There is a distinct and potentially significant tension between writers and SEO experts on the subject of titles. Writers quite naturally want a title that will appeal to readers, hooking them into the story that follows. Search engine optimisation experts want the same thing, but know that this cannot be achieved unless the page ranks high when it’s on the search engine results pages. That means keywords need to take a prominent place.

The case for keywords

The case that supports keywords in titles is based on the supposed weight the search engines give to keywords in prominent places. It is thought that placing keywords as far to the left within your titles gives you the most SEO advantage. Unlike many controversial SEO tactics, this is a universally supported concept.

Although SEO experts acknowledge that keywords aren’t the only thing a title should feature, the emphasis is still very much on their inclusion. This means that catchy titles like ‘Is your site missing zing?’ are out, because they don’t make any SEO use of such a prominent area of your page. Titles are a valuable area of the page for SEO, and SEO is necessary to ensure your pages get read.

The case for titles

On the other hand, keywords often make a title clunky and unattractive. Changing the above title example to ‘Is your site missing out on internet marketing techniques?’ may give you a better chance of ranking high in a search on ‘internet marketing techniques’, but it won’t give you a better chance of catching a user’s eye. Any writer will tell you that the best titles don’t have long words or technical concepts. Unfortunately, keywords are usually long and technical.

The proponents of this case also argue that including keywords in your titles risks deterring users. An obviously out-of-place keyword in your title can also put paid to any hope of users forwarding your content or sending you some inbound links.

The best approach: compromise

It’s a vicious circle. Without keywords you won’t rank, but too many keywords and you won’t be read. The obvious answer is to incorporate both somehow, although this is a lot harder to do than say.

One thing you can do to reach this compromise is be choosy with your keywords. Your keyword list will have a number of related keywords on it. Those keywords come from your target user groups, and are on there for a reason. Your users search with those words, and when they look through the SERPs those keywords act as triggers. The key is simply in finding the keywords that slip into titles with ease, and finding a way to work them into an effective title. You can talk to us at SEO Consult about choosing a keyword list and related keywords for SEO.

There needs to be a balance between search engine optimisation needs and writing needs in your titles, just as there needs to be a balance between SEO tactics and your business needs on your site.

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