Most website positioning instruments scream at you to maintain title tags quick, ideally beneath 60 characters. However we’ve discovered that that is recommendation that it’s best to ignore. I’ve seen again and again that lengthy title tags, even ones that go over 200 characters, can truly enhance rankings.
I wish to give credit score the place it’s due. This tactic isn’t my invention; I discovered it from Joel Headley, a former Google worker, who shared this idea throughout a presentation at a LocalU occasion.
Joel ran a take a look at with hundreds of healthcare web sites, injecting neighborhood names into title tags. The outcome was a 15% enhance in visibility on Google. That’s not a small soar – it means these websites ranked for extra queries and gained important site visitors.
Why Lengthy Title Tags Work
You’ve most likely heard that Google cuts off title tags after about 60 characters, including an ellipsis (…) in search outcomes. Many SEOs deal with this as a warning signal, fearing lengthy titles will harm their rankings. However the truth is, Google nonetheless reads the complete title tag, even when it doesn’t show the entire thing in search outcomes. By together with extra related phrases, you enhance the probability of matching a number of search queries, thus boosting your visibility.
Case Research: How Lengthy Title Tags Assist Google Rankings
Right here is an instance of a consumer of ours. It is a web page we optimized, and the title tag is 229 characters, well beyond the “character restrict.”
One other instance was a private damage lawyer the place we added the goal key phrase to the title tag, making it a whopping 232 characters lengthy. This resulted in them shifting up from place 6 to place 4 for the goal key phrase we added.
I’ve so many of those, however I’ll prevent the time – all of them look comparable.
Why SEOs Freak Out
Most website positioning instruments flag lengthy title tags as a “drawback” and concern warnings about readability and click-through charges. Even different website positioning professionals would possibly criticize your lengthy title tags, telling you to “repair” them.
However right here’s the fact: shoppers who comply with this outdated recommendation threat shedding rankings and site visitors. We’ve seen this tactic work time and time once more, and I’ve but to see proof that lengthy titles harm person expertise or conversion charges.
Joel Headley famously mentioned, “Don’t worry the ellipsis.” The dot, dot, dot in search outcomes isn’t the issue – it’s a chance. You’re nonetheless getting credit score for the complete title, even when customers can’t see all of it.
Gained’t This Damage Click on-By means of Charges?
Not in our expertise. So long as the seen a part of the title is compelling, customers are unlikely to note the additional size.
Isn’t This Spammy?
No. You’re not stuffing key phrases – you’re strategically increasing your titles to incorporate extra related data.
Ought to You Attempt Lengthy Title Tags?
So long as you care extra about site visitors and leads than “finest practices,” this can be a tactic that I’d completely undertake.
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