What to Know:
– Google’s John Mueller recently answered a question about whether it’s a good idea to match the title tag to how Google rewrites it.
– The question was asked during a Google Webmaster Central hangout.
– Mueller explained that while it’s not necessary to match the title tag exactly to how Google rewrites it, it can be helpful to align them as closely as possible.
– He also mentioned that Google’s rewriting of title tags is based on various factors, including relevance to the query and the content of the page.
– Mueller advised webmasters to focus on creating descriptive and compelling title tags that accurately represent the content of the page.
– He also emphasized the importance of testing and experimenting with different title tags to see what works best for their specific website and audience.
The Full Story:
During a recent Google Webmaster Central hangout, Google’s John Mueller answered a question about whether it’s a good idea to match the title tag to how Google rewrites it. The question was asked by a webmaster who noticed that Google often rewrites their title tags in search results and wanted to know if they should try to match the rewritten version.
Mueller explained that while it’s not necessary to match the title tag exactly to how Google rewrites it, it can be helpful to align them as closely as possible. He mentioned that Google’s rewriting of title tags is based on various factors, including relevance to the query and the content of the page. Therefore, it’s important for webmasters to focus on creating descriptive and compelling title tags that accurately represent the content of the page.
Mueller advised webmasters to think about what users would expect to see in the search results and try to provide that information in the title tag. He also emphasized the importance of testing and experimenting with different title tags to see what works best for their specific website and audience.
While Google’s rewriting of title tags can sometimes be frustrating for webmasters who have carefully crafted their own titles, it’s important to remember that Google’s goal is to provide the most relevant and useful information to users. If Google believes that rewriting the title tag will better serve the user’s query, it will do so.
Mueller also mentioned that Google’s rewriting of title tags is not always perfect and there may be cases where the original title tag is more appropriate. In such cases, webmasters can use the “nosnippet” meta tag to prevent Google from rewriting the title tag.
In summary, while it’s not necessary to match the title tag exactly to how Google rewrites it, it can be helpful to align them as closely as possible. Webmasters should focus on creating descriptive and compelling title tags that accurately represent the content of the page. Testing and experimenting with different title tags is also important to find what works best for their specific website and audience.
Overall, the key takeaway from Mueller’s answer is that webmasters should prioritize creating title tags that provide relevant and useful information to users. While Google’s rewriting of title tags can sometimes be unpredictable, it’s important to focus on the user experience and ensure that the title tag accurately represents the content of the page.
Original article: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/matching-titles-rewritten-by-google/492290/