Have you ever gotten a search engine result and had trouble deciding which page to visit? If so, a poor page title is often to blame. Search engine spiders (software programs) look to titles for keyword information; Web searchers look to titles to decide whether a page is worth a visit. Improving your page titles will give a double bonus: better search engine indexing and more visitors to your Web pages.

Get Educated: Tips for Titling Pages

• Make sure the keywords users look for are in your title. If your users are educators, use that word in your title, for example. (see the title on The Educated Web's home page)
• Try to make the first word important and full of information. Avoid using space for "small" words like "and" or "the". Make the title space work for you.
• Avoid cute or funny titles. Humour is cultural and may be misunderstood. Give a title which explains exactly what users will find and they will be happy.
• Make each page in your site stand out. First words should vary, so users can see each page topic easily.
• Include your site name in all titles. Users who look for you at a search engine may find a page other than home.
• Look in your browser's title bar to get an idea of how long your title can be. You may find your titles could be longer, and thus give more information to your users.