18 Simple Tweaks To Get More Clicks From Your Organic Rankings

We have also been having a good look into remote time tracking software as we have so many staff working remotely in various businesses so that has been a huge help in making sure that those staff are doing exactly what they should be doing!

How To Create The Perfect Page Titles & Meta Descriptions

If you’ve been working in search optimisation for any length of time you’ll have heard how important it is to properly optimise your page title tag. Chances are you’ll also have heard that the meta description is also important, but on a lesser scale.

I agree wholeheartedly: getting your onpage SEO dialed in is critical. It’s much easier to rank a site that ticks all the onpage boxes, but that’s not to say it is impossible to rank a poorly optimised site through sheer brute force. However, I would rather make a job easier in the long run and so before I start trying to build links into a site I like to get the basics sorted.

Getting your titles and meta descriptions done properly is a painstaking and at times arduous task, which is something I can attest to. However, when you see the fruits of your labour, ie. ranking higher, then it can actually be a rewarding endeavour. So here we are: 18 tips to help you optimise your page title and meta description.

Gathering Data

It’s possible to create decent titles and meta descriptions from a hunch, or what you perceive to be popular search phrases based on your own knowledge and experience. But really good titles and description tags are built on one thing, and one thing only: good data.

Here’s 4 ways to gather good data that can be used to form the backbone of an optimised title tag and meta description.

1. Google AdWords Keyword Tool: use this tool to get the estimated volume of searches for keyphrases and uncover related phrases with high volume. It’s worth bearing in mind that some keyphrases are highly seasonal: who in their right mind searches for ‘Christmas trees’ in June?
2. Google AdWords Traffic Estimator: I like to use this tool to corroborate estimated volumes found in the Google AdWords Keyword Tool.
3. Analytics: there’s a world of data in your stats package, whether it be Google Analytics, Clicky or something a little more high end such as Omniture. Again, use keyword data from your analytics package to determine trends and guide you towards choosing what keyphrases to optimise for.
4. PPC Campaign Data: you can get a good idea of what people search for when you run a broadly targeted AdWords campaign for a couple of weeks. If you want to recieve more traffice to your website you can SimplyGram, as they will help you build traffic in an efficient manner.

What Keyphrases Convert Into Leads & Sales?

By now you’ll have more data than you can shake a big stick at. But now you need to quality it, and you do that by finding out what keyphrases actually generate revenue. To do this, you’ll need to have some form of goal tracking integrated between your web analytics package of choice and your website.

First of all, let me go slightly off topic for a brief moment to reiterate something you’ll probably already know. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of ranking for vanity phrases, the highly searched for two word keyphrases that your competitors are probably targeting. My point is this: it is very rarely the case that these vanity phrases actually pay for themselves. And there’s little point deluding yourself that if you can rank first for a given range of vanity phrases then you’ll make bank: there’s a big glass ceiling waiting for you in that case.

Here’s a couple of tips to help you find keyphrases that will pay you to rank.

1. Consider the effect of PPC traffic: while PPC is really useful for keyword research bear in mind that broadmatch keyphrases can really confuse the issue.
2. Per visit value: track down phrases where there is good search volume and you earn a decent amount per visit. Don’t rule out keyphrases with below average per visit values: it may be that the data is skewed because you don’t rank very high.

Compiling Your Optimised Title Tag

Once you have researched the data on what people actually search for and buy, then you can work on the title itself. When writing title tags I like to have some structure with the most important keyphrase at the start, backed up with a longer variation.

1. Structure: put your main keyphrase at the start of the title, eg. Blue Widgets
2. Variety, it’s the spice of life (and titles): try and fit in a longer variation in the title with more keywords (note the singular variation), eg. Find The Cheapest Sky Blue Widget Deal Online Today!
3. Break it up: use a non alphanumeric character between your main keyphrase and before your longer variation to break them up. You can use anything such as a pipe, hyphen, colon or an arrow.
4. Include a call to action: real people actually read SERPs and are scanning down that list to see something that appeals to them. So why not include a call to action in your title? Not only will it help differentiate you from your competition, but it also increases your CTR.
5. Don’t go over 65 – 68 characters max: if your title is long and unwieldy it gets cut off in the SERPs and looks crap. Use this tool to check how many characters are in your title.
6. Meld it all together: Blue Widgets | Find The Cheapest Sky Blue Widget Deal Online Today!

Customising The Meta Description

The meta description has been widely ignored in SEO circles. In fact, good onpage optimisation is arguably missing from the toolbox of many search marketers now because we rightly or wrongly focus almost entirely on building backlinks.

However, in my own tests in various competitive niches I have seen excellent ROI from optimised meta descriptions. They should read well, like an advertisement designed to appeal to searchers looking for the product or service you offer.

1. Re-examine data: take another look at the data you gathered earlier and identify variations on your main keyphrase and secondary keyphrases.
2. Sprinkle in your long tail keyhrases: the meta description is an ideal place to drop in those long tail keyphrases that actually generate revenue.
3. Work in singular and plural variations: lots of people in the buying cycle search using a singular keyword, eg. unique blue widget for women. In fact in some verticals, like hotels, the majority of searches are singular. I also think that someone searching with a singular keyphrase is further along in the buying cycle: they know what they want, now they just want to find a place to buy it. So don’t miss out on the traffic!
4. Use the description to sell the sizzle: appeal to prospects in the buying cycle by mentioning your USP: free home delivery, 1 year guarantee, industry leading warranty, 24hr telephone support etc.
5. Aim for 165 – 170 characters: this is a contentious one, but I’ve seen great results when you treat the meta description like an advertisement with a set number of characters available. Maybe SEOs should start using Twitter more to help get into this mindset of limited character usage! ;)
6. Put it all together: Find great deals on a cheap small light blue widget for women @ your site. Buy low cost small sized blue widgets with purple accessories today & get free home delivery!

Ideally you would optimise each page on your site in this way, but that’s difficult when you’re working with thousands of products in hundreds of categories. Choose what to optimise for first based on what would give the highest ROI for your business.