wherever the opportunity arises.

Of course, when it comes to domain names, you'll get a lot more benefit from choosing one that contains the primary keyword that your business is associated with. For example, ComputerSoftwareDevelopment.com would be far superior to TheMurphyCorporation.com.

But whether your domain name carries the primary keyword or not, always think in terms of keywords that are related to your business. And more importantly, keywords that will attract the right type of viewers to your website.

Start by including those keywords in the titles of your individual pages (based on the content and focus of each page). Once you've accomplished that, it will be much easier to include the right keywords in your description and keywords meta tags.