Quick <title> question

[hapa_kevin]

Should I include the name of my site in the <title> along with the keyword I am targeting?

formatted like so... KEYWORD ¦ SITE NAME

The name of my site has a couple other keywords that could assist the keyword I am really targeting... possibly giving more variation in search results, but I fear it might do more harm than good. Thoughts?

[DerekH]

I suspect the major factor depends on what it is that you think will turn a listing in Google into a visit by someone who reads the SERPS....

A title
Widgets ¦ Bloggins and sons
is fairly inviting...

Widgets ¦ De'Ath
might not be....

Much will depend what it looks like on the page, I reckon.
DerekH

[sublime1]

I agree with Derek, and can say that our site name has keyword/s so we use it, but at the end. The title is the one thing you can count on people reading; make it tell the whole story about why people should pick your site from amongst the others, and keep it short.

[hapa_kevin]

I see your points.

I guess the bigger question I am asking is that when trying to make my title Google friendly, is it best to keep the keyword short and sweet, or is it ok to also include my site name... perhaps gaining a couple more keyword variations.

Example:
just keyword in title: "widgets"
keyword w/ site name: "widgets ¦ Buy Gizmos dot com"

I am really targeting "widgets" but by including the site name, I might pull "buy widgets" as well... is that thinking flawed?

In short, is it best to limit the title to just the keyword? And does it hurt your rank for that keyword to include more?

Thanks all for you input... kinda new to this stuff.

[sublime1]

My opinion (only):
The title is important because Google gives it a little extra weight in the index. But when someone does a query on Google, they scan for the title. What short string will help people see that your site is the one they should click on amongst the few they have to choose from? I don't think a single word would do it - there's no context. There's the salesy approach "Widgets, on sale now! Your widget from Widgets Now!".

The title is your "billboard". The rule with billboards is make a memorable, distinct message in 7 words.

You have less control over the abstract/summary -- it will depend on the query. But a hint: the abstract will be drawn from the meta description if it contains the keywords and is a sentence that's not too long.

Together, the title and abstract differentiate your site from the herd in the SERPs. Run your queries, look at what comes up and ask how your site can be distinct and better for your audience than your competition. Sure, you have to get in the SERPs for this to matter, but once you do, it's very important.

[hapa_kevin]

gracias sublime.

It makes sense to give your page a unique title to seperate yourself from other results.

I guess what still confuses me is what you touched on in your last statement. I need to get into the SERP first. I was under the impression that carefully chosen keywords were essential in title, meta, and h1 tags.

Using your example: "Widgets, on sale now! Your widget from Widgets Now!" I won't necessarily get in a search result page for something like "best widgets online" because its not in the title, right?

Let's say I want to go after that keyword, "best widgets online". If I add my site name to that in the title, say "best widgets online ¦ buy at gizmos-r-us.com", will it reduce my chances of getting in the SERP for that keyword?

I only ask because I have seen examples where having that extra content in the title, creates more variation in keywords, hence resulting in more listings in SERPs. I am now under the impression that it not as straight forward as that and is based upon a bunch of factors that are difficult to gauge.

Dunno. Hope what I am inquiring makes sense.

[sublime1]

Yes, the first order of business is getting in the SERPs. But the weight of title is small compared to the many, many, many other important elements of having a well ranked page. Add keywords in an H1 tag, bold, italics, etc throughtout the page. Add relevant content that contains the keywords and so on -- all of this will be far more valuable than having another keyword in your title. And of course with Google, external links are probably the more important factor; get links with your keywords from other sites (preferably with high PR) and you'll be on your way. The title alone is far from enough.

So, now that you have done the work and are ranked, don't mess it up by having a spammy looking title which no one will be interested in clicking!

[madmatt69]

I've heard from some SEO people that have a local business (and well respected one) that special characters such as the pipe "¦" can act as an escape character and when some crawlers (probably not googlebot, but more obscure ones) hit the pipe they'll stop spidering. So based on that info, I try to avoid using anything like that on the page. a colon : works just as well :)

Again though, I dunno how valid that info is, but why risk it?

[jcoronella]

When I have invested in a domain name that "BlueWidgets.com" I put the domain in the title for extra branding and increased CTR. "Blue-Fuzzy-Widgets.net" stays out.

[hapa_kevin]

That clears some things up... thanks all.