Your title tag is the most important on-page SEO element you control and the one most often left as whatever the CMS generated. Descriptions do not affect ranking at all, and they still decide whether anyone clicks.
Write a unique title of roughly 50 to 60 characters for every page, leading with the term you want to rank for and ending with your brand. Meta descriptions should be 140 to 160 characters and written to earn a click rather than to hold keywords, since they are not a ranking factor.
Title tags
- Lead with the primary term. Front-loaded words carry more weight and survive truncation.
- Keep to roughly 50 to 60 characters, since Google truncates on pixel width rather than character count.
- Make every title unique. Duplicates are one of the most common site-wide problems.
- Add the brand at the end, separated by a pipe or dash.
- Write for a human. A title reading as a keyword list gets skipped even when it ranks.
| Weak | Better |
|---|---|
| Home | Acme | Small Business Website Design from $1,700 | Acme |
| Services | Web Design and Development Services | Acme |
| Web Design Company Web Design Agency Web Designer | Web Design Company for Growing Brands | Acme |
Meta descriptions
They are not a ranking factor and have not been for many years. What they do is occupy the largest piece of text in your search result, which makes them an advertisement you write yourself.
- 140 to 160 characters, since longer gets cut.
- Include the search term, because matching words appear in bold and draw the eye.
- State the benefit or the specific answer, not a description of the page.
- Include a reason to click: a price, a number, a promise.
- Unique per page. Duplicated descriptions across a site are a wasted opportunity.
Why Google rewrites yours
Google replaces title tags in a substantial share of results, usually because the original was too long, stuffed with keywords, duplicated across pages, or a poor match for the actual query.
You reduce rewriting by keeping titles concise, unique and accurate to the page content. You cannot prevent it entirely, and a rewritten title is often a signal that yours was not describing the page well.
Common mistakes
- Leaving the CMS default, so dozens of pages are titled after the template.
- The same title on every page, differentiated only by the brand suffix.
- Titles so long the useful part is cut off.
- Descriptions listing keywords instead of giving a reason to click.
- Writing the title for a term the page does not actually cover, which increases bounces and gets rewritten.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a title tag be?
Roughly 50 to 60 characters. Google truncates based on pixel width rather than a fixed count, so shorter is safer. Put the important words first so they survive if it is cut.
Do meta descriptions affect rankings?
No. Google confirmed years ago that they are not a ranking factor. They affect click-through rate, which matters commercially, so they are still worth writing well.
Why does Google change my title?
Usually because it is too long, keyword-stuffed, duplicated across pages, or a poor match for the query. Google substitutes something it thinks describes the page better. Concise, unique, accurate titles get rewritten less often.
Should every page have a unique title?
Yes. Duplicate titles make it harder for search engines to distinguish your pages and waste the strongest on-page signal you control. Duplicated titles across a site are among the most common technical SEO issues.
Should I include my brand in the title?
Usually yes, at the end. It builds recognition and helps with brand searches. On very long titles where the descriptive part would be truncated, dropping the brand is the better trade.