Meta title (also called SEO title)
Senior SEO-specialist
The meta (SEO) title ensures that you generate more visitors to your website. What exactly is it and what is the importance of a meta title for SEO? We discuss it in this article.
What is the meta (SEO) title?
The meta title, also called title tag, is the piece of text that ends up in the search results page. This is the title of the ”snippet” text on the search results page. Google makes this snippet blue to make it stand out more. As a result, the meta title therefore becomes the most important piece of text displayed in the search results. (1)(2)
The importance of a meta title
A meta title gives a good indication of what can be found on the landing page. Once the meta title is relevant to the searcher, you generate more visitors to your website. How to create a good meta title?
There is no hard rule about the length of the meta title. However, it is important to make the title no longer than 70 characters. When the meta title is longer, it is truncated by Google. It doesn’t look pretty and visitors are less likely to click on your search result.
In addition to length, the standout of the meta title is also important. This title should entice the searcher to click on your website.
My roadmap to writing an SEO title
| Step | Explanation |
|---|---|
| 1. Define your most important keyword | Your most important keyword (or keywords) is the word or phrase you want your page to be found on in Google. This should be the main topic of your page. |
| 2. Perform a Google search with your most important keyword | This will give you an overview of the current competition for that keyword. Look at the meta titles they use. What are the common themes? What words or phrases are often used? |
| 3. Analyze the competition | Note the strengths and weaknesses of competitor titles. What do they do well? Where do they fall short? Where do you see room for improvement? |
| 4. Write a basic version of your meta title | Now that you know what your competition is doing, you can write a basic version of your meta title. It should contain your main keyword and also be attractive to the user. |
| 5. Improve your meta title | Based on your competitive analysis, consider ways to improve your meta title. Can you add more relevant keywords? Can you make it more attractive to users? Can you make it more unique so it stands out among the competition? |
| 6. Test your meta title | Perform a Google search with your new meta title to see how it compares to the competition. Would it stand out? Would it be attractive to a user? |
| 7. Review and refine | Based on your test, revise and refine your meta title. This is an iterative process – you might write and test several versions before finding the perfect one. |
| 8. Implement your meta title | Once you are satisfied with your meta title, implement it on your website. Be sure to track results to see how it performs. In particular, the CTR to the page will tell a lot about this. |
My advice
Fill in your own meta title for the most important pages you want to rank on in Google. When you don’t do this, Google creates an automatic title. This causes the title tag to be unoptimized and irrelevant to your page.
We recommend capitalizing the most important words of a meta title. This highlights your company’s positive attributes. When these positive elements stand out, searchers will be more likely to click on them.
- Influencing Title Links in Google Search | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google for Developers. (s.d.-d). Google For Developers. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/title-link
- SEO Starter Guide: The Basics | Google Search Central | Documentation | Google for Developers. (s.d.-d). Google For Developers. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a meta title?
A meta title is the largest piece of text you see on Google’s search results page. The meta title, as the name implies, is the title of the page and tells the searcher in Google a little more about what he or she is going to find on this page. The meta title may be up to 57 characters long (depending on which characters are used).
What is the impact of Meta Title on SEO?
Provide relevant information and that you stay within the allowed length, otherwise it will be truncated and this looks less attractive. Potential visitors will then be less likely to click on your page.
