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How to Write Title Tags for SEO: 5 Best Practices

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Hosting

The post How to Write Title Tags for SEO: 5 Best Practices appeared first on HostGator Blog . SEO 101: How to Write Compelling Title Tags One of the first things most website owners learn about SEO is how little power you truly have. A lot of what determines where your website’s pages will show up in the rankings is outside of your control. But those limitations make it all the more important to do what you can with the parts you can control. Every business can at least practice good on-site optimization. It’s a relatively cheap and easy way to give your website an edge over the (surprisingly) numerous sites that don’t bother to do it. One of the most important on-page ranking factors you have control over is the title tag . What is a Title Tag? On the search engine results page (SERP), the title is the main part of a site’s listing. It shows up in blue, in bigger font than everything else, and is hyperlinked back to your website. On your website, the title shows up in the tab at the top of the browser (although it’s normal for a lot of it to be cut off from view here). The title tag is the spot in the html where you define what will show up in these places. Generally you add it to the html in the page header with a tag that looks like: Title of Your Page If you use WordPress and have an SEO plugin , you can skip the html and add the title tag to your page by filling in the field that’s labeled “Title” or “Title tag” in your plugin. Why Title Tags Matter Google’s goal is to deliver up results that are relevant to the searches people make. For the search engine to do that, it has to recognize what different pages on the web are about. Google discovers this information by looking at the words used on the page, but it also gives certain parts of the page more weight than others in determining the page’s content. The title tag is one part of the page that’s given a lot of weight by search engine algorithms in determining what a page is about, since it’s a short and simple way for website creators to signal what’s on the page that follows. For that reason, title tags are one of the most important on-page ranking factors . But beyond the role they play in ranking, they’re also extremely important for getting people to click on the link once it shows up in the search results. The title is the first and most obvious part of the listing they see – it’s big, it’s blue, and people expect it to provide the main information they need about what’s on the page behind that link. Ultimately, itle tags aren’t just about improving rankings, they’re about getting people to click once your webpage does show up in the search engine – which what you care about the most. And they do make a difference in that. In one case study , Ahrefs found that improving the title tag of a webpage led to a 37% increase in web traffic to that page. If you aren’t optimizing your title tags, you’re missing a big opportunity.   5 Tips for Writing Title Tags To make the most out of the space you have for title tags, follow a few best practices.   1. Write unique titles for every page. Every page on your website is unique and your title tags should reflect that. Make sure you customize the title tags on each page of your website so that they accurately describe what’s on that specific page. You want your title tag to signal to Google what the individual page is about. Plus, having a clear and accurate title is more useful to anyone who sees the page in the search listings.   2. Pay attention to length. Google will display 50-60 characters of a title tag in the search results before cutting it off, so you should generally aim for title tags that are around 50 characters or less . To be safe, you want the most important or descriptive words in the keyword toward the beginning so they’re less likely to get cut off. If you like to include your brand name in every title tag (which can be a good idea for recognizable brands), put it at the end, behind the words that describe what’s on the specific page. 3. Use your target keyword (but don’t overdo it). Every page on your website should answer a question or provide valuable information someone will be searching for. Your website will be more useful to those people if it shows up in search for the right term – just when they’re looking for the information you provide.  So for each page, you should have a target keyword (or a few) in mind. Since Google’s algorithm uses the title tag as one of the main ways to determine what a page is about, it’s a good opportunity for you to include the main keyword you’re targeting for that page. That makes it clear to Google that this page is relevant for anyone searching for that specific term.   4. Be descriptive of what’s on the page. When your web page does show up in search, a lot of people will decide whether or not to click based on your title tag. If they click and come to a web page that isn’t what they expect based on the title, they’ll likely click that back button right away and look for another result to try. You want your title tag to provide an accurate description of what people will see when they choose to visit the web page. When people’s expectations match what they see on the page, it means a lower bounce rate and a longer time spent on the site – metrics that signal to Google your page is valuable and should keep ranking high. More importantly, it creates a better experience for your visitors. You want every visitor to like what they see and hopefully come back for more.  If your title tag isn’t clear, that’s less likely to happen.   5. Make a (brief) case for what’s on the page. You don’t have a lot of space for this, but use what you have to differentiate what makes your web page so great. Often this can be accomplished by adding an adjective in front of the descriptive keyword or additional description behind it.  For blog posts and articles, a good title tag often looks a lot like a good headline , so you may be able to use the headline you’ve already written. Make sure you really think about what on the page is most valuable or important to your target audience. Your title tag should emphasize the value your page provides to them .   Title Tags: Short, but Powerful Title tags are a short and therefore deceptively simple part of SEO. Just because they don’t require writing much, don’t assume they’re something you should treat as quick and easy. Take some time to really think about the best words to use to signal to Google what the page is about and to communicate to potential visitors what’s valuable on the page. Your title tag has to do both at once. If you get it right, it can improve your rankings and increase your click-through rates. Don’t miss the rest of our SEO 101 series! How Do Search Engines Work? How to Write the Best Meta Descriptions What’s the Best URL Structure? Best Practices for Website Architecture Want expert help improving your SEO rankings? Get in touch with HostGator’s expert SEO services. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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How to Write the Best Meta Descriptions for SEO

