How to Create Search-Friendly Titles

We recommend creating titles for your Hubs that contain phrases people type into search engines. This makes them easier to find, and improves your chances of getting a significant number of readers. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool enables you to easily discover and analyze common search terms that are associated with your Hub’s topics.

To access all of the Keyword Tool’s features, you will need to be signed in to your Google Account. If you don’t have a Google Account, you may still be able to use a limited set of features, but it’s worth it to create a Google Account if you don’t have one already.

1. Visit Google AdWords. If this is your first time visiting, you will need to connect your Google Account with a Google AdWords account. This will only take a couple moments.
2. Under the “Tools and Analysis” tab, select “Keyword Tool.” This will take you to the Google AdWords Keyword tool.
3. Enter a phrase or potential title that you would like to research. To research multiple phrases, hit the return key in between each phrase. Leave the “website” and “category” boxes empty.
4. Click the “Broad” and “Exact” boxes under the Match Types header on the left.
5. Click “Search”
6. Have a look at the results. They will be a mixture of potential titles and related searches. If they do not pertain to your Hub's subject matter, you can filter these results by excluding or including certain terms by typing them into the boxes to the left.
7. Click on the “Columns” button at the top right corner of your results.
8. Leave all boxes unchecked except "Global Monthly Searches" and "Approximate CPC (Search)." These are the most important numbers to consider when selecting titles using this tool.
9. Click “OK.” Now you will only see numbers showing a very loose estimation of global search traffic and the estimated average amount advertisers pay for each click on ads associated with those terms.

The Global monthly searches column offers a loose estimation of the number of times a particular keyword is searched for in a given month globally. By clicking at the top of the column, you can arrange the results so that keywords with the greatest number of monthly searches are at the top.

The Approximate CPC column shares an estimation of of the cost per click for each search keyword that an advertiser is paying. This gives you a general idea of the sort of income you might get from ads on a Hub related to a particular keyword.

If you're signed in to your Google Account, you will notice that suggested keywords are presented in clusters called ad group ideas. You can expand a particular group by clicking the plus sign box to the left of its title.

Ad group ideas can help you find and investigate the keywords that are most closely related to the Hub you intend to write. They can also give you an idea of the various subsets of interest people might have on a particular subject, which can give you ideas on future Hubs to write, as well as subjects to address in subtitled Text Capsules of your Hub.

For example, ad group ideas listed for a search on "grilled steak recipe" include:

• Tuna
• Sirloin steak
• Best recipes
• Grilled salmon
• Tips recipes
• Easy recipes
• Grilled pork
• Oven

From keywords you spot within those groups, you may be inspired to write a Hub titled "Top Sirloin Steak Recipes" with sub-sections on grilled sirloin steak, baked sirloin steak, general grilling tips, and easy ways to grill steak. You might additionally be inspired to write additional Hubs on grilling tuna and pork.

You will notice that exact keywords are in brackets, while broad keywords are unadorned. You will also notice that the global monthly searches and CPCs associated with broad terms are generally much higher than those associated with exact keywords, as shown in the example below.

The Global Monthly Searches number given to broad keywords is an estimation of traffic to both the keyword shown and closely related keywords. The Global Monthly Searches number for an exact keyword is an estimation of traffic to just that keyword. If you have entered similarly-worded queries on Google and noticed that the results are quite similar, you will conclude that the actual amount of traffic that any particular keyword in a title might draw is probably something between the broad and exact figures you see.

The Global Monthly Searches associated with a keyword can give you a rough idea of whether a keyword is too broad or too niche to include in a title. If the Global Monthly Searches for a certain broad term is below 500, chances are it is too niche- a Hub using that keyword would be found by only a small handful of people each month- if any. If the number is above 50,000, chances are the term is too broad and too competitive- a Hub using that keyword in the title would be lost in the noise.

From the list of results, identify around five keywords that get between 500 and 40,000 Global Monthly Searches that you think would be worth investigating further. Click on each of these keywords to have a look at the top results, as well as the number of search results matching that query.

Ideally, keywords you end up using in the titles of your Hubs will not have any exact matches within the first three search results.

Once you have identified a couple of promising keywords that seem to not be exhaustively covered online and are associated with a moderate amount of search traffic, it is time to form them into a title.

Keep your Hubs' titles as short, descriptive, and concise as possible. If you include a keyword in your title, put it at the beginning. Some keywords will need extra embellishment, but others, such as "Top Sirloin Steak Recipes" serve as fine titles on their own and do not need embellishment.

Fight the temptation to combine multiple keywords into one title. If there are multiple relevant keywords that you would like to use in your Hub, consider using one in your title and another in the subtitle of one of the Text Capsules in your Hub.

Though we recommend that your titles be as short as possible, we even more strongly recommend that the titles you create be fewer than 65 characters long. Anything longer will be truncated. Also, don't forget to properly capitalize your Hub's title, and avoid adding periods at the end (though if your title is a question, feel free to include a question mark).

For more tips on creating good, search-friendly titles, refer to this advice from Mat Cutts, the head of Google' Webspam team.

If you are wondering about matters such as keyword density... STOP! Naturally word your Hubs, and do not go out of your way to stuff your writing full of keywords found through the Google AdWords Keyword Tool or anywhere else. This can damage your reputation with Google and lead to permanent negative consequences on your entire account.

Again, if you are:

• Inserting keywords into the text of your Hub over and over
• Thinking about increasing "keyword density" in your Hubs
• Thinking about keyword density at all

STOP!!!

If you have never done research on search queries before, all this information can seem overwhelming. Don't worry. The process itself is quite simple. Let's review it one more time:

1. Sign in to your Google account
2. Visit the Google AdWords Keyword Tool
3. Type in the subject of a Hub you would like to write
4. Check the Broad and [Exact] boxes to the left, and the Global Monthly Searches and Estimated Average CPC boxes to the right
5. Review the ad groups to get an idea of sub-themes around your Hub's subject, then expand groups to look at specific keywords
6. Identify a couple broad keywords getting between 500 and 50,000 Global Monthly Searches
7. Click on the keyword and select "Google Search" to see what searchers using those keywords currently see
8. Consider using keywords that lead to results in which the top ranked sites do not have exact matches in their titles
9. Use keywords to create short, descriptive, concise titles and subtitles and do not abuse keywords within the body of your Hub

That's it! Happy Hubbing!