(This is #3 in my SEO Basics articles for Gooruze. Click here for the full list.)

The most powerful on-page SEO weapon you have is the Page Title. It's sometimes called the "title tag," which is technically incorrect; the page title is an HTML element, not a tag. I'll try to stick to "page title" in this article, though you may see "title element" pop up, as well. I'm referring to the same thing.

Why is the Page Title so important?

The first goal of a search engine spider is to learn what a page is about. Because the page title is concise (unlike actual page copy) and public (unlike meta tags which are hidden), search engines have placed a great deal of trust in what you put in the Page Title. On SEOmoz, more than three dozen search marketers agreed that it's the number one ranking factor in current algorithms.

Proof of the page title's trust and importance is the fact that it's what will show as the title/link of your page when it appears in the SERPs. And that's another reason why it's so important: It's the first thing a searcher will see and learn about your page, and has great influence on their decision to click on your listing (or not).

And lastly, when a user bookmarks your page, the page title typically becomes the name of the bookmark.

Rules for Writing Page Titles

1.) The page title must be an accurate reflection of what the page is about. Don't put "green widgets" in the title of your Red Widgets page.

2.) Your primary keyword must be in the page title, and should be included at the beginning for the most impact. One or two related keywords can be included, too. Put your business name at the end, after a dash or a vertical pipe character. Some larger brands can get away with having their company name at the front, but not many.

3.) Limit yourself to 60-70 characters, including spaces. Google will generally cut off your title at about 60 characters; Yahoo and MSN cut it off at about 70 characters. Your title can be longer than that, but the extra words won't show in the SERPs, and they become less effective for SEO the further away from the beginning of the page title.

4.) Page titles must be unique. If you have four different pages about green widgets, each page title should reflect just the content on that page. Don't just put "green widgets" in all four page titles and call it good. You're asking for duplicate content problems if you do that. Instead, specifically describe what each page is about: "green widget repair services", "green widget return policy", and so forth.

5.) If you're targeting local searchers, include the appropriate geographic elements in the page title. Find out if there are other towns or cities with the same name as yours, like "Columbus" or "Springfield" -- if there are several with the same name, make sure to include the state/province modifier. Local search is tough enough without having to compete against your peers in cities 2,000 miles away.

6.) Balance the need to write for SEO and the need to write for humans. In other words, don't just jam a list of keywords in the page title. Remember that people will (hopefully) see your page title in the SERPs, and you want something that encourages a click, not something that looks spammy.

Final Considerations

If your site is listed in the Open Directory or the Yahoo Directory, it's possible that the title of your directory listing(s) will also be used in the SERPs as a replacement for the actual page title you've written. More often than not, this is not a good thing.

You can tell search engines not to use your Open Directory or Yahoo Directory titles by placing this meta tag in the HEAD section of your page code:

<META NAME="ROBOTS" CONTENT="NOODP, NOYDIR">

Conclusion

There's no better place to start your on-page SEO than with the Page Title. It has great influence on your search engine rankings, and on the likelihood of getting users to click through to your site. Start with appropriate keyword research, identify the most appropriate keywords for each page, and then follow the recommendations above to get the most out of your page titles.