Posted on July 17, 2018 by Hosting

The post How to Write the Best Meta Descriptions for SEO appeared first on HostGator Blog . SEO 101: Writing the Best Meta Descriptions In our first post about SEO Basics, we talked a bit about the different search engine ranking factors. Now we’re going to go a little bit in a different direction to talk about meta descriptions.   What Is a Meta Description? Meta descriptions are the most important part of SEO that technically don’t have anything to do with rankings. On the search engine results page, every result is made up of at least three main parts:      The linked title of the page      The URL that shows up under it in green      A line or two of text that describes what’s on the page That text is the meta description. In most cases, you can make sure the description here says what you want it to by using the meta description tag in your html. This looks like:  and you can see it in the html for the website below: If you use a WordPress site and have an SEO plug-in , you can skip dealing with the html entirely and simply look for the “Description” field when filling in SEO information for each page. When you add a meta description to all your pages, it makes it easy for Google to decide what to display in the description section of the SERP for your webpage. It’s important to note that Google doesn’t pull from the meta description you provide 100% of the time . In some cases, it will pull from text on your webpage instead. Nonetheless, providing your own meta description is still a valuable part of on-site optimization for the search engines.      Why Meta Descriptions Matter As we established before, meta descriptions aren’t given any weight in how search engine algorithms decide which websites to rank for certain terms.  Getting that meta description just right won’t make any difference in terms of the search engine algorithm – so why is it still so important? Because your ultimate goal isn’t rankings, it’s clicks . The whole point of getting a good ranking in the search engines is to drive more clicks to your website, and your meta description gives you the opportunity to persuade searchers to click on your website instead of your competitors’. A good meta description can increase your click-through rate (CTR). And while Google doesn’t admit outright that CTR is a ranking factor in the search results, most SEO experts are convinced that CTR does influence rankings . If that is the case, then a strong meta description can directly increase traffic and indirectly increase your rankings – both goals that make spending time on your meta descriptions well worth it.   8 Tips for Writing the Best Meta Descriptions You don’t have a lot of space to work with for your meta descriptions, so you’ve got to make what you have count. Here are some of the best rules to follow to write meta descriptions that will get the job done.   1. Write a unique one for every page. Don’t write one meta description for your website and copy-and-paste it on every page. While that might be easy, it would mean wasting opportunities to sell what’s on each individual page to the people searching for precisely the information it provides. Commit time to writing a unique description for every page on your website based on the content that’s on it and the primary keyword the page is targeting.   2. Pay attention to length. In late 2017, Google increased the number of characters it displays for meta descriptions on the SERP from around 160 to 320. Then, in May 2018, they shortened them back to 160 . That’s the maximum number of characters you should use, or part of your description will inevitably be cut off.  For each page, consider the most important message you should convey to get people to click through to the page. If you only need 100 characters to really sell what’s on the page, then don’t awkwardly prolong your meta description to use the full space. But in a lot of cases, having 160 characters to work with will give you more room to say what you need more persuasively, so take advantage of it where needed.   3. Use your target keyword naturally. When you look at the meta descriptions  in the Google search results, you’ll notice that anywhere the words included in your search show up, they’re bolded. For the person searching, this can help you more quickly spot which results are most relevant. For the websites showing up in the results, that bolding is a way to stand out and draw the searcher’s eye to your result. While you can’t predict every specific term your website may end up ranking for, you can increase the odds of having bolded terms in your meta description on the SERP by making sure you include your target keyword in your description. But make sure you use it naturally – don’t force it. Keyword stuffing can make your meta description more confusing than helpful and end up hurting you.   4. Emphasize the value on the page. The whole point of your meta description is to work as a sales pitch for the web page. For each page on your website, carefully consider the biggest benefit it provides to visitors. That’s what you want to emphasize in your meta description. Make sure you think about it from the visitor’s point of view here. What problems does your web page content solve for them? What questions do they have that it answers? And importantly, what makes your page better than the similar results they’ll see alongside you on the SERP?   5. Represent the page accurately. Make sure your meta description accurately portrays what visitors will see when they click through. Gaining a click because you oversell or misrepresent what’s on the page is never worth it. You risk losing the visitor’s trust and will likely gain an increased bounce rate out of the deal. So make sure that your webpage can deliver on any claims you make in your meta description.   6. Use an action-oriented CTA. Calls to action often work best when they encourage people to do something active (hence the name). Use some of the characters in your meta description to urge people to click with action terms like “learn how,” “read more,” or “discover.”   7. Use schema markup when appropriate. One of the biggest changes to the SERPs since Google started has been the rise of rich snippets .  While they don’t show up for every search, for a number of types of searches, you’ll now see additional information included in the SERP listing, such as pricing for products or calories for recipes. Get familiar with the different types of rich snippets and make a habit out of including schema markup on any web pages where the extra information is relevant and valuable to searchers.   8. Proofread! Hopefully. you already know to proofread all your web pages and content before they go live, but make sure you remember to do the same for your meta descriptions. If you’re writing dozens or hundreds of meta descriptions, it can be easy to forget this simple step, but if your big sales pitch on the SERP includes an embarrassing error, it could lose you clicks and hurt your reputation. Meta descriptions are important, but they’re just one small part of doing SEO well on your website. To strengthen your website’s chances of landing those coveted top spots in the search rankings, check out the rest of the articles in our SEO 101 series: How Do Search Engines Work? How to Write Compelling Title Tags What’s the Best URL Structure? Best Practices for Website Architecture Contact  HostGator’s expert SEO team   for more ideas on how to improve your website’s SEO. Find the post on the HostGator Blog Continue reading →

