How do I write a good page title and meta description?

The page title is the blue headline people see in search results. The meta description is the short summary that often shows under it. Both should be unique to each page, describe the page honestly, and give a searcher a reason to click.

Page titles

Google's guidance boils down to this:

• Make every title unique. Avoid generic titles like "Home" or the same title on every page.
• Describe the page. Lead with what the page offers, for example the service and the area.
• Keep it short. Google cuts off long titles to fit the screen. There is no exact character limit, so put the important words first.
• Add your business name at the start or end, separated by a dash, colon or pipe.
• Do not stuff keywords. Repeating variations of a phrase can make the result look spammy.

Example: Water Heater Repair in Springfield | Your Business Name

Google may rewrite a title that is missing, too long, outdated or does not match the page. A clear, accurate title is the best way to keep yours.

Meta descriptions

• Write one for each important page, starting with your homepage and your most visited pages.
• Summarize the page in a sentence or two, with useful details such as the area you serve or what makes you different.
• Write for people, not search engines. A list of keywords does not help.
• Know that Google may use other text. Google often builds the snippet from the page content when that matches the search better.

Google does not set a length limit for descriptions, but it cuts them off to fit the screen, so lead with the key point.

We can do this for you. Open a request in your client portal and tell us which pages to update. Our team will write titles and descriptions for you to approve.

Common problems

• If Google shows a different title than you wrote, check that your title matches the main heading on the page and is not much longer than needed.
• If many pages share one description, rewrite each one. Duplicates make your results look the same.
• If you changed a title and nothing happened, Google needs to re-crawl the page. That can take days or weeks.

Related articles

• What is a keyword, and how do I pick mine?
• Where should I put keywords on a page?
• What makes a good service page?