5 New Ways to Adapt to Google’s Latest Web Page Title Update

Google recently rolled out an update to replace some title links on their search engine results page. A title link is the clickable web page title on each search result. They are critical to provide people a brief insight into the contents of your website pages and show why it’s relevant to their query. Since title links are the main piece of information people use to decide what search result to click on, it is imperative to implement high-quality page titles on your website.

The goal of Google’s update is to better represent and describe the contents of a webpage. Unfortunately, their new method to replace some of them is completely automated and may hurt your website’s search engine optimization (SEO). Below are 5 ways you can adapt with examples, to control how your web pages appear on Google’s search results page and improve your Search Engine Optimization.

1. Write a Web Page Title for Every Page

Each page of your website should have a unique title, specified in the title element. Google will replace any title that only has the site name, so also include what your web page entails such as: Precision Machining Services | MRJ Industries

2. Be Descriptive But Concise

Refrain from using vague titles such as “Home” for your home page or “Profile” for an individual’s profile page. Also, avoid lengthy titles as they will likely get cut short when it shows up in search results. A concise and descriptive title link for an employee’s profile page may look like this: Frank Hart | Chief Engineer  | Hart Manufacturing

3. Brand Your SEO Titles

Include your site name in the titles when appropriate. Your home page title is an ideal place to include additional information about your website. Separate the site name with a hyphen, colon, or pipe bar. For example: Midwest Fabrication: Custom Heavy Metal Fabrication. 

4. Keep Clear of Keyword Stuffing

It is helpful to include a few descriptive terms in your titles, but ditch repeating the same words or phrases since they are not helpful, and can make your website appear like spam to people and to Google. An example of a title link using keyword stuffing: View our custom tool services on our custom tool services page. 

5. Eliminate Repeated or Boilerplate Text 

To help people distinguish between two pages, incorporate distinct text in the title element. For example, if an electronic engineering company had a dedicated blog series about transient testing, each post in the blog series should include the episode number in the title such as: A Seasonal Series on Transient Testing: Part 1.

If Google does replace a title link, it will use the following sources to automatically determine them:

• Content in the title element of a page
• Primary visual or headline of a page
• Heading elements
• Content that is prominent through the use of stylized text on a page
• Text on a page
• Anchor text on a page
• Text within links that point to the page

By improving the quality of your title links using these suggested best practices, you can take control of how your web pages appear in search results. 

If you need additional help to improve your website’s search engine optimization, Top Floor can help. We have the experience and knowledge to help obtain and maintain top rankings for keywords that will help generate leads and sales for your business. To learn more about our SEO services, check out our website.