<title>: the most important element of a quality Web page
The <title> element in HTML is designed to provide a short piece of text that should stand for the document in cases such as:
- window title bars
- bookmark lists
- result lists from search services
A good title
So take care to give your page a good title:
- not too short
- "Section One" won't help much when it shows up in a search results list. Section one of what?. Better: <title>Section One of the Modern Music Guide</title> or even better <title>Time Frame (the Modern Music Guide, Section 1)</title>
- not too long
- Because only 60 to 80 characters are displayed in many window titles, menus, etc.; you can give a more detailed/pleasant title in the top level heading of your document, e.g. <h1>Section One: When has the Modern Time Commenced, Musicwise?</h1> (with a link to the whole Modern Music Guide for context).
Further Reading
- a good title in the Style Guide for online hypertext, by Tim Berners-Lee, 1992.
- Microcontent: Headlines and Subject Lines Alertbox Sept. 1998
About the "QA Tips"
The W3C QA Tips are short documents explaining useful bits of knowledge for Web developers or designers, hosted and produced by the Quality Assurance Interest Group at W3C.
While the tips are carefully reviewed by the participants of the group, they should not be seen as anything else than informative bits of wisdom, and especially, they are not normative W3C technical specifications.
Learn more about the Tips, how to submit your own pearls of wisdom, and find all the other QA tips in the Tips Index.