Homepage title - Smart theme

[June]

I know this issue has been covered before on the forum, but I can't get this to work

I am using the smart theme and am trying to integrate the site within Actinic
The existing Home page title is 6 words and is listed on Google, so don't want to lose the listing. Need to change the title to Home while retaining the 6 word existing title, as the existing title looks messy

Have created a new Primary home page, and have changed the title to::<TITLE>CUSTOMVAR:MYPAGETITLE<!-- NETQUOTEVAR:PAGETITLE --> and have inserted this (Act_BrochurePrimaryHome.html) as the layout beside the home icon in the catalog tree

I have created a custom property - mypagetitle (text) in advanced /custom /properties

In design-options-properties, have created a property - MYPAGETITLE, value (Home), with USE AS CUSTOMVAR ticked

Still the 6 word title is showing rather than HOME in preview

Can anyone tell me where I am going wrong, please?

Any ideas much appreciated

[RuralWeb]

I am using the smart theme and am trying to integrate the site within Actinic

Are you saying here that you have a non actinic site you are converting?

The existing Home page title is 6 words and is listed on Google, so don't want to lose the listing. Need to change the title to Home while retaining the 6 word existing title, as the existing title looks messy

I dont understand what you are trying to do here - you can enter the page title directly into the home page tab in Actinic. If you are trying to trick google forget it you will do damage to your site.

If you are converting a site then plaes post the url

[June]

Hi,

Sorry - Sorry I should have explained more clearly

We have an actinic site but with Dreamveaver for the front end 'brochure pages' which I am trying to integrate within Actinic

http://www.mindmachine.co.uk

I have entered the whole of the title into the title area beside the home icon - but this shows up along the brochure bar along the top where it should be shown as Home

I have also tried outting HOME directly into the title area of the brochure primary page, but it still shows the old title

[RuralWeb]

I see now. The procedure I have used to achieve this for several site is to transfer the text etc to the Actinic home page using fragments, the Title Tag can be typed directly into the Actinic Home Page tab so that it matches the current site.

The other pages you transfer will not match the DW pages as they will be given new file names so you will need to set up a 404 redirect (search the forum) to direct people who find the old pages. They should also be removed from your server - use DW ftp to delete them.

Maintaining the Title Tag will not always mean that you maintain your ranking on google but if you keep it as much the same as possible then it should.

On all the sites I have converted the front end to Actinic I have seen a definate improvement in search engine rankings so I think it is worth the effort, plus you get the advantage of maintaing the whole site in Actinic.

[June]

Hi Malcolm,

I do have a fragment attached to the Home icon - do you mean I could transfer the title from the actual home icon title to the title on the home icon's fragment - and rename the title on the actual home icon to HOME

Will this do the trick and still be recognised by Google as the actual site title??

Thanks

June

[RuralWeb]

No you do not want the Title Tag to be Home as this means nothing to google.

In the content tree click on the home page icon, in the page details tab enter the text that you want to be your index page (home page) Title Tag ie enter the same as your current site title tag.

Then build the page with fragments to match the content of your current home page - this should maintain your ranking on google.

[Mr Bump]

Does this help?

[June]

Hi Haydn,

I followed the instructions there but the Brochure home area comes up with the original title tag in preview

[RuralWeb]

original title tag

What does it say

[June]

The home title tag is-
Printer and laptop repair, fuser units, maintenance kits and toners

Which is far too long

[Mr Bump]

Have you previewed the catalogue not just the page

[RuralWeb]

T

he home title tag is-
Printer and laptop repair, fuser units, maintenance kits and toners

Which is far too long

Ok change it to read what you want it to be. Ensure that you close ALL browser windows and preview the page. If you dont close the browser windows the preview may still show the old content

[June]

Hi Malcolm,

I meant the title is far too long but I need to keep it as such because the home page is listed by Google under that title tag, so I need to retain it, but I want the title to show up as HOME in the brochure area on the website
this is the problem I am having - I am unable to get this to work using the methods suggested by Actinic

[RuralWeb]

The title is not too bad 40 characters inc spaces is the ideal.

but I want the title to show up as HOME in the brochure area on the website

I think you are entering the title in the wrong place - it sounds like you are putting it in the fragment title. It does not go there - click on the little house icon and enter it into the page title then click on the fragment and enter Home in the fragment title - this will put Home on the brouchure page (homepage) and maintain your title tag.

[Mr Bump]

Are you sure ? wouldn't this read as:

HOME
Printer and laptop repair, fuser units, maintenance kits and toners.

May be wrong

I've just started the seo on my sites and have been wondering about this