Changing the Home Page Title

[kennyrowe]

The following question is for an eCommerce site:

We have a home page title that has been the same for a few years. I would like to keep the keywords that already exist, but move them into different positions based on seasonality.

Format will be (company name) | (keywords). Current format (company name) - (keywords).

Rest of the page titles onsite are formatted (keyword)/(product name) | (company name)

I think having the same keywords, but in a different order wouldn't hurt us in the SERPs. What are your thoughts?

[PracticeFusion]

Rearranging your keywords in the title could definitely make a difference. Here's what SEOmoz has to say about it:

SEOmoz's correlation research has shown that pages which employ the targeted keyword(s) at the front of the title tag benefit greatly in the rankings. There is a direct relationship between proximity to the front of the title element and prominence/rankings as seen by the engines, and the further back in the page title the keyword appears, the worse the correlation with high rankings.

Because of this, if you can do so naturally (aka, without it sounding funny) then it's likely worth testing putting your keywords at the front of your title tag.

[jgower]

I'm all about the keywords at the front of the title, I think it helps CTR as well.  One thing I will say is that you should expect a decline in placement when the titles first change.  I've changed the title of our sites before and it always hurts at first.  Of course, your results may vary - but if not, resist the urge to go back and just stick it out.

[goodlegaladvice]

I change my titles all the time on my homepage about 1 time a month testing to se if the result is better or worse

You can always change it back its not going to drop you that far

[kennyrowe]

Thanks for the feedback!

[RankStealer]

OP sorry to jump in on your thread but can I ask Jeremy can you clarify what you have said for me, if you move keywords around in the title tag you say you see a dip at first?

Im about to do the same thing but I thought I would only see a dip (even temporarily) if I was moving a keyword further away from the front?

Also if you see a dip can you tell me roughly how long this lasts for?

[BonsPlansvacances]

Totally agree. Did the tests .. and i"m always good ranked with targeted keywords on front.