07 Meta Titles
It’s Iterative
Here’s our philosophy about websites in general. They are iterative. If what you’re working on is better than what you had, push it live.
Let me say that again. If what you are working on is better than what you have…push it live.
I stress this because you could spend a good 15-30 minutes obsessing over the exact right words to pack into your meta title. Please do not do that.
You have limited time that you need to spread over all facets of running and promoting your business. Are meta titles important? Sure they are. But it’s probably more important for you to take that extra meeting or hit up that extra networking event.
I’m just saying it’s a balance.
The goal this week is get you thinking about writing better meta titles. Not perfect, just better.
Let’s dive in.
What is a Meta Title?
The first part of a search listing is your meta title. It also appears in the browser tab and when you share the page on social media.
How to Write a Good SEO Title without Overthinking
Our take on meta titles is pretty simple. Be clear over clever and use the words your ideal customer would use. If you do this, you’ll most likely use proper keywords anyway. So don’t stress about doing special keyword research at this point. Your objective is clear introductions to what the web page is about.
Any SEO specialist has their favorite formula for writing titles. Mine is pretty standard and it looks like this:
What the Page is About Specifically | Business Name
It’s pretty straightforward.
How to Add Meta Titles
First, check out this tool from Moz (a leader in all things SEO) to help you write a great meta title and see what it will look like. There are also some great writing tips on the page if you want to dive deeper.
If your website is on WordPress, I highly recommend the Yoast plugin. It’s free and gives you a preview of your title and meta description.
If you use Wix or Squarespace, I’ve included links with instructions on where to update your meta titles.
Where to Start
You want every page to have a unique meta title. Since you don’t have all the time in the world, I recommend starting with your home page and any pages that highlight your products or services as those tend to be bigger traffic drivers.
Even if you only update your homepage, that’s a win.