Creating effective <title> tags

[Jon12345]

My current title tag as the following:

<title>Microsoft Access Help Centre: Click here for database advice, tips, support, programmers and corrupt mdb repair</title>

Is this a poor title? How could I improve it? Has it got too many words in it? Should I omit the "click here" words as they dilute keyword density and they are old hat?

Just need some guidelines.

Thanks,

Jon

[Eric_Jarvis]

remove "click here" definitely...not everyone is using a mouse for a start...but it has also become a cliche

[lazerzubb]

I would suggest reading Jakob's suggestions on how to write a good title.
[useit.com...]

[Marcia]

Too many words imho, Jon.

<title>Microsoft Access Help Centre: Click here for database advice, tips, support, programmers and corrupt mdb repair</title>

There are different opinions, but for Google about 8-9 is right, maybe ten depending on the number of characters. they seem to get truncated at that point. Some search engines show longer ones, but they're kind of diluted when they get too long.

Some people don't care to repeat keywords, but this is a little more closely focused:

Microsoft Access Help Centre: Access database support and tips.

>>programmers and corrupt mdb repair<<

Those could be separate pages, with the programmers keywords and database keywords in the titles of those pages with corresponding link text from the main page tying them in.

Microsoft Access Database Programmers support and tips

Corrupt Microsoft Access Database Repair - something like that, maybe rearranged using a couple more words, with variations on the word form and phrasing to grab in another keyword phrase.

The link text shouldn't be that long, it can just include an important phrase.

[Robert Charlton]

Jon - I agree... too long. Several factors to consider here... display, focus, and proximity. A lot depends on how competitive terms are, and also whether you're trying to relate terms at the beginning and end.

The title is what's returned in serps. If what's at the end is important to readers, keep in mind that Google cuts off at around 63 characters, including spaces. I like to keep titles under 68-70 char, but sometimes I need those words at the end and I'll go longer, depending on other factors.

On your sample title, Microsoft Access Help Centre: Click here for database advice, tips, support, programmers and corrupt mdb repair, if you were targeting, say, "Microsoft Access programmers," the distance between "Microsoft Access" and "programmers" could cause some engines, including Google, to cease to see it as a phrase... actually, to not weight it as a phrase as much as it would when the words are closer. So, if your competition had tighter phrasing, then they'd rank ahead of you, at least for the title part of the algo.

Therefore, it's helpful to split things up and focus your pages if your terms are very competitive.

[fathom]

I would suggest a minimum of three separate pages

Microsoft Access Help Centre

Microsoft Access database advice, tips

Microsoft Access support for programmers

If "corrupt mdb repair" is a common problem or search query a fourth page.

TIP: catch-all pages are good for "random" use terms or "once in a blue moon type queries" -- but primary topics require "all the focus" on themselves.

The broader the topic the more focused it should be.

<added>Each of the above are very distinct and separate topics, from an online perspective anyway.</added>

[vitaplease]

I would stick to Google's adword guidlines for writing Ads and apply something similar to your normal titles.

I get whipped every time by these Ad-editors for my "creative" writing.
One thing they do not like is repetition of words, or anything in the neighborhood of shouting.

I am just visualising the adword people having lunch with the algo-title people over at Googleplex and discussing the ethics of perfect title scripting..

To be fair they are good team of spell-checkers ;)

[Marcia]

You could get multiple variations, it takes checking search terms and exact phrase frequencies in the SERPs. Here we go again with word order & proximity, singular, plural and stop words in between keywords.

>>Microsoft Access support for programmers

Microsoft Access support - programming tips
Microsoft Access support - programmers help
Microsoft Access programmers support
Microsoft Access programming support
Microsoft Access programming - programmers tips
Microsoft Access programmer support - programming tips

ad infinitum

vitaplease, you can have a page that rocks your socks with "Mens Widgets and Ladies Widgets from MyWidgetCompany" ;)

[fathom]

A related post [webmasterworld.com]

Remember you heard it here first! ;) LOL