Out of everything you could do for your website in terms of on-page SEO, there’s nothing more important than the title tag. If your title tag isn’t properly written, you won’t get ranked. Even if you did get ranked, with a poor title tag you won’t get very much traffic.

Here’s why the title tag is so important, as well as instructions on how to write an effective title tag.

==> Why the Title Tag Is Important

The title tag plays two main roles.

First, it’s the most important keyword indicator on your website.

When Google comes to you site, it needs to be able to ascertain what your site is about. It uses a number of “clues” to do this.

It has its robots read your website. It looks for keywords, as well as sets of words that when put together helps Google figure out what your site is about. It looks at the people who link to you, as well as your images.

But most importantly, Google looks at your title tags. Your title tags should have your main keyword(s) in it, so that Google can quickly and easily identify what your site is about.

Having your keyword in the title tag is the number one most important on-page SEO factor. Make sure you have your main keyword in your title if you want SEO traffic.

==> Attracting Clicks

In addition to rankings, the title tag plays an important role in getting people to click on your site in search results.

Your title tag is what appears in the search results. It’s the headline of your search listing.

If you have an attention-catching title tag, you’ll get more people to click on your ad. On the other hand, if your title isn’t enticing, people won’t click on your ad.

It’s not just how highly ranked you are in the search engines that matters. It’s also how many clicks you get from those rankings. At the end of the day, the goal isn’t rankings – it’s traffic. Writing a good title tag will help you get that traffic.

==> How to Write a Good Title Tag

Start the writing process with keyword research. What keyword(s) do you want to put in your title tag?

Place your keyword in the beginning of the title tag rather than the end. If you want to place your site name, do it after a separator. For example, if your keyword is “investing strategies,” your title tag might be:

“Investing Strategies for the Middle Class | My Site Name”

Write several titles before finally choosing one to use on your website.

The title tag isn’t just a sentence. It’s a headline that needs to draw attention, as well as a technical indicator for search engines. Time spent optimizing the title tag is time well spent.