How to Optimize Your Page Titles for Mobile Search [Quick Tip]

Mobile continues to change the way that we search, explore, and shop, and as consumer behavior comes further into focus, there are clear opportunities for marketers to take advantage. Mobile is always on for consumers, so marketers need to make sure their mobile search strategies are reaching people in these different search contexts.

According to the Mobile Movement, a study by Google, 77% of smart phone users visit search engines. And page titles are the first thing that mobile searchers evaluate when browsing search results on their phone. The closer you can match your page titles to their search queries, then, the higher the likelihood that a user will click through to your content.

Despite its apparent simplicity, the title of a page is an important marketing tool that allows you to create content that's optimized for internet presence, and facilitates navigation for your audience. Try not to think of a title as a feature of a page (or website), but as a property that affects the entire page by setting the tone and context of that page itself -- it’s your first impression.

Here, take a look at an example of a well optimized title, and then we'll break down the elements to replicate in your own page titles.

Optimizing your page titles for mobile search is really simple. Here's what you should look out for:

1. Aim to limit your page title to only 45 characters, unlike for desktop which is 65 characters.
2. Position your primary keywords toward the front of the title.
3. Continue to apply SEO best practices. That means no keyword stuffing, and maintaining a title that reads naturally.

As a bonus tip, take a look at your site’s analytics (Google Webmaster Tools offers great insight as well) to see what keywords consumers use when on mobile versus desktop. It'll help you make good keyword decisions when titling your page.

Not too hard, right? Let me know what other common SEO questions you have that I can try to answer in future blog posts.