Title and Heading Tags
-
Firstly I would like to comment on how helpful this site is. I haven't posted much before but have been reading tonnes of answers for many months now and have been finding it really useful.
I used the SEOmoz scanner and the main problem highlighted was duplicate content so I started to add 'customer product reviews' I had received and unique 'further information' to each page (hopefully this was the right thing to do to solve duplicate content! : ) )
Then I looked at heading and title tags. Currently I set title tags for each product page to be "Brand Name- Product Name" but after doing some research we are thinking of putting Keyword Description of Product | Product Name | Brand Name (around 60 characters long).
So is this the advised thing to do and create unique titles that are relevant to each specific product page for over 200 pages we have?
In addition, any advice on setting optimum
tags would be great. We keep reading varying tips online. I gather ideally h1 needs to be a shorter keyword rich version of the title tag?
Many Thanks
-
Thank you for the help and advice- I really appreciate it. I still can't seem to decide the best course of action for the titles/headers.
A little background incase you can help/advise:
We sell 5 types of widgets. And each of these 5 headings have 50 or so products each. At the moment the title is Brand Name | Product name and the header is just Brand| Motto for all. The problem is making each of the 50 or so titles different as they all fit in one broad category and it is hard to define them further e.g. setting one widget as 'space saving widget' but the problem is about 10/50 products fit that description so I don't want customer thinking that particular one is the only space saving one we have (I hope you guys understand what I mean here)
In this scenario would it be advisable just to stick with product names?
-
Hi Jannkuzel - as far as duplicate content, it depends on what pages are being tagged as duplicate content as far as what you do to correct. For instance, the tools in SEOmoz tell me I have dup content for about 50-60 pages on one of my client's sites, but the reason is because each of the URL's is the same except for a product ID (&pid=540985). Each id loads slightly different content into a few areas of the page. So, the system thinks these are all the same page. These pages are not important pages on the site so I'm not that worried about them. Without knowing what is on your pages that are being tagged as duplicate content, it's hard to tell you what to do to correct it. Generally, you are on the right track in that you want to change the content on each page to be different enough (keep in mind that the info that is spiderable needs to be unique, pics, iframes, etc don't make much of a difference) that it won't get tagged as duplicate content.
As the title tag is the most important on-page ranking factor, you want your targeted keyword to be at the very beginning of the tag, with as close to an exact match of the keyword as possible. Even though it's a pain, yes, you would want to give each of your 200 pages unique title tags. It's fine to put the Brand name at the end, that's normally where I put mine.
H1 - is actually not quite as important as it used to be, but is still very important. H1 doesn't really have any relation to the Title Tag. Bottom line is that again, you want as close to an exact match of your main targeted keyword(s) in the H1 for sure. Also helps to work them into your other header tags as well (h2,3,4). Find a balance between making it legible and working in your most important targeted terms. If at all possible, use the exact term you are trying to target. Positioning (beginning or end of tag) doesn't matter as much as it does in the Title Tag.
Let me know if this helps!
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Are Multiple Page Titles hurting my rankings
The platform that built our website has, for some reason, put multiple page titles on all of our webpages: https://www.backyardadventures.com/ If you open this page and "View Page Source" you will see that there are 50 page title tags (). There is one with our actual page title, but there are 49 others that look like this: <title></span><span class="html-tag">lock</span><span class="html-tag"></title> or <title></span><span class="html-tag">bubbles2</span><span class="html-tag"></title> are just two of the examples. The company said that because they are in a svg tag () they are fine. The title tags show up on some of the Moz tools. Is this effecting our rankings?
On-Page Optimization | | PageLogic0 -
The meta tags: Title and Description, showing unexpected results on google
When I type my company name on google "Navneet Gems", it shows a very different meta tag then what it actually is. How do I change this meta descrption when its non-existent on my homepage? The worst is, it is having a spelling mistake. We want to correct this.
