Thought Leadership
Be it for targeted acquisition, greater reach or other goals: A good ranking for relevant search terms is important to lead potential customers to your website. This makes search engine optimization a fundamental tool in online marketing.
Whether searchers click on the result depends not only on the positioning. Another aspect is the title link, which appears above the description. While Google can be given a direction in terms of content, the title in the search results is often generated individually. One source that has recently been officially added is the so-called Open Graph Title.
Search results differ from person to person
For an identical search query, the results on the search results pages, known as SERPs in technical jargon, can vary greatly. For example, due to the location, which plays a role in local SEO in particular, but also other personal data. In addition to the ranking, the descriptions and title links can also differ.
As a website operator, you have a wide range of options for influencing the title links displayed in the search results. First and foremost is the page title. However, Google also takes into account the main heading on the page, visually emphasized content or relevant text passages that better match the respective search query. Google’s official list of possible influencing factors now includes the Open Graph Title as a source, or “og:title” for short. While the English documentation was already updated on August 26, 2024, the German version has yet to be updated.
The “og:title” is an element of the Open Graph protocol. This was created by Facebook in 2010 to improve the presentation of linked websites in posts. Elements such as “og:description” for the page description or “og:image” for the page image provide social networks with important data. In this respect, they have always played an essential role in online marketing, specifically social media marketing.
Success factor title link in search engine optimization
Whether you want to reach national target groups or attract regional customers through local SEO: although the ranking is the basic criterion, it is not the only one that determines whether searchers click through to the website. The decision is also influenced by the title link in the search results. Its blue color and font size make it the first thing that catches the eye. The better it meets the searcher’s expectations, the more likely they are to click on the result. Precise planning and implementation of search engine optimization therefore also includes incorporating the click-through rate as a key performance indicator.
The click-through rate (CTR) provides information about the percentage of users who have clicked on a search result after seeing it. With 100 impressions and ten clicks, the CTR would therefore correspond to ten percent.
As a result, the title link must not only appeal to the search engine, but above all to potential customers. Consequently, the “og:title” element should not be misused for outdated practices such as keyword stuffing. Instead, all metadata that can be used to generate title links should be filled with meaningful and high-quality content. This is what ultimately characterizes sustainable SEO: Quality, relevance and originality.
(pd/goodRanking SEO)
