Any Risk in Changing Page Title?

[aristotle]

Most people agree that the page title is an important ranking factor in the Google algo. I am considering changing the title of one of my site's pages by adding an additional keyword. The page is already well optimized for that keyword, and I plan to also add the keyword to the anchor text of some of the internal links to the page.

Theoretically this should improve the page's ranking for some search terms while hurting it for other terms, but I believe that the net effect wuould probably be positive.

What concerns me is the fact that the page title is one of the most basic elements in defining what the page is about, and this makes me wonder if changing it could raise a flag with Google and hurt its ranking for all search terms.

Does anyone have any advice about this?
Thank you

[Receptional Andy]

There are certainly reported incidences of title changes having negative results [webmasterworld.com]. I would suggest that adding a single word to an existing page title without altering the content itself is perhaps a less common activity - and potentially evaluated as such. But, as with any minor page change, the effects are increasingly URL- and site-specific. A borderline page is less stable, whereas a solid page can be unaffected by changes that would cause other pages to tank.

Personally, I much prefer making wider changes to pages and sections of content if they under-perform, as opposed to making small changes in isolation. IMO you're wise to be cautious, although I don't think I've had simple and occasional title tweaks have a negative impact so far.

[cazzzk]

I haven't had any negative experience with changing page titles at all. The page should do better for the keyword you add, but having more words in the title will fractionally dilute the importance of all of them.

I change page titles throughout the year on the site I work on and have never had a drop for anything I didn't want to drop for.

[steveb]

Forget the black helicopter nonsense. Changing a title has zero risk, other than it makes new couplets and phrases in a title.

Changing Red Widgets to Red Elephant Widgets should make you rank less well for [red widgets] but better for [elephant widgets].

If the word should help you then you'd be nuts to not change it.

(If you are some super-poisonous adult word then it could hurt you, but that is different.)

[aristotle]

Thanks for the replies. I just made the change and will see what happens.
Thanks again.

[Quadrille]

As the <title> tag is generally agreed to be one of the key factors in ranking, so changing it must bring a reasonable chance of changing the rankings; not huge, as it is still only one of many factors.

But you say:

The page is already well optimized for that keyword, and I plan to also add the keyword to the anchor text of some of the internal links to the page.

If the page is well optimized, then why rock the boat? Many SEO problems are caused by overoptimization, the single greatest cause of sick site syndrome.

I'd suggesting rethinking this decision. If you are anxious about this term, then build a second page featuring it, rather than damage one that is already 'well optimized'

[steveb]

Titles are not forever. Worrying about changing *one* is ludicrous. One! Title it the most appropriate way you can, then in a month or six months or ten years if you think of a better one, then change it.

[Shaddows]

Titles are not forever. Worrying about changing *one* is ludicrous. One! Title it the most appropriate way you can, then in a month or six months or ten years if you think of a better one, then change it.

Agree. However, expect a re-ranking cycle in the interim*. If you are on a trusted domain, you are likely to see minimal effect as the re-ranking occurs. On a newish site, the page may drop down a couple of pages in SERPS.

*The following is based on 'soft' exerience (that is, how it 'feels', rather than on recorded results) Re-ranking cycle- once a NEW URL is discovered, it takes a while for it to settle into its long-term SERP position. This period varies depending on a lot of factors. A major title change sometimes makes Google treat the URL is if it is newly discovered.

[Quadrille]

Worrying about changing *one* is ludicrous. One!

The SEs spider the web page by page; the serps show them page by page.

It's as easy to overoptimize one page as 60000, maybe easier ;)

The issues discussed here may be about one page, perhaps even a one-page site. But they apply equally to most other sites.

[pavlovapete]

Our experience is that changing the title *can* have a negative impact.
About 6 months if I recall correctly.

Staff member used a *wrong* description for our industry, mad rush to make it more correct, whoops - page has vanished.

[steveb]

Any change can cause a fluke. Any change will cause a page to be revevaluated. But worrying about adding a non-poisonous word to one title is ludicrous. There is no more risk to doing this than adding the same word in the text of the page.

[potentialgeek]

Any risk? Yes. Any change won't necessarily cause a fluke reaction, but if you're on the edge of the border between acceptable and questionable, you could push your site over the edge.

and I plan to also add the keyword to the anchor text of some of the internal links to the page.

I would recommend if you're going to change a title, do it to only one page, and not attempt other kinds of optimization at the same time.

The more signals you send to Google that you're an optimizer, the more likely Google will smack you with an Overoptimization Penalty (950 Penalty).

The two biggest signals to Google that you are overoptimizing are changed titles and anchor text changes--the two you just said you want to change!

If you want to get a 950 Penalty, change the titles on every page of your site and the anchor text sitewide, at the same time.

I recently changed one page title--the home page, which could potentially be the most closely scrutinized page on a site by Google--but only that title on the entire site. It was also a conservative change in that it was adding only one keyword to the end of the title, not changing every word or the entire word order--although it thereby created a perfect two-word phrase that is quite competitive (or searched).

However, I don't believe my SERP for that phrase went up. No real obvious benefit.

p/g

P.S. Beware that your site's Trust Rank may be affected by the cumulative number of questionable changes you make. The negative consequences you may not see for a long time.

[bwnbwn]

I feel there is 0 risk in changing a title tag as long as the change continues to provided a descriptive sentence of the page.

There are risk when

1- You make a mistake and put the wrong title on the page
2- load it up with keywords
3-Change the title and page to a new direction to keep the PR and other possible SEO value. This is an old trick that doesn't woprk in Google anymore.

There may be more but a Title change of a page should be used when it is necessary to change due to industry updates, product name change and so on.

[Monalisa]

Hello,

According to me, changing or editing your existing content is a better option than adding an extra keyword to your page-title. True that page-title is an important ranking factor in Google, but content is even more important. Making your content more informative and keyword-rich will benefit you more.

But if you still want to take a risk and see whether the results are positive or not, you can always go ahead with your decision. But if your site is a revenue-generating one, its better not to take a risk by including an additional keyword. If your site is only an informative one, you can carry on with what you have decided.

Regards
Monalisa