On-Page Optimization | | Navneet.Agarwal20160 -
Is it OK to include name of your town to the title tag or H1 tag on a blog to enhance local search results
I recently attended a webinar by ETNA Interactive on local search SEO. The presenter recommended including the name of your town in the title of the blog to increase local search SEO. Is this OK? Ive always been concerned that it is such an obvious attempt to rank locally that Google would consider it "spammy" ? black hat, "sketchy" or otherwise manipulative. Have the rules changed? Is it OK to do? Brooke
On-Page Optimization | | wianno1680 -
Product titles
Hi guys, I'm starting to sell sofas and furniture online in Australia. Many USA companies just use the key ranking words as the Product Title i.e. "Ultra -Modern black leather sectional sofa with bookcase". Even if they have 100s of products. But in Australia they just use the model name, such as "The York", "The Boston", etc. Cause it does create a nicer picture and a neater look on the main page. I was wondering how important this practice is in improving search ranking? is it spammy? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | cowhidesdirect0 -
Title Attribute Length + Use
Hi, Is there an optimum character limit for attribute titles like there is for meta titles? On my ecommerce site I am adding about 280 characters product category page headers to succinctly describe what the page is such as in the example below; MENS BRIEFS + TANGAS We stock a range of mens briefs from leading designer brands that offer popular cuts and fabrics such as mens cotton briefs. You will also discover styles that are a little more risqué for those looking for something more daring in sexy mens briefs and tangas. I have added the following [title attribute] to this header text (MENS BRIEFS + TANGAS)so it displays the following title attribute text when you hover over it. My intention behind this is so that it enables me to provide visitors with access (via assistive reading software or hovering their cursor over the header text) to a bit more information, which they my find useful [title attribute text] - Mens briefs and tangas. These are possibly the most common and long established style of mens underwear, yet they still come in a variety of cuts and styles. The common feature amongst all men’s briefs is that they have a full rear panel that partly or entirely covers the bottom. They will have cut away legs, a pouch at the front and are supported with an elasticated waistband. Briefs and tangas can vary in the amount coverage in the side panels around the hips and top of the legs and the rear. The more revealing and skimpier tanga style usually consists of only a pouch at the front that is supported with an elasticated waistband and a minimalist rear, with no side panels that exposes the hips.[title attribute text] Is this too much? Can search engines penalise me for it? Am I using/misusing title attributes? Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | UnderMe0 -
Eshop - Prevent Duplicate Product Titles... A Strategy
Hi Mozzers ! I'm running a small online vintage bag and jewellery store (www.vintageheirloom.com). Items are unique and need to be written up individually. Whilst the details condition, age etc are unique many of the items name's aren't. For instance, we have over a year had several bags that we've named: Vintage Celine classic box bag Naturally Moz has pulled up these as duplicates, same product title. I could append a unique database id number at the end of each title but it looks strange for the customer. I could add a few details like condition, age & price e.g. Vintage Celine classic box bag - B+ 80s 90s £425 but I don't think this would be entirely unique either. Has anyone a good strategy for creating unique product titles that looks ok and informative to the customer? Thanks for looking. Kevin abut some items do have the same Does anyone have a strat
On-Page Optimization | | well-its-1-louder0 -
Changed Blog Name - Duplicate Title Tags - Wordpress
Hi friends, I changed my blog name url from "german-shepherd-blog" to "dog-blog." Now I am getting a large amount of duplicate title tags. How do I tell google I made the change? Is there something on my site I need to change?
On-Page Optimization | | Joshlaska0 -
Opinions on Alt tags
Reading around the web, there are many sources that suggest all images should have an Alt tag attributed to them. This is good for accessibility etc, however there appears to be conflicting interests between this and what works for SEO. Hence many other sources suggest that you include a keyphrase or two in 1 image Alt tag, and then leave the rest blank so as not to dilute the alts on the page. In my experience, the latter appears to be true. However this seems wrong when the Alt attribute really should be used for accessibility reasons and not for SEO - why would the search engines encourage us to provide poorer quality information by harming our rankings if we try to make a website accessible? Interested to hear your opinions and experiences on this subject. Thanks.
On-Page Optimization | | RiceMedia0