How Impactful Are Meta Titles on Google Rankings?

Meta titles (or “title tags”) are short text you can use to label a webpage in its HTML code. They have long been a part of search engine optimization, but how impactful are meta titles on Google ranking factors nowadays?

The question needs a good answer because some confusion has arisen about the subject. This confusion occurred after a senior Google search analyst said that titles may result in changes to rankings.

Don’t worry; we’ll settle the issue for you right here. Find out how important meta titles really are and how to write an excellent Google title tag.

Just How Impactful Are Meta Titles on Google Search Rankings?

Meta titles can have a significant impact on your Google search rankings. They help the search engine understand your content and how it relates to search intent. Consequently, you should never ignore them when creating SEO content.

Content relevance, quality, and context are three of Google’s most important ranking factors. Your title tags can help indicate all of these characteristics to the search engine, which is why meta titles impact Google search.

• Relevance: The most basic sign of relevance to a user’s query is the keywords you use. When Google sees you’ve used the keyword prominently and naturally in your title tag and page content, it’s more likely to rank you for matching queries with the targeted user intent.
• Quality: Google looks for signals that demonstrate that content is trustworthy and “people-first.” A spammy or generic meta title that does not attempt to match niche user intent could tank your rankings.
• Context: Google tries to match searches that fit the setting and context of users and their interests. A meta title can include your company name or location to provide more context to your content and help you reach users with matching search intent.

Though short and sweet, meta titles are impactful on Google search results.

How Important Are Meta Titles for SEO? 

Meta titles are an essential part of your SEO strategy. They help your target audience find your site and can motivate them to visit you.

Your meta titles help people find your site because effective title tags contribute to better rankings on search engine result pages. As Googlebot crawls and indexes your page, it compares the information from the title tag to your content to see if the page could be valuable to searchers. A solid match can get you on page one.

Google also uses meta titles as the title link on SERPs. These short titles are like signs and billboards for web traffic, beckoning netizens to “stop in” and take a look. Impactful meta titles on Google generate compelling title links that urge your audience to click.

If you don’t supply a meta title, Google will create its own title link. Google also uses a different title link than the provided meta title if its algorithm believes another phrase works better. However, your meta title influences the title links it creates, so you should always try to create effective title tags.

Be aware that meta titles alone are not enough for good SEO; they’re just one piece of the whole content marketing puzzle. You’ll never have good SEO by creating awesome titles and poor content, so make sure you can do both well.

Can You Keep Google From Rewriting Your Meta Titles for Title Links?

Studies have discovered that Google rewrites over half of the meta titles it gets. Unfortunately, you can’t prevent Google from doing these rewrites. Thankfully, most of these adjustments are minor word swaps. Other times, it will use the H1 header in your post instead of the meta title. 

You can count on Google to change your meta title if it doesn’t match the page contents. Titles that are too short (fewer than 30 characters), too long (over 60 characters), or overly repetitive get changed often. Also, if you use the same generic meta title across various pages, Google will probably change it. 

Any of these issues lead to less impactful meta titles on Google. For those reasons, you should always follow best practices when creating Google title tags.

What Are the Best Practices for Writing Google Title Tags? 

Ensure that your meta titles are supporting your SEO by following these recommendations:

• Concise and descriptive: Meta titles should be between 50-60 characters (including spaces).
• Similar to the H1 header on the page: Drastically different page titles can confuse readers and Google, leading to low rankings and traffic.
• Front-loaded with one keyword: Capture user interest quickly by leading with your top keyword whenever possible, but never stuff multiple keywords into a meta title.
• Limited capital letters: Writing a meta title in all caps makes it harder to read and increases the likelihood that the text will not fit into a title link.
• Unique: Each page should get its own distinct title tag, even when pages cover similar subjects.

Another way to determine which meta titles impact Google is to analyze your competitors. Consider what types of title tags are getting the highest ranking and use a similar style. 

How Do You Add or Fix a Meta Title? 

You can insert the meta title into your HTML code in the <head> section. The text typically looks like this:

<head><title>Short Title | Company Name</title></head> 

However, most modern content management systems make it easier to enter your meta title when creating a page.

Dedicated SEO tools can identify which of your site’s meta titles aren’t impactful on Google and help you correct them. If you don’t have the time to learn and implement those tools, you’re better off working with an SEO agency that can handle it for you.

Make Your Meta Titles More Impactful on Google 

At the end of the day, meta titles are still content, and the quality of your content is what affects your Google rankings. Are you struggling to keep up with the steady output of quality content that’s necessary for good SEO?

BKA Content takes the anxiety out of content marketing and SEO. Reach out to our experts today for a free SEO audit. We’ll show how to improve your on-page SEO and generate impactful meta titles on Google.