The Title Tag:

The HTML title tag is probably the single most important content-related component in search engine optimisation. The text in the title tag is read by all the major search engines, and plays a significant role in determining what keyword phrases a web page will be indexed for.

This text appears in the top-left of a browser's window. The following screen capture shows the title text for my Twitter page...

As you can see, my own name appears in the title text. This is useful, as it has ensured I now appear on page one of Google (google.co.uk) under my own name. Prior to this, I found it a challenge to stay on page one due to the vast number of people named Wayne Davies who happen to have a well-established web presence.

This is the curse that comes with having a fairly common name. My good friend Web Developer Ronny Ager-Wick hasn't had to worry about such things!

For your main web site, you should look to add the following items to your HTML title...

Your main keyword phrase
Your second keyword phrase
Your company name

These should appear as a natural sentence. This sentence should contain no more than 12 words.

Your title text appears in the search engine results pages. A compelling title will encourage people to click on it, and visit your site. As a result, your title text has a direct impact on the number of visitors you'll get to your site from search engines.

Put another way, a great title could be worth more to you than a jump from position #10 to #6.

It's important to understand that your HTML title should be unique for every single page on your site. And that it's relevant to the content on that page. For example, if your main keyword is 'Stamp Collecting', but your homepage doesn't contain the words 'stamp collecting', you'll gain no SEO advantage.

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