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Moving from HG to Hetzner

Posted on July 11, 2018 by Hosting

I am thinking about moving my server from Hostgator to Hetzner; however, I will be facing migrating the server. Unfortunately, Hetzner doesn… | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1720163&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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15 Best Social Media Blogs for Business

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Hosting

The post 15 Best Social Media Blogs for Business appeared first on HostGator Blog . The Best Blogs for Business Social Media Help Social media can be both a productivity killer and an important business tool – it all depends on how you use it. At this point, your customers expect you to be on social media. But using social media to represent a business brand effectively is an ongoing challenge, and finding and connecting with your audience on social media platforms can often feel like an uphill battle. There’s always more to learn. And luckily, there are a lot of resources out there to help you learn the ropes and get more out of social media over time. These are some of the blogs out there providing advice and best practices for social media marketing. 1. Social Media Examiner Social Media Examiner is one of the best known and respected blogs covering social media marketing. The blog provides actionable tips, tutorials, and case studies for all the different social media platforms. In addition to regular blog posts, they also publish original research and long-form guides on marketing for different social media sites. Whether you’re still learning the basics of using social media for your business or wanting to dive deeper into more detailed recommendations, Social Media Examiner provides good information. 2. Buffer Buffer both provides a product for scheduling social media posts and has an active social media presence as a brand, which provides them with a lot of data on what works. They’re known for good long-form blog posts that provide detailed, actionable advice based on data and case studies. The blog publishes posts on all the different social media platforms businesses are likely to use. 3. Hootsuite Like Buffer, Hootsuite provides a product to help businesses schedule and organize their social media updates, which means they know a lot about the subject of social media marketing. Their posts cover a lot of different social media tips, best practices, and research for all of the big social media platforms. They’re another one of the main go-tos for the industry. 4. Rebekah Radice Rebekah Radice has an award-winning blog that covers social media and other related digital marketing topics. Her posts get into topics like social media etiquette, developing a strategy for social media, and tips and tricks for getting the most from each particular platform. She often mixes in infographics, videos, and podcasts with the written content, so those who prefer other types of media have options as well. 5. Ignite Social The social media agency Ignite demonstrates the knowledge learned from over ten years of social media marketing in their blog. They cover social media news and trends, tips for specific social media channels, and how to handle an array of social media issues when they arise. Their posts can both help you stay on top of what’s going on in the larger social media industry, as well as answer smaller questions you might have about how to use social media for business. 6. Sprout Social The Sprout Social blog is another good resource that covers a lot of social media territory. You can find posts that get into the details of doing social media marketing for different industries, hiring for social media positions, and a lot of good how-to posts on getting specific things done on the different social media platforms. Their content is consistently useful for companies of all sizes and types . 