During an office hangout, Google’s John Mueller answered a question about title tags. What algorithmic factors are used to decide the re-rendering of title tags. Mueller offers suggestions for a proactive approach to addressing title tag rewrites.
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What factors affect the title tag algorithm?
The person asking the question wanted to know what factors influence Google’s title tag change algorithm.
Question about title tag display error:
“Over the summer, Google released an update on title generation for web pages. Can you tell us what factors this new algorithm determines the title should be changed on.
We’ve tried using the new documentation on this but it doesn’t seem to work.
The update affected some of our pages. Mostly a category page, its title is cut off and the domain name is added.
At the same time, we’ve noticed several other sites in the search results with this issue.
Our main competitors in search results still have the same titles they’ve been using since before the update.”
Algorithmic factors affect title tag
Google has provided that information in documentation on how title tag capture algorithm works.
So, Mueller suggests businesses should read it. Next, Mueller offers tips for dealing with this new Google display.
The questioner mentioned that this is happening with category pages. So maybe it’s because of the so-called
Micro-boilerplate text in title elementsBoilerplate in this case means repeated content. It may be because the content in the category page is not what is on the title. Or it could be that the current title tag is incorrect. The title is just a bunch of keywords a publisher wants to rank for.
A very common mistake with title tags is to use the title tag to generate keywords instead of using it to describe the web page.
John Mueller answered the question:
“I think we have some information in the latest blog post doing about these title changes. I will definitely check that out. ”
The title tag is no longer tied to an individual query
An interesting view that John Mueller shared is that headers are no longer tied to individual queries.
Mueller continued his answer:
“One of the bigger changes that I think happened here is that the headers are no longer tied to each query.”
How to fix title tag
Next, Mueller discusses how to troubleshoot title tags to find the most optimal.
Mueller advises:
“This is entirely site-by-site.
On the one hand, it won’t adapt dynamically. But it will be easier to test.
On the other hand, experiment with different things, you can change everything on the pages. Then use the tools to see changes to Google search results.
So this is something that I would recommend. If you see weird headers on your pages. Consider this just a test of different approaches. And wait and see which is more effective, what is best for your site, for your type of content. And build on that to apply to the rest of the site.
That’s the direction I would take, basically you just accept it and experiment.
And because there are stats per page, it’s a lot easier to experiment with. See clearly what are the different options I can do, how do I display the company name or website name. Or how can I display relevant titles and all that.
In the end, just test things out.”
As for the competitor’s title tag to remain unchanged, Mueller stated that Google is not targeting web pages for title tag rewrites.
How to respond to title tag rewrites
Mueller didn’t expand on “the title is no longer tied to individual queries.” That might be a good question for someone to ask in next week’s hangout. He also advises that you can change the title tag. Then submit the URL via Search console to see if Google responds positively to the changes.
See more What is Meta Title? How to write standard SEO title
This is a summary of the latest feedback on Google’s changes to the title tag. If you still have any questions, quickly contact the TOS team for advice on Professional website SEO services.
Source: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-to-fix-google-title-tag-rewriting/425408/#close
