This post was stirred out of the overwhelming number of questions I get about how to optimize an ActiveRain blog and profile for the search engines.  I realize that many of you have outside blogs, and only use ActiveRain as a supplemental blog, but that is ok!  Your AR blog is still a very powerful tool, and one that should be optimized properly so it can be successful not only within the AR network and Localism, but on search engines too!

Here is a Basic SEO Quiz For You…

“What is the number one thing search engines look at when deciding to rank your site in the search engines?’

1. Page Content

2. URL’s

3. Title Tags

4. Incoming Links

Any ideas??  Well, if you answered #3, you answered correctly.  Title tags, or Meta Titles are the most important factor in search engine ranking.  Of course all the above are important, and #4 is a close second, but Titles have consistently shown to be the most important attribute to search engines.  And don’t take my word for it, take a look at this study that polled the top SEO experts in the country on what the top factors were.

What is a Title Tag???

Let’s start with the basics.  For those of you that aren’t really saavy to website architecture, this may be helpful.

“A Title Tag, or Meta Title Tag is an HTML element placed on webpages to help identify the page”

It’s commonly used by search engines to determine what a page is about, and thus help rank that page for keywords included in the Title Tag.

Where Can You Find a Title Tag?

Most pages on the internet have a Title tag.  You just need to know where to look.  Here are 2 places you will probably see Title Tags most often:

The easiest way to determine what the Title Tag is for any given page, is to look at the top part of your browser when looking at a page:

The other place where you can find titles commonly is in the search engines themselves.

So… with the understanding that title tags are the most important part of search engine ranking.  What can YOU do about it? A few things…

Title Tag on Your Activerain Profile Page

Many people on ActiveRain have utilized this feature already, but for you newbies out there, and others that may not have realized why this was important, take note…

When you type in a first and last name for profile, it automatically becomes the meta tag title of your profile page, and is used on may places of the site to identify you.  So make sure to tell people who you are, AND the areas you serve (including keywords that will help you rank better for your profile page).

Want proof that this can help your ranking?  Take a look at this:

Title Tag on Your Activerain Blog

The Title Tag on your blog works much the same way as your profile page.  Whatever you insert as the Blog Title becomes the Title Tag of your blog home page.  My blog home page is at: http://activerain.com/blogs/hismove  notice that the title tag is the same as the title of the blog.  In other words… I want to use the keywords that I want to rank for the most as the title of my blog.

I don’t suggest creating a blog title that simply reads:  “Las Vegas Real Estate”…   Use something that separates you from the pack.  Something Catchy, memorable, etc.  But DO include some relevant keywords in the title… that is the point of this whole post.  Showing you how to customize these titles so you can rank better.

Title Tag on Activerain Blog Posts

Ok, so this part may be basic for some, but I’ve found that so many people simply don’t understand this concept.

When you post a blog post, the title of that blog post automatically becomes the Meta Tag Title of that page.  This is also true for many other types of blogging platforms: wordpress, blogger, and Typepad all use a similar system which is one of the reasons blogs rank so well in the search engines.

So, what is the significance to understanding that blog post titles become Meta Tag Titles?  Hopefully, you’ll think alot harder when it comes time to writing your blog post titles!!!

Not only do post titles need to describe what you’re writing about, but they need to include keywords that can help that post rank higher in the search engines.  If you don’t include strong keywords in that title, don’t expect to see that post ranking well.

I hope this short tutorial was helpful for you in understanding why Title Tags are important, and how you can maximize them in the search engines.

Please comment if you have any questions!!

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