7. Social Media Hat Social Media Hat offers a lot of tutorial posts about how to do different tasks on the various social media platforms, along with posts on larger social media trends and news stories. In addition to publishing posts on using the main social media platforms, they provide tips and advice for blogging and email marketing as well. 8. Hey Orca The Hey Orca blog provides a lot of the same type of content we’ve described on the other blogs on this list – general social media tips, trends, and news coverage – but they also mix in some less common types of social media content, like coverage from social media conferences, interviews with various influencers, and social media success case studies. It’s a blog with a lot of good content and personality and is worth adding to your list.   9. Socially Sorted Socially Sorted is the blog of Digital Content Strategist Donna Moritz. The blog answers common social media questions, provides helpful tips, and collects good social media examples you can learn from. She often provides additional media like templates or infographics to make her posts more useful. She has a particular expertise in visual storytelling, so this is a great blog to turn to for tips on creating more visual forms of content for your social media channels. 10. Peg Fitzpatrick Peg Fitzpatrick is another social media influencer who shares her knowledge with regular blog posts on how to reach and connect with your audience on social media. While her blog touches on all the major social media platforms, she especially gives attention to Instagram and Pinterest– channels that often get less attention on some of the other blogs on the list. 11. Top Dog Social Media Top Dog Social Media is the blog of Melonie Dodaro. While the blog includes posts on a number of digital marketing topics, its main focus is on LinkedIn marketing. You can find posts covering the range of tips and advice you need for reaching customers for B2B marketing on the professional social media platform. 12. Jenn’s Trends Jenn’s Trends is one of the best blogs out there about Instagram marketing. While she’ll occasionally touch on other social networks or digital marketing tips as well, the primary focus on the blog is how to get followers on Instagram and interact with them effectively. If your brand’s on Instagram, this is a good blog to keep on your radar. 13. Tailwind The Tailwind blog is another one with a narrow focus on just a couple of main networks: Instagram and Pinterest. It tackles questions like how to get more followers, when to post, and the types of content you should create to do well on both platforms. For anyone using the more visual social media platforms, it can be a useful resource. 14. Linked Into Business This is another blog with a primary focus on just one of the main social media platforms: LinkedIn. The blog does sometimes venture into broader topics like content marketing and communication tips, but most of the posts cover topics specific to the features and best practices for marketing on LinkedIn. For B2B brands that use LinkedIn as a marketing and sales tool, it’s a good blog to follow. 15. Mari Smith With all these blogs covering specific networks, you may have wondered when we’d get to one focused on the biggest social network of them all. Mari Smith’s got you covered with a blog all about Facebook marketing. She goes into how to use the various features Facebook offers, important news about the platform, and tips for using Facebook for marketing effectively. Conclusion As you can see, there’s no shortage of good resources you can turn to when learning how to use social media for your business. It can be daunting when you’re just starting or still struggling to make headway, but learning from those who already have a good amount of experience and knowledge can be a big help to moving your own social media efforts forward.  Spend some time reading about what works and craft your strategy around the tips and research shared by the experts. 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Be very careful if you use Hostgator’s reseller hosting

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Hosting

I have had a few reseller accounts with hostgator for many years. While things have improved after the EIG takeover disaster that saw this … | Read the rest of http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1717723&goto=newpost Continue reading →

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