If you don't have properly set up title tags, no matter how much money you throw at marketing, you're missing one of the most important ways of getting your website ranked by search engines and found by prospective customers. These SEO tips are here to make it easier.
Writing great title tags is not rocket science and it is key to your website's success. It's also worth spending some time on.
Length – They should be no longer than 70 characters for the complete title tag to show in your browser.
Keyword Research – Time intensive? Definitely. Important? Essential. Take the time to research the most relevant keywords and phrases applicable to your goods and service, preferably incorporating relevant 'long-tail' keywords where there is less competition. There are keyword tools that you can pay to use but Google's Adwords Keyword Planner is effective and free although you do need to sign up for an Adwords Account if you don't already have one.
Relevance to the Page - Each title tag must be unique and totally relevant to the page that it's on.
Keyword or Phrase Placement - Put your main keywords or phrases at the front of your title tags.
Brand Placement – My advice about this is that you should place your brand name at the front of your title tag on your home page, and thereafter at the end – of every single one.
Readability - Make your title tags readable to Google and site visitors alike. Gone are the days of a string of keywords. Create a sentence with a call to action such as 'Buy', 'Browse', 'Find'. Put your main keyword or phrase at the front, and your brand name with 'at' in front of it, or a pipe bar | at the end. I prefer a proper sentence as opposed to using the pipe bar because it's more reader friendly but it's up to you.
By the way to find the pipe bar on your keyboard you need to hold left shift key down and press the forward slash key next to it.
Once you have established the main keywords and phrases that are being searched for for your products and services these should filter down into your on-site SEO, your page titles and copy, making your on-site search as relevant as it could be.
I come across a lot of websites for both large and small companies where title tags have either been overlooked entirely or have not been set up properly. This is often in part due to lack of knowledge, shortage of time and/or entrusting your SEO to the wrong person.
SEO is not the dark art it's often painted to be, it has multiple facets and each will be key to your success. It's well worth getting to know the basics, and then either carrying out the work in house or entrusting it to a specialist.
Malwarebytes is an anti-malware tool which will sit side by side with your anti-virus software to provide defence and protection from the millions of threats out there and works extremely well.
Quote 'When a Trojan or other malware gets a foothold in your PC's innards, clearing it out can be tough. The nastiest ones fight back, interfering with your attempts to install antivirus software.' Er......this sounds something like trying to shut the door after the horse has bolted. The answer is to not wait for the attack but to make sure you're set up well in advance.What is Malware?
Malware, or malicious software, has many forms. Most will get stopped by your anti-virus software, but some infections can slip past and disable your system or slow it right down. There are those who say you shouldn't run two anti-virus/malware software tools at the same time, but I find that Malwarebytes works very well with the Norton anti-virus software I use and have so far had no problems.
Malwarebytes comes in a free version which works perfectly well, however the investment of roughly £21 for the lifetime license for the Pro version which scans automatically and protects your system without your having to think about it seems well worth the cost.
There are those who think that if they browse carefully they will avoid attack by malware, those who forget about it until their computer/laptop slows down to a crawl and those who just don't bother. And installing Anti Virus software, although an essential start, particularly if like most of us you spend hours browsing, just isn't enough.
Your anti-virus software, as with anti-malware software, is only as good as its updates, as new viruses are being invented all of the time, so make absolutely sure that yours is up to date always.Here's a review by PC World on what's available anti-virus wise.