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Everything To Understand Regarding Google’s Title Tag Update So Far
-
Kanika
- 2023-03-13 05:45:11
- 2 Comments
- Digital Marketing
In case you missed it, Google is now displaying your carefully crafted title tags less often than it used to on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Dubbed the “Titlepocalypse” by some search engine optimization (SEO) experts, this recent Google update seems to put title generation more in the hands of the search giant, which could mean less control for site owners and companies providing SEO content writing services.
What exactly is going on? Google introduced a new system of producing clickable titles for web pages shown in search results. This system replaces the title tags you have indicated in your site pages’ metadata with on-page text, such as header tags (H1s, H2s and so on) and anchor text from internal links.
Title Tags and SEO
Title tags are an important element of on-page SEO, as they provide a concise and accurate description of the content on a web page to both search engines and users. Here are some ways that title tags can impact SEO:
- Click-through rate (CTR): The title tag is typically the first thing that a user sees when searching for a specific keyword, and can play a significant role in whether they choose to click through to a website or not. A well-crafted and compelling title tag can increase the CTR, which in turn can help to improve the website's search engine rankings.
- Relevancy: Search engines use title tags as one of many signals to determine the relevancy of a web page to a specific search query. The title tag should accurately reflect the content on the page and incorporate relevant keywords to help search engines understand the page's topic and context.
- Rankings: While the exact impact of title tags on search engine rankings is debatable, there is evidence to suggest that relevant and optimized title tags can help to improve a website's rankings for specific keywords. This is because search engines use title tags as a ranking factor to help determine the relevance and importance of a web page.
- Branding: Title tags can also be used to reinforce a brand's message and personality, by incorporating brand-specific terms or messaging into the title tag. This can help to improve brand recognition and recall among users.
How Does The Google Title Update Affect Your SEO?
By providing searchers with a more descriptive title, Google wants searchers to understand pages better before they click. But that is not what is happening to some pages after getting these SEO title tag tweaks. In this light, a site owner or technical SEO agency should monitor short-term effects. If you are noticing a dip in traffic for your top pages on Google Analytics, for instance, do a little digging into your Search Console data (organic):
- Impressions
- Average position
- Click-through rate (CTR) for your target keyword and related queries.
Good or steady performance for the first two metrics but not for the third may require further digging. That is your cue to check if your title HTML tags are being rewritten.
If they are indeed being rewritten to your site’s detriment – meaning, the replacement titles are not matching user intent – what can you do? You can force Google to accept your preferred title. For each page, find out which part of your content is used to replace the title tag and change it.
The silver lining here is that Google’s new system is dynamic and reactive to changes. We saw proof of this with the rectified White House page title. Now, you do not have to start editing all of your pages to gain the upper hand. Instead, if you want to be proactive, you can:
- Think of SEO as a long game, as you may already have
- Continue enhancing your title tag SEO efforts
The Title Tag SEO Challenge: How To Stay On Top Of The Title Changes
Rewritten Google page titles may not affect your search ranking, but they may push away people from clicking through your link and engaging with your content. Based on what we know about the search behemoth’s algorithm updates, this kind of change can happen as Google pleases.
But you don’t need to worry about getting caught off-guard often if you know what to do:
Conduct a Technical Health Check
Page metadata is just one component on your technical SEO checklist, but it should be part of your regular audit. Businesses of any size can delegate this function to a technical SEO company to identify top priorities and address pain points.
Create High-Quality Content
Great title tags exist to support authentic and engaging content. Together, they can elevate your web pages on the SERPs. So get your editorial team more driven than ever to deliver value-adding content to potential site visitors. Planning to outsource content writing? Go with a team that can churn out stuff that passes Google’s content evaluation standards: Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness (E-A-T) and “Your Money or Your Life”(YMYL).
Hire a Holistic Technical SEO Company
Instead of hiring a technical SEO and a separate content writing agency, work with a company that specializes in these two online marketing channels. This option can save you time, money and effort, especially if you’re new to using SEO content services.
What Should You Do If Google Changes How It Displays Title Tags
If Google changes how it displays title tags, it is important to monitor changes, review your title tags, adjust your SEO strategy, test and measure different variations, and stay up-to-date with any further changes. By adapting your SEO strategy to align with the new guidelines, you can help to ensure that your website remains visible and relevant to potential visitors. Here are some steps you can take:
- Monitor Changes: Keep an eye on any updates or changes to Google's search algorithm and how it impacts title tags.
- Review Your Title Tags: Review your website's title tags to ensure they align with the new guidelines or display changes.
- Adjust Your Strategy: Adjust your SEO strategy as needed to ensure that your title tags are optimized for the new display format.
- Test and Measure: Test different title tag variations and measure their impact on search engine rankings and click-through rates. This will help you identify the most effective strategies for optimizing your title tags under the new display format.
- Stay up-to-date: Keep up-to-date with any further changes or updates to Google's search algorithm to ensure that your website remains optimized for search engines.
Conclusion
We have just touched on the major points to consider regarding the recent Google update. These changes have affected websites more broadly, with owners and optimization pros complaining about butchered titles. On the other hand, Google also assures us the new system can and will self-correct. But instead of just waiting for Google to dynamically insert a header or anchor text internally pointing to your page or revert to your title tag, you want to make sure your title tag is good enough to be the page title for users to click on. For more information, visit Collegewebbuilders.com .
- Tags: Marketing, Onlline, Internet
