In class, we discussed Meta Tags. These are tags that tell about the page. Title tags are similar to these, but are known as “Page Title Elements.” This is what is shown on the SERP (search engine results page). Sweet began to recommend some tips for optimizing the title tags.
But first, why is this important? Your title tag is the first thing that the user sees in relation to your website. The person doing the SEO needs to be user focused, so that they can craft keywords that draw the user’s eye. This is where targeting comes in in.
Sweet explained that all targeting is about conversations. Google transitioned away from keyword stuffing to a natural approach. They frequently update their algorithms. Their Hummingbird algorithm helped to provide fast results that focused on this conversational aspect. It is not just taking the question and spitting it back out. Rather, it is trying to find the intent behind the question to answer it. This is clear through seeing the AI answers at the top of the page. Google moved away from having ads there, and instead is working to truly and really answering the question as it was intended to ask. Even AI tools are AEO now. AEO is Answer Engine Optimization.
Sweet provides a list of tips to use to help be user focused and allow for the best tags. Looking at the first tip, one can orient the keywords are closer to the start of the tag. In class, we looked at the search of “Christian colleges in Pennsylvania.” Most of the colleges that popped up had the title tag with their name then a description. This tip tells us to do the opposite. The user should first see what they are looking for (Christian college), and then the name (Grove City). This allows the user’s eye to be drawn to your site through emphasizing the description.
4 Responses
This is great! I’m understanding mor and more the connection between keywords and title tags. Title tags are essentially keywords, or at least can be; they can be effective ways to use keywords in content. Title tags give the user an idea of what their about to dive into. Having good title tags can be a key in driving user traffic!
I love this summary. I thought this teaching was interesting since it got into what the customer behavior is like when searching for desired outcome. How do you think someone could cause error in this process?
Very helpful summary Emily I find tags useful in looking at a website when I search so I can see why they are so important in ranking a site in SEO. I also think its really interesting how the google algorithm and SEO even now are shaped by Hummingbird.
This post was really helpful in explaining the importance of keywords. From things like AI, to the Hummingbird algorithm, finding the strongest keywords can really help your website climb the chain of importance after a consumer searches on the internet. Good job!