You earn your position with content. You earn the click with these two lines of text.
A good title puts the search term first, remains under about sixty characters and promises something concrete. A good description summarizes in about 150 characters what the visitor gets and why it answers his question. The title influences your position, the description only the click.
STEP BY STEP
This is how you approach it
- Put the search term at the beginning of the titleWhat is cut off doesn't count. Start with what the page is about, not your company name.
- Add something distinctiveA price, a term or a number. Among ten results that promise the same thing, the rule that is concrete wins.
- Keep the title under sixty charactersGoogle cuts off above that, and where exactly depends on the device. So put the most important things first.
- Write the description for the searcherNot for the search engine. What does he get on this page, and why is that the answer to his question.
- Make both unique per pageDuplicate titles make choosing impossible for both Google and the reader.
- Check the click-through rate after a monthSearch Console shows impressions versus clicks. Many impressions and few clicks means: rewriting.
PITFALLS
Common mistakes
Listing search terms in the title reads like spam and acts like it. One term, processed naturally, works better than four in a row.
And skipping the description: Google then chooses a sentence from your page, and it is rarely written to gain a click.
- No list of terms — reads like spam.
- Company name not in front — it takes up space.
- Don't skip it — otherwise Google chooses itself.
- Unique per page — confuse duplicate titles.
- Something concrete — a number beats an adjective.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
More about titles
Why does Google show different text?
Because it assesses whether your text matches the search query. If it does not fit, Google will choose a more suitable sentence from your page. That's usually to your advantage.
How many characters exactly?
Google measures in pixels, not characters, so there is no exact limit. About sixty for the title and 150 for the description are safe guidelines.
Does the description affect my position?
No, just the click. The title does count as a ranking signal. Both are worth it, for different reasons.
CONTINUE READING
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