A process for preparing a porous support material for supporting catalytically active metals suitable for the hydrodemetallation of heavy hydrocarbon fractions containing metals under hydrotreating conditions, which process comprises: (a) preparing an extrudable titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania, based on the total weight of the titania alumina, by: (i) co-precipitating aluminum sulfate and titanyl sulfate with sodium aluminate while using an amount of titanyl sulfate sufficient to provide a final support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania; or (ii) mixing alumina and an amount of titania sufficient to provide a support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania based on the total weight of the titania alumina; or (iii) impregnating an alumina powder with a titanium compound in an amount sufficient to provide a support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania based on the total weight of the titania alumina; (b) optionally, peptizing the titania alumina; (c) extruding the titania alumina to form a titania alumina extrudate; and (d) calcining the extrudate at a temperature ranging from about 960°C to 1050°C for about 1 hour to about 3 hours to obtain a calcined support; wherein the support has a surface area ranging from about 50 to about 150 m 2 /g, and the support has a total pore volume in the range of from about 0.7 to about 1.2 cubic centimeters per gram, with greater than 40% of the total pore volume having pores in a diameter larger than 200 Å, about 30% or greater of the total pore volume having pores in the range of about 200 Å to about 500 Å and, greater than 10% of the total pore volume having pores with a diameter above 1000 Å and wherein the support comprises titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt % titania based on the total weight of the titania alumina; wherein the pore volume and pore size distribution properties of the support are determined by mercury penetration porosimetry using a mercury porosimeter at a pressure range from about atmospheric pressure to about 4,000 bar, with a contact angle, Θ = 140° and a mercury surface tension of 0.47 N/m at 25°C. (a) preparing an extrudable titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania, based on the total weight of the titania alumina, by: (i) co-precipitating aluminum sulfate and titanyl sulfate with sodium aluminate while using an amount of titanyl sulfate sufficient to provide a final support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania; or (ii) mixing alumina and an amount of titania sufficient to provide a support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania based on the total weight of the titania alumina; or (iii) impregnating an alumina powder with a titanium compound in an amount sufficient to provide a support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania based on the total weight of the titania alumina; (i) co-precipitating aluminum sulfate and titanyl sulfate with sodium aluminate while using an amount of titanyl sulfate sufficient to provide a final support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania; or (ii) mixing alumina and an amount of titania sufficient to provide a support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania based on the total weight of the titania alumina; or (iii) impregnating an alumina powder with a titanium compound in an amount sufficient to provide a support comprising titania alumina having 0.3 to 5 wt% titania based on the total weight of the titania alumina; (b) optionally, peptizing the titania alumina; (c) extruding the titania alumina to form a titania alumina extrudate; and (d) calcining the extrudate at a temperature ranging from about 960°C to 1050°C for about 1 hour to about 3 hours to obtain a calcined support; <EOS>