Meta Title.

The meta title (or title tag) is an HTML element—`<title>Your Page Title</title>`—that defines the name of a web page. It appears in browser tabs, bookmark lists, social media shares, and—most importantly for SEO—as the blue clickable headline in search engine results. It is one of the most influential on-page SEO signals for both ranking and click-through rate.

Title Tag Best Practices

Effective title tags: include the primary keyword near the beginning; stay under 60 characters to avoid truncation in SERPs; clearly communicate the page's value proposition; are unique across every page on the site; and avoid keyword stuffing, which can trigger rewrites. Google rewrites titles it deems inaccurate, misleading, or overly keyword-heavy—aiming for natural, descriptive titles reduces rewrite probability.

Google's Title Tag Rewrites

Since 2021, Google has increasingly rewritten title tags in SERPs when it determines they don't accurately represent the page. Rewrites are more likely for overly long titles, titles with excessive keyword repetition, titles that don't match page content, and titles that are too similar across multiple pages. Using H1 content that aligns with the title tag is the best defence against unwanted rewrites.