What are title tags and meta descriptions?
Title tags, also known as meta titles or meta title tags, are the clickable headlines that appear in search results, on browser tabs, and in link previews when people share your content on social media. Underneath them are meta descriptions, short summaries that give an overview of the content that’s on your webpages. Combined, they’re commonly referred to as your metadata.
How to optimise title tags and meta descriptions
1. Keep them short
Google recommends meta titles should be under 60 characters and meta descriptions should be within 155-160 characters. Any longer and they get cut off or partially displayed in search engine results pages (SERPs), which impacts understanding and click-through rate (CTR).
To help get you started, download our free metadata template to automatically check the number of characters you’ve used — all you need to do is fill it in!
2. Add relevant keywords
Think about the products, services or solutions you offer and the search terms your target audience may use to find you. For example, if you’re a menswear clothing retailer, you could include “Men’s t-shirts,” in your title tag, adding the specific types of t-shirts you sell to the meta description e.g., “See our full range of crew-neck, short-sleeve, long-sleeve, & polo t-shirts.”
If you’re not sure what keywords to use, a great tool to access for free is Google Trends which tells you how frequently people are searching for specific terms and phrases.
Be sure to avoid keyword stuffing (throwing in as many search terms as possible) in your metadata and use words and phrases in a way that feels natural.
3. Match your page title
Google will compare your meta title with your page title, commonly known as a heading 1 (H1). If they don’t match, search engines will typically “guess” which title to show in its results, based on the search term used, meaning you have less control over what’s displayed.
4. Include your brand name
Having your business’ name in the meta title tells people that the content appearing in the results is from your business, acting as a signal of trust. It’s also a great way to differentiate your webpages from competitors.
5. Avoid duplicates
Ensure that each of your webpages have a unique title tag and meta description. This helps Google surface relevant content in search results, which improves CTR to your website. Having duplicates makes it harder for Google to know what webpage to pick, so it either guesses or doesn’t show any.
Start optimising your title tags and meta descriptions
Optimised meta titles and descriptions are a sure fire way to boost your SEO performance, improving the way search engines index your pages, and most importantly, encouraging higher click-through rates (CTR) so more people visit your website and begin to engage with your content.
Prioritising them as part of your search strategy is a no brainer!
