Title Tags and Meta Descriptions

Title tags and meta descriptions are the shop window of a page in the results, and they are usually discussed in numbers: "50–60 characters", "920 pixels", "Google rewrites 20%". Google's documentation has none of those numbers. What it has is behaviour: there is no limit on the length of a title or a description, the line is simply truncated to the device width, and Google composes the title link from several sources and may replace it. This lesson covers what is documented, how to use it, and which familiar rules have to come off their pedestal.

It rests on the title links documentation and the snippets documentation.

The title: what the documentation requires

The requirements for the <title> element are listed outright:

• It exists on every page. Make sure every page on your site has a title specified in the title element.
• Descriptive and concise. Avoid vague descriptors like "Home" for a home page or "Profile" for a person's profile, and avoid unnecessarily long or verbose text.
• No limit, but truncation. There's no limit on how long a title element can be, but the title link is truncated in Google Search results as needed, typically to fit the device width.
• No repeated words. A few descriptive terms are sometimes helpful, but there's no reason to have the same words or phrases appear multiple times; that kind of keyword stuffing can make your results look spammy to Google and to users. See also the definition of keyword stuffing.
• Distinct text per page. It's important to have distinct text that describes the content of each page; titling every page on a commerce site the same makes it impossible for users to distinguish between two pages. A long template that varies by only one detail is bad too.
• Brand it concisely. If putting the site name in every page's title, consider including just your site name at the beginning or end, separated from the rest of the text with a delimiter such as a hyphen, colon, or pipe.
• Make the main title clear. Google looks at the main visual title, heading elements and other large and prominent text; ensure your main title is distinctive and the most prominent on the page — for example larger, and in the first visible h1.

Drafting and checking are helped by the meta tag generator and the meta tag checker; the general principles of the text are in the lesson on SEO writing.

When Google substitutes a different title

Per the documentation, if Google detects an issue on the page, it may try to generate an improved title link from anchors, on-page text or other sources. Specific cases are named:

For a multilingual site that is a direct requirement: the title is written in the language and script of the page, not in English "for SEO". If a page appears with a modified title, check whether it has one of the issues Google adjusts for; if not, consider whether the title link in the results is a better fit for the query.

The practical conclusion: for the title not to be replaced it has to match the visible heading and the page's content. A figure such as "Google rewrites 20% of titles" is not in the documentation — it is someone's count on a sample.

The meta description: a hint, not a lever

Google's wording matters here: Google primarily uses the content on the page to determine the snippet, and may also use the meta description element when it describes the page better than other parts of the content. So the description is a candidate for the snippet, not guaranteed text. It generally informs and interests users with a short, relevant summary of what a page is about; it is like a pitch that convinces the user the page is exactly what they're looking for.

On length the same is said as for the title: there's no limit on how long a meta description can be, but the snippet is truncated as needed, typically to fit the device width. So the important part goes first, rather than chasing a character count. The snippet can be controlled with the nosnippet and max-snippet tags and the data-nosnippet attribute.

What Google recommends for descriptions

• Unique. Identical or similar descriptions on every page aren't helpful; use site-level descriptions on the home page or other aggregation pages, and page-level descriptions everywhere else. If time is short, prioritise the home page and the most important pages.
• With facts. A description doesn't have to be in sentence format: it can list the author, publication date, price, age or manufacturer as clearly tagged information.
• Programmatic generation is acceptable. For large sites Google explicitly says programmatic generation can be appropriate and is encouraged: good descriptions are human-readable and diverse, while strings of keywords give a poor picture of the page and are less likely to be displayed as a snippet.
• Truly descriptive. A description is not shown on the page, so it is easy to let it slide, but high-quality descriptions can be displayed in search results and go a long way to improving the quality and quantity of your search traffic. The documentation's own example: a list of keywords is bad; text saying what the shop sells, its opening hours and location is better.

Fitting wording to the visible display conditions is helped by the snippet planner, and finding pages with low CTR by CTR analysis.

What is not in the documentation

These widespread claims do not appear in the documentation, so they cannot be presented as rules:

• "a title is 50–60 characters, 600 pixels" and "a description is 920 pixels on desktop, 680 on mobile, about 120 characters";
• "since 2021 Google rewrites about 20% of titles" and "replaces 40–70% of descriptions";
• "the title is a direct ranking signal, the description does not affect positions": these guides describe how each element is used, not its weight in ranking;
• "a brand at the start of the title weakens ranking" and "a keyword within the first three words";
• a CTR rise "from 1.2% to 3.8%" after a title change as proof.

That does not mean the opposite is true. It means lengths and proportions are guidelines, not norms. The practical consequence follows from the documentation: since truncation happens on the right and depends on the device, put the meaning first.

Formulas are examples, not rules

Patterns help with consistency, but they are tested by one thing: does the text make clear how this page differs from its neighbours. And the title should match the visible heading.

How to check that a change helped

1. Record the page's CTR and impressions in the performance report before the change.
2. Change one element at a time and wait for Google to crawl the page: that takes anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
3. Compare periods of equal length and position: position in the report is averaged, and conclusions from fresh data are unreliable — see the lesson on metrics.
4. Check the result against the live results: the title and the snippet may have been replaced, in which case the edit did not work as intended.

Checklist

1. Every page has a unique descriptive title.
2. The title matches the visible main heading and the content.
3. The main point comes first: truncation follows the device width.
4. No repeated words and no boilerplate titles.
5. The site name is short, at the beginning or the end, with a delimiter.
6. Important pages have a unique description with facts; large sites may generate them programmatically.
7. Site-level descriptions for the home and aggregation pages, page-level for the rest.
8. Conclusions about CTR drawn over comparable periods.

Mistakes

• Presenting the 60-character and 920-pixel figures as Google requirements.
• The same title or description on every page.
• A title that does not match the content: Google will substitute another.
• A description made of a list of keywords.
• Counting on the description necessarily becoming the snippet.
• Judging an edit by one week of CTR.

What comes next

The next lesson continues the snippet topic and takes the meta description on its own: the meta description.