The Phandroid.com Title Tag.

[PaulMcCartney]

The title tag has been – and probably will always be – one of the most important factors in achieving high search engine rankings.

The current title tag doesn't have the site's name (Phandroid) in it. I believe this is a big mistake. It should also have a few more terms related to the content on the site itself.



Here is an example of the perfect title tag. Look at GameSpot.

It has the name of the site (GameSpot) followed by search terms directly related to the content on the site.

This simple change in the <title> tag would not just give us a little more traffic. It would make the site look more professional and legitimate in the search results.

 

[Caddyman]

I disagree...

some experts think that keyword stuffing in a title tag can actually result in penalization in google

http://www.bigblogacademy.com/blog-seo/keywords-in-title-tag-for-seo.html

notice in your own example, you searched for "video game forum" and your arrows points to the #3 result, what does the #1 look like? it's clean...

phandroid side

phandroid is #8 for "android" with 90 million results, they are #1 for "android phone", #1 for "android news" etc. you aint getting much better then that...

forum side

i think things are fine as is. AF is #1, with sitelinks, for the search "android forums" that is a huge feat considering there are roughly 21 million results.

using vbseo plugin for vbulletin you can make your title tag "thread title - forum title" this "clean" title for each page is meant to optimize short tail searches. the meta description is pulled from the first sentence or so from the threads content which helps with long tail searches.


changing things like this now can have good or bad results, it is generally not advised to start changing major parts of your sites once google has you in a good spot.

 

[PaulMcCartney]

Well, I'm afraid you're wrong.

The company's name is an essential part to any title tag. If we want the name "Phandroid" to become well known like GameSpot, YouTube or Facebook, the site's name must be in the title tag.

You should read this:

Best Practices for Title Tags

This is the proper format of a title tag:

Brand/Site Name - Keyword Description

Why? Because people tend to land on your home page from lots of places, and it's often the one that's bookmarked. It's important to let them know what site they are on.

Anyone who bookmarks phandroid.com will see it as "Android Phone." Unless you rename the bookmark, of course.

Not good.

AndroidForums is fine. That plug-in is great. That is not of my concern.

Also, this..

...isn't keyword stuffing.

 

[Caddyman]

actually it is...but dont believe me, I only do seo for a large website creation firm.

Could the title tag be better, probably, would it actually help anything, probably not.

 

[OfTheDamned]

One or two keywords/phrases in a title is enough. Especially if you have the right word there already. Additional keywords tend to gain the site far more negatives than they do positives.

Changing it at this point is a real no no.

 

[BiGMERF]

I dont understand the need for change. the site has a page rank of 5, thats amazing. its at the top of the lists when the word android and forum is entered

 

[The_Game21x]

I agree with Paul, actually.

The site's name needs to be there. I don't understand everyone here believes that "Android Phone" is a good title tag. It's not. It barely explains what the site is about.

 

[PaulMcCartney]

actually it is...but dont believe me, I only do seo for a large website creation firm.

Could the title tag be better, probably, would it actually help anything, probably not.

No, it's not. Google is now supporting up to 70 characters in some cases.

Using the title of your site at the beginning of every title tag helps searchers know where they're going and to increase return visits.

If you're struggling to find justification for this component, think of all the ad studies showing that consumers are willing to pay more for a "brand name" product than an off-brand or store brand item of the same type - apply this logic to the SERPs and you'll find that users will go further down the rankings to click on a "trusted" brand.

 

[PaulMcCartney]

The most popular sites on the internet have more than just two words. Also, they all have the site's name in every title tag.


Building upon the current title tag won't hurt anything. In fact, it will be better for the site in the long run.

 

[Caddyman]

After this I'm done with the convo...

No, it's not. Google is now supporting up to 70 characters in some cases.

70 characters, fine, but not REPEATED KEYWORDS. You want the same keyword used 2 times TOPS in your title, more then that is stuffing.

You had "Phandroid - Android News, Android Phones, Android Forums"

Using the title of your site at the beginning of every title tag helps searchers know where they're going and to increase return visits.

no not really...actually using the title of your site in every title tag is detrimental to both your long and short tail search hits.

If you're struggling to find justification for this component, think of all the ad studies showing that consumers are willing to pay more for a "brand name" product than an off-brand or store brand item of the same type - apply this logic to the SERPs and you'll find that users will go further down the rankings to click on a "trusted" brand.

Only person I see looking for justification is you, friend.

This makes no sense whatsoever, this is not real world or a products, it is a free informational site. people click on the first result....period. they click that result because google put it there as an authoritative site...there is nothing more professional then being #1 in google. If you think it is ok to give up a spot or 4 in your ranking so you can look "professional" you need to go back to SEO school.

Think about this, if you were Mr. app guy, or accessory guy for a large cell company. Your team tells you they want to advertise on some websites and you run a search through google for android phone. Are you going to pick #1 result, or #3 result to start looking for sites to advertise on?

If you want, I can run you a report off of IBP so you can see how the site stacks up. It would be around 40 pages long...lots of good seo info.