Google’s John Mueller provided an unexpected insight into the influence of title tags on rankings, challenging the prevalent SEO notion that title tags are a crucial ranking factor and clarifying their actual role.
Title Elements
The primary purpose of title tags is to offer a broad description of the webpage’s content.
Google’s SEO Starter Guide outlines how to craft titles:
“…a good title is unique to the page, clear and concise, and accurately describes the contents of the page. For example, your title could include the name of your website or business, other bits of important information like the physical location of the business, and maybe some information about what the particular page has to offer for users.”
The official W3C documentation defines the title tag purpose:
“The title element represents the document’s title or name. Authors should use titles that identify their documents even when they are used out of context, for example in a user’s history or bookmarks, or in search results. The document’s title is often different from its first heading, since the first heading does not have to stand alone when taken out of context.”
Meta Description
The meta description gives a brief overview of the webpage’s content, hence the term "meta description".
The official W3C HTML documentation states:
“The value must be a free-form string that describes the page. The value must be appropriate for use in a directory of pages, e.g., in a search engine. There must not be more than one meta element with its name attribute set to the value description per document.”
Google’s SEO Starter Guide notes that meta descriptions are “occasionally” used to generate the snippet shown in search results:
“The snippet is sourced from the actual content of the page the search result is linking to… Occasionally the snippet may be sourced from the contents of the meta description tag, which is typically a succinct, one- or two-sentence summary of the page. A good meta description is short, unique to one particular page, and includes the most relevant points of the page.”
Google’s Meta Description Best Practices advise:
“A meta description tag generally informs and interests users with a short, relevant summary of what a particular page is about. They are like a pitch that convinces the user that the page is exactly what they’re looking for.”
Both official HTML documentation and Google do not suggest using title tags or meta descriptions to insert keywords or as a call to action. Those are tactics invented by SEOs and could be why many title tags get rewritten due to incorrect implementation.
The Ranking Impact Of Title Tags
John Mueller from Google addressed the direct question of whether modifying the title element can impact rankings. While he did not label the title tag as a ranking factor, he acknowledged that changing the title tag maybe can influence rankings.
This was the question:
“We have a website with satisfying ranks and now our product added new features. We need to modify the page meta title & description, does that affect the current rankings?”
John Mueller responded that revising the title tag could potentially alter the rankings in search results.
Here’s his response:
“Yes, or better, maybe. Changing things like titles or headings on pages can result in changes in Search.”
Mueller did not elaborate on why he used "maybe". However, his answer suggests that merely altering title elements does not guarantee a change in rankings.
In my opinion, based on experience, title elements are just content, and updating your content can influence rankings.
Mueller also implied that changing meta descriptions doesn’t affect rankings directly but could change the snippet displayed in search results, aligning with common digital marketing practices.
Regarding meta descriptions, Mueller stated:
“Similarly, changing the meta description on a page can result in changes with how the snippet of a page is shown in Search. This is expected, and usually something that SEOs or site-owners focus on in an attempt to improve things in search.”
Title Tags Maybe Can Change Rankings
Mueller’s answer may surprise those who believe that title tags are a key ranking factor, a belief that has been part of SEO principles since its early days over 20 years ago when search engines were much simpler. Despite advancements, some in the SEO community continue to adhere to the notion that title elements are significant ranking factors.
Mueller confirmed that modifying the title element might influence search results, corroborating the experiences of some in either direction of rankings.
Listen to the Question and Answer at the 19:29 Minute Mark:
New: Google Now Uses Open Graph Title Tag (og:title) For Title Links
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Krakenimages.com
