Title Tag & Ranking Improvement....

[RankStealer]

Hi

I have a dilema that I could do with some help with please.

I am working on a site and its home page is ranking on the second page of google position 2 (12) for a term such as [Portrait Photographer London]

The title tag I am using for this homepage is "Portrait Photographer | Clients Brand Name" ( which does NOT include the word "photography / photographer")

The reason why I used this term for the home page is eventually I would like to rank in the top 3 (I'm ambitious) for [Portrait Photographer] so I left out the location on the home page as I have an about us page where I have the title tag "Portrait Photographer London | Clients Brand Name"  this is currently ranking on page 3 position 3 (33) for a term such as [London Portrait Photographer]

I'm wondering if including the location would help move my client up any? So it would be: "Portrait Photographer London | Clients Brand Name" and the keyword I want move up for is [Portrait Photographer London]

Hope this makes sense

[RankStealer]

What happens if I do duplicate the title tags, Matt?

[Matt-Williamson]

I would definitely alter the about us page to an exact match so that your title tags for the homepage and about us page are not identical/duplicate.

[RankStealer]

Ok Matt.....that sounds perfect.

One more question (i'm sure I typed this but it somehow disappeared)

The about us page is ranking for London Portrait Photographer yet the home page is ranking for Portrait Photographer London would it be sensible to change the title tag of the about us page to London Portrait Photographer so it is an EXACT match?

[Matt-Williamson]

Hi Nicola

I would consider building links to these other pages, such as about us page, to increase their ranking power for a term. your about us page is indexed in order to appear in the serps so if it is ranking for another term then this will still be the case. Changing the title on the homepage will just increase it's relevance for that term and you can have multiple pages satisfying a search, so I would worry. I have several keywords that have multiple pages ranked for the same search - one hasn't replaced the other.

It is difficult to rank one page for too many keywords as it tends to dilute things. When I have been targeting local search results I have always created separate pages purely devoted to that location and then I have created decent content on the page targeting that location/keyword combination. Then I have gone after links for those pages in order to help them ranking more successfully. I know the customers that your client is targeting are different to the ones that will benefit from a how-to guide for instance correct lighting or how to use flash properly. However you are likely to gain links from photography related sites which will improve you link profile and relevance to its niche - photography so this will definitely help you increase your rankings.

When you go after links just make sure you don't over do the anchor text as link profiles are under more scrutiny than ever in a post penguin world. Building decent content and gaining exposure will lead to you beating these other sites for more competitive keywords - I would work hard go down this route especially if they haven't as you will build a site that is an information resource for photography and in turn promote your clients work - you will be on to a winner!

Hope this helps!

[polarking]

I like to test new title tags all the time. Matt had a great answer being specific helps. I usually try title tag tests on some lower pages as a safe bet. When you can narrow down the search you generally rank better. For example I sell products that are cooking related so in the title tag I include a popular use term in the tag. Avocados are used in guacamole so I put it in the tag soon I was ranking 2-3 for months. When I took it out the rank slipped to six. Hope I helped and good luck

[RankStealer]

Hi Matt

Thank you for your response.

Ok so firstly I will change my homepage title tag to Portrait Photographer London.

The homepage is much more powerful in terms of PA than the about us page....infact I would say 97% of the clients links point to the homepage and the other 3% to their blog.

The about us page is highly optimised for the keyword [London Portrait Photographer] too do you think if I make the change to the title of the homepage it would be possible for the homepage to replace the about us page in serps?  The reason I ask is I think it is more natural for the landing page to be the home page for a search query like [London Portrait Photographer] rather than the about us page and I fear I could lose click thru.

As for [Portrait Photographer] keyword I am not worried at this stage as by default most photography sites have very little if any content whatsoever....most appear to have the rankings they have for two reasons A) there domain age and B) number/strength of links.

I am working with the owner to produce good quality content and hopefully that works.....also her work gets featured on blogs which are dedicated to showcasing photographers work, on the how to we haven't really done any of that...I guess you mean "how to use flash?" or "how to shoot in the sun"? Those kind of how tos? The only concern I would have about doing that is the audience those would be catering to would be different to who she is trying to sell her services too.

But I do know one particular photography although in a different niche who has done that and it has brought them quite a lot of followers and links from other people in the industry trying to build their photography business.

.

[Matt-Williamson]

I have always found the more specific your title tag is the higher the ranking is for that particular term, so it would make sense to include the term London on your homepage title tag with the correct keyword order.

Your homepage will, most likely, carry more authority in terms of links than your about us page as with most websites the most links usually point to the homepage, so making your on-page optimization for the term Portrait Photographer London more concentrated/location specific should lead to a higher ranking for that term than your about us page for starters.

As far as ranking top 3 for Portrait Photographer I have found that making my titles and other on page factors more specific that with time and hard work I have eventually ranked for the less specific. For this I would concentrate on building great content and making sure it gains exposure using methods such as social media, then there is no reason why with time, hard work and dedication you can't make it so. Do you already produce how-to guides for photography - this could be through written and video guides? I would use this to build you clients reputation as an authority online. Sharing some of your clients expertise is a good thing and will lead to gained exposure without it being at the detriment to their business if done correctly!How is your social media going - are you building up a good following and does you client interact with authority figures in your niche so you can gain exposure for your site and content created?