Freelancers: Your homepage SEO/Meta title is prime SEO real estate, and you’re probably wasting it. Unless you’ve got Beyoncé-level fame (and let’s be honest, if you did, you wouldn’t be reading this), slapping your business name in the title tag and calling it done is like putting a “Bob’s Shop” sign on your store and wondering why nobody knows you sell artisan coffee.

❌ Bad: “Smith & Co”

– What do they do? No idea.
– Where are they? Who knows.
– Why should I care? Exactly.

✅ Good: “Commercial Property Law Services Manchester – Smith & Co”

– Clear service offering
– Location included
– Actually useful for search

❓How To Choose What Goes In Your Title:

Start With Your Main Service

What do people actually pay you for?
Use terms people search for, not internal jargon

Add Your Location (If Relevant)

Town/city/region for local services
Country for national services
Skip if truly international

Include Your Brand Name If You’re Not Brave Enough To Leave It Out

Keep it short

🙈 You Can Ignore This Advice If:

– You’re genuinely famous (hello, Apple)
– You have massive brand recognition in your industry
– Your brand name is literally what people search for

For everyone else (99.9% of businesses), be descriptive.

Check your current homepage title
Ask yourself: “Would someone who’s never heard of me know what I do?”
List your main service, location, and brand
Craft a new title using the formulas above
Test it for 2-3 months
Check your analytics for improvements

Your homepage SEO title is often your first impression in search results. Don’t waste it on just your business name.

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I talk about what’s going on in the SEO world, things you need to know as a small business website owner, load of hint and tips to help your SEO, and the occasional LinkedIn nugget thrown in as well.