"Don't use stop words (and, in, etc.) in the website's title"

Does this rule still apply?

The general rule is to avoid them, simply because of the limited amount of space in titles. They carry little or no SEO weight. So the only reason to avoid them is space. IF you can, don't use them

I agree partly with Jason, however with the new state of play descriptions, page title and keywords need to be more friendly than the old 'stick a load of keywords into them all'. Since the body of a document forms a tonne of weight for search terms the page title and description need to entice users to click through. Although I do use natural search terms in them I notice my client sites score well for a wide mix of search terms which are mentioned in the body and keywords but not directly in the title or description. It's one thing getting to #1 however if your extract and listing in the serps looks like a query string of keywords it has less effect than an introduction sentence with page features which #2 or #3 could have.

Edited February 21, 201313 yr by NoClass

You have to understand the limited amount of space that the title and description has. The title of a website is like the title of a document. It needs to be simple, tell people what the website is about. Use the description to then pull people in. I'm not saying have Web Design | Design | Web | SEO | Web Design Company | Company Design

 

I just mean that you have limited amount of space, so why waste it on words that bring no value to the table in terms of ranking factor and CRO.

 

Short, snappy titles. It shouldn't be used to introduce yourself. Of course your website won't rank for just those keywords but sure as **** gives Google a great indication into the topic of the website. There needs to be a balance. You could rank a website for a keyphrase that isn't on the website, given the right types of backlinks so that isn't the issue

Not to introduce, probably poor choice of words on my part but I'm simply saying that a description of "find party venues for hire redhill surrey for party venue hire redhill, private parties and corporate parties, party packages redhill." vs "Host the perfect private or corporate party in style at a party venue for hire near Redhill, Surrey. Full details including photos and party packages." when it comes to conversion from serp to clicks.

 

Plus post penguin perfect keyword backlinks can hurt. As the mighty google mentioned they expect a variety of links to the site, from no index pages and rel no follow to keyword stuffed ones, one source I follow thinks at least 50% would be to full website url or company name rather than 'van hire manchester'. Variety, diversity and relevence are the most important aspect of back links and internal links. Also who the link is from is paramount too.

 

Ooops read post again and spotted 'title'. Still with a title on the venue example it would be 'Party Venues in Redhill, Surrey'. If it was a shop 'Product Category Name' etc.

Edited February 21, 201313 yr by NoClass

I'd say 80% Branded and naked anchors and 20% as diverse anchors relating to your website. Avoid generic anchors as they actually lose link juice.

 

But I'm moving away from the topic.

 

Common sense prevails here. I just meant if you title reads well without a stop word, no point having it there

OK. So for local seo purposes, which has the better chance at being like by Google (which will Google like better)? Assuming both are under 72 characters (including spaces)

 

1 - Business name and keywork in city st

 

or

 

2 - Business name - keyword - keyword - city st

 

Google places greater weight on the 1st keyword separated by - right? I have not read up on the new penguin etc but is it that google wants the titles to read more smoothly and not stuffed with keywords?

I usually go with either:

 

Keyword - Keyword + Location | Brand Name

 

OR

 

Keyword in Location - Some little add fluff | Brand Name

Dumb question - putting the brand name at the end, will that hurt the website being found by brand name at all? Do stopwords do any other harm than take up space? Is there a limit to the number of words between breaks in the title? Again: "Brand Name and keyword in Location, ST" (to breaks)

Not at all. Google takes in a ton of variables when determining the brand of the websites and it's just another keyword to them. But they usually use the domain as an indicator to what the brand name is. Hence EMDs.

 

Stop words - use at your own discretion. If they make it more legible, keep them in. There isn't an answer or a definite answer. It's whatever fits your website. You could rank a website with a stop word in the title.

So....

 

1 - Business name and keywork in City ST

 

or

 

2 - City ST + keyword - keyword - Business Name

 

Sorry to ask the same question different ways....

I use these words in title ( and , in ) and I don't find any problem with them until they make title the toooo long

Some might say not to put company name in the title at all really as you should naturally rank for you company name anyway but then I guess it would depend on the niche as to how necessary it is to have it included.

If you have the domain cheap-pens.co.uk but your company name is Sparkling Pens Direct. To Google, that is just another keyword, and uses your domain to determine the brand name.

 

So, in this case, Google will think that cheap-pens.co.uk i the company name. That is why exact-match-domains have such strong power.

 

Then on the flip side, you could have sparklingpensdirect.co.uk, surely it makes sense to simply reinforce the fact that your website is actually relevant and treat your brand name as another keyword. Like I said, Google doesn't know what your company name is, they only use your domain name as an indicator.

 

So, without mention of your company name, they have no idea what your company name is