Link title tags are different than the title of your page. This title tag is specific only to the link on the page. When a user hovers his or her cursor over the link, a box will display with text describing where the content of the page to which the link is pointing. This only shows if you have specified the content of the link's title tag. If nothing is there, it will do nothing when the cursor is placed over the link. In the example below, you can see the text box that displayed when the cursor was held over the first link, "Potential East Coast Snowstorm".

The link title tag is the perfect opportunity to add a very brief description of the page you are to which linking. Keep it brief and use one of your keywords if it applies. An example would be if you were to add a link on your homepage that points to your hotel page. Simply add a link title tag with your destination's name plus the word hotels. It doesn't need to be any longer than that.

Most CMS systems have an easy method to add the link title tag. In the simpleview CMS, adding the title tag to the link is easy. While adding a link to your page, simply fill out the "Title" field after adding your link URL and save.

After publishing or saving and previewing the page, your new link title tag is ready for viewing.

Keep your link title tags brief, concise and relevant. Too much in the title tag will waste your efforts to help users and search engines understand the content of the destination page. When linking to an external page, you can choose either to provide a description of the destination page or you can simply title it "external site" to let the user know they will be taken off of your site. Don't worry, if they want to view your website again, studies show users will use their back button to return! One other thing to keep in mind when adding your link title tag is carefully choosing which words you are using to link to another page. Use your keyword research to choose optimal words, such as "hotels" over "accommodations" and be very sparing about using "click here" or "more" as they are generic terms and do not provide a good description of the destination page.

Remember, with search engine optimization, it's not one big thing that helps your website perform, it's all of the little things that add up. A link title tag is just another small step to improve your site for an optimal user and search engine experience!