Is this a good title

Discussion in 'SEO' started by cali boy, Apr 10, 2014.

  1. #1
    For my website surfimages.com
    I was thinking either of these two- what do you think?
    1. Surfing Stock Agency Licensing Surf Photos and Selling Prints, Murals, Posters and Clothing
    2. Surf Images - Surfing Stock Agency Licensing Surf Photos and Selling Prints, Murals, Posters and Clothing
     
    cali boy, Apr 10, 2014 IP
  2. webcosmo

    webcosmo Notable Member

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    #2
    The second choice sounds betterbut instead of surf photos, i would add stock photos...
     
    webcosmo, Apr 10, 2014 IP
  3. Nigel Lew

    Nigel Lew Notable Member

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    #3
    #2 but I typically use a pipe |
     
    Nigel Lew, Apr 10, 2014 IP
  4. ryan_uk

    ryan_uk Illustrious Member

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    #4
    Neither. Don't stick all your titles on one page/all of your (main?) keywords in one title. They both read like a keyword list. Instead, write something human readable and eye-catching for humans rather than search engines. As Nigel mentioned, use a pipe to separate brand and page title.
     
    ryan_uk, Apr 10, 2014 IP
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  5. cali boy

    cali boy Member

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    #5
    I understand that the meta titles I wrote sound kind of weird (all my keywords) but yet on the flip side I an not misleading my users nor search engines.
    What would you write?
     
    cali boy, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  6. ryan_uk

    ryan_uk Illustrious Member

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    #6
    Title is not a meta tag. The title tag is a - wait for it!! - title tag and it's for humans. Writing one that is eye-catching and attractive for humans is not misleading visitors (searchers?) - it's marketing!

    I think you should read:
    https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/35624?hl=en
    Do you notice that your style of title tags (essentially a keywords list) comes under avoid?

    Read my previous post to get an idea of what I would write.
     
    ryan_uk, Apr 11, 2014 IP
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  7. cali boy

    cali boy Member

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    #7
    Understood; so this should more so be my description and not my title
    2. "Surf Images - Surfing Stock Agency Licensing Surf Photos and Selling Prints, Murals, Posters and Clothing"
     
    cali boy, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  8. cali boy

    cali boy Member

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    #8
    Went to Getty Images (largest photo stock agency in the world) and their meta title is:
    "Stock Photography, Royalty-Free Photos, Video Footage & Music | Getty Images"
    So is this considered good or bad?
     
    cali boy, Apr 11, 2014 IP
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  9. cali boy

    cali boy Member

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    #9
    I also think if your a household name (Ford, Target, Starbucks, etc.) you can easily get away with a very short meta title
     
    cali boy, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  10. ryan_uk

    ryan_uk Illustrious Member

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    #10
    Also make a description to entice people to click through. It is your sales pitch to the searcher. Write 3-5 of your own (your current one plus some others you come up with) and take 3-5 of your competitors, for example, and ask several people (family and friends who know nothing about making websites, SEO, etc) to rank them in order of best to worst. Obviously don't tell which are yours; this should be a "blind test". Do this with titles and descriptions. From this, you should be able to determine the types of titles and descriptions that are more likely to work (i.e. convince the searcher to click through to your site).
     
    ryan_uk, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  11. howarddavidson

    howarddavidson Greenhorn

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    #11
    Maybe even try writing more than 5 titles - while it gets harder and harder to write titles as you do more, sometimes you will come upon a really good one further down the list that sets you apart from what is more basic and easy to think of. Could be good for business.
     
    howarddavidson, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  12. cali boy

    cali boy Member

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    #12
    I really think my titles are as good as I am going to get. Ever since I posted my current title I have had two competitors copy it.
     
    cali boy, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  13. Fervil VOn

    Fervil VOn Member

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    #13

    I think this is already a good title.
     
    Fervil VOn, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  14. thecubehost

    thecubehost Active Member

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    #14
    This is a Google article. http://www.seosme.co.uk/website-page-title-tag/

    But I'd push for a more succinct title along the lines of:
    Surf Images | Stock Photos | Licensing Agency | Prints | Clothing
     
    thecubehost, Apr 11, 2014 IP
  15. patco

    patco Well-Known Member

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    #15
    I don't think that any of those 2 is a great choice of a WEBSITE title! You use so many keywords in the title and that's NOT a very good idea. Stick to your main keyword, but don't use the same as your domain name! Also, you can use | as othey people said, but be sure everything to look naturally, don't just put them without any LOGIC. You can improve the title in your PAGES of your website, NOT in the hompeage! ;)
     
    patco, Apr 12, 2014 IP
  16. zunnunahmed

    zunnunahmed Member

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    #16
    Surf Images - Surfing Stock Agency Licensing Surf Photos and Selling Prints, Murals, Posters and Clothing

    Batter
     
    zunnunahmed, Apr 13, 2014 IP
  17. sarahk

    sarahk iTamer Staff

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    #17
    For your home page I'd probably keep it really simple:
    Surf Images - Stock Agency for Surfing Photos

    It tells the search engines what your site is about and when I've got 20 tabs open as I search for the perfect right hander photo I can easily get back because the title is clear and concise.


    Your inner pages are good: http://www.surfimages.com/details.aspx?photoID=2670&srfid=&loc=45&y=&s=&f=2680&l=2522
    although I'd probably use the pipes again so that it reads:
    Surf Images - JET SKI PULLING BUOY | PENICHE, PORTUGAL
    Code (markup):
    and I'd probably force the text to be upper and lower case and not be all in shouty caps.

    any particular reason why you don't have mod_rewrite working on your image links?
    the link above could be turned into
    /details/2670/jet+ski+pulling+buoy/peniche+portugal
    given that the photo id is the only real info you need - f and l and loc should all be in the database for the photo anyway.
     
    sarahk, Apr 16, 2014 IP
  18. janinaherz

    janinaherz Well-Known Member

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    #18
    Use : Surf Images - Surfing Stock Agency Licensing Surf Photos and Selling Prints, Murals, Posters and Clothing
    it looks better
     
    janinaherz, May 3, 2014 IP
  19. Harish Bali

    Harish Bali Greenhorn

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    #19
    Hello Gentleman

    I just - suggestion of pipe between key words is a better option, i can see , ( comma) still. Suggest pl. channge it for better response.
    thanks
    harish bali
     
    Harish Bali, May 8, 2014 IP
  20. Fred Daniels

    Fred Daniels Active Member

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    #20
    Title is the first part of your article and it is very important. Because Google will index your site based on title. With me, a good title must do its best function is to get readers click. A title is not too long, but full of meanings and attractive for readers is considered as a good one.
     
    Fred Daniels, May 22, 2014 IP