The Number One SEO Secret to Getting a High Ranking in Google

For those of you who didn’t make my session at #BlogHer16, I ran a Geek Lab on how to build an online business. I started my first business when I was 14 years old. I created a website and got it to the top of Google, monetizing it with Google ads and creating a substantial income stream!

I’m now an SEO consultant, and I’ve been doing SEO for over 10 years. My father, Stephan Spencer, spoke at the SEO session at #BlogHer16. It was an awesome session, and the room was PACKED!

I’ve learned so much from him as one of the top SEO experts in the world, and I’m so proud to be his daughter! Today I’m going to teach you something that is crucial to ranking in the search engines. It is one of the top determining factors of your Google rankings.

What one thing could be so vital to your SEO efforts? Two words; title tags.

Image: BlogHer16

What Are Title Tags?

A title tag is the title of a webpage. If you’re in a browser like Safari, you will see it at the very top of your browser window. This isn’t your page or post title in the body of your page’s text, but the <title> in your HTML for each individual page.

Wait, Do I Need to Know HTML?

You definitely don’t need to know HTML to optimize your title tags! If you’re on WordPress, for example, you can download a title tag plugin or an SEO plugin that allows you to easily edit your title tags. Premium WordPress themes usually give you a super easy option to edit the title tags for your pages.

What Should You Write for the Title Tag?

But WAIT; you shouldn’t just put any old thing as your title tag. It’s not only one of the top determining factors of what keywords Googlebot will rank you for, but it’s also usually the visible title of your listing in the search engine result pages!

What Are Some Title Tag Guidelines?

You want your title tag to be keyword-rich, and you will want it to accurately and enticingly describe your page so users who would be looking for your content will click on it! You want title tags to be between 50 and 60 characters. Any longer and it will be cut off, and if it’s too short, you’re wasting valuable space.

A Title Tag Example

Say you’re writing a title tag for a cat adoption page on the website of a local pet shelter in Orange County, CA. You will want to do keyword research on your top keywords for this topic, then pick a few of the best and most relevant to include in your title tag.

You need to put the best keyword as far at the beginning of the title tag as possible; the closer to the beginning the better. You may also put your brand name in it, but it wastes space unless you’re a well-known brand and it adds authority.

Our title tag could look something like this: “Adopt a Cat or Kitten – Adoption Shelter Orange County CA.” If you’re a local business definitely have your location in the title. And try and put some varying keyword options in the title, so if someone typed in “cat adoption orange county ca,” you would still come up.

Last Thoughts on Title Tags

Every individual page on your site should have an optimized title tag specific to its content. Use top, content-specific keywords that you came up with in your research for each page’s focus, and use your very top, primary keywords that are most important to you on your homepage.

You also need to target these keywords elsewhere on your pages; in the headings (H1’s, H2’s, etc) and in your body text, as close to the beginning of the first paragraph as possible.

And there’s no need to mention the same keywords a whole bunch of times throughout the text. In fact that can backfire on you, and Google will likely punish you for spamming. A couple times is enough.

Just remember to always first and foremost write for your readers by writing content that is well-crafted, entertaining, informative, amazing, etc. Make sure you don’t write purely for rankings, because that will never work. Google wants to rank content that is high quality above anything else!

If you would like to learn more about improving your SEO, I work with clients from all over the world on improving their SEO, their traffic, sales and online presence. Go to ChloeSpencer.com to learn more and to contact me. I have also just launched an entrepreneur coaching program, MillennialMillionaireAcademy.com, a program for millennials on how to get into entrepreneurship and run a successful business. Entrepreneurship is my life, and it is so utterly fulfilling. I want to share this with the world and help others achieve entrepreneurial success. And it starts today with optimizing your title tags!

Source

http://www.blogher.com