Why is Google changing my title tags?
-
I have a few sites set up this way with their title tags:
"Keyword rich phrase(s) | Company name" and Google is showing more and more of them like this in the SERPs - "Company name: Keyword rich phrase(s)"
I don't see this happening to many other sites...am I hallucinating or what's going on here? Is this happening to anyone else?
I don't see it necessarily affecting rankings, but for my sites with little brand recognition I want those keywords first.
Bueller? Bueller?
-
Hi Guys, Very strange indeed. For my competition, none of their page titles (Not even containing their brand) are being changed in the SERPS. But, mine is. I have to say there might be a correlation with external links. I have been working pretty hard on getting my brand (Journey Beyond Travel) as the dominant keyword that external sites link to me with. This effort allows me to 'clean' my backlink profile which leaned slightly too much on exact-match anchor text. Now that I have gone through and done this, Google has been changing my title by putting my brand first, and then my keyword phrase. Not sure if this is good or bad, but like I mentioned, none of my 'competition' has had their page titles changed and they haven't done much with their backlink profiles. I have been steadily losing my SERP position, which is another issue that anyone is welcome to look into : ) Thanks so much! Thomas
-
Google is changing SERP results to show the brand in front of the title, look at seomoz.org in the search results.
SERP:
SEOmoz: SEO Software. Simplified.Actual Title Tag:
SEO Software. Simplified. | SEOmozI believe it has to do with a verified Google+ page/website, all of the instances I've noticed they were verified.
-
Check a few things:
1. Length: Try and keep them under 70 characters
2. Content: Make sure they aren't spammy.
Either can trigger Googs to re-write your title.
-
They've been changing titles for at least two years, maybe even longer - not sure exactly how long. It's done automatically and all that can be done is to reinforce topical focus around the primary phrases you've integrated into your actual Titles. If you have too much content in a Title, or if there are conflicting signals about a page's focus, Google's system may determine a different Title better represents the page than what you've put out there.
-
I'm having the same issue too with one of my sites. I just noticed this yesterday. Any insight would be appreciated. I've never known Google to change the title of web page. Am I mistaken? Have they done this for a while?
-
Google changes page Titles in their results based on an automated process of evaluating what they think a site / page is about and what their system thinks best represents that page's topical focus. The more signals you refine to integrate your intended title's focus, the less likely they'll do that. You can read their official explanation and see a Matt Cutts video on it here.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Does Google considers the direct traffic on the pages with rel canonical tags?
Hi community, Let's say there is a duplicate page (A) pointing to original page (B) using rel canonical tag. Pagerank will be passed from Page A to B as the content is very similar and Google honours it hopefully. I wonder how Google treats the direct traffic on the duplicate Page A. We know that direct traffic is also an important ranking factor (correct me if I'm wrong). If the direct traffic is high on the duplicate page A, then how Google considers it? Will there be any score given to original page B? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Can we add header tags followed by header tags without text in-between? Best practice?
Hi all, I need clarification on this. We are adding new pages where H2 is followed by few bold bullet point headings with plain text description under each bullet point. I am just wondering whether we can given these bold bullet points as H3 tags as just leave as text. In the below example, can "**Good for website" **and "**Good for visitors" **be H3 tags or not? Benefits of SEO (H2) Good for website: Followed for best practices to show in search results Good for visitors: Will give better user experience. Number of H3 tags followed by a H2 is fine? In fact header tags followed by any header tag if Okay without plain text in-between? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Does Google push down for not ranking top for branded keywords?
Hi all, Usually websites rank for their branded keywords. Some times third party websites takeover the websites for branded keywords. If there are more number of such queries where website is not ranking (top) for branded keywords, Google push down website in overall rankings? Any correlation? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | vtmoz0 -
Time lag between algorithm changes and results?
Hi everyone, We had pretty good organic traffic growth for the past 3 years. Some people in our organization think that we were probably affected positively by the algorithm changes (Panda, Penguin,...). When I plot the dates on a chart I think Panda had no effect, but we had big gains starting five months after Penguin 1. Do you think the effect could have come that much later ? Thanks
Algorithm Updates | | jfmonfette0 -
Site not indexed on Google UK after 4 days?
Hello!
Algorithm Updates | | digitalsoda
Wonder if anyone can help with this one? I have an ecommerce site www.doggydazzles.co.uk which went live on Friday and was submitted to Google via webmaster tools on saturday morning, but I can't find any trace of it in a google search?
I'm a bit stuck with this as its never happened to any of my other sites.
Can anyone help please or make suggestions as to what I can do to get ranked quicker? Thanks0 -
Next Google PR update
When is next google Pagerank update is expected to arrive.
Algorithm Updates | | csfarnsworth
I know it takes one month to one year for Google to update it but I know many people sitting here at Moz know some secrets for sure.0 -
SEO updates and rank changes
We have been updating page titles and meta descriptions for a client (not changing ANY links and the content we are replacing is "fluff," no major keywords or any relevant information) yet in the past few weeks, rankings have plummeted. I used the SEOMoz grader to check and make sure we have the keywords in there, in the right places for the updated page source info, and we're getting A's yet for those same keywords, the website is nowhere to be found. For example for the phrase "organic t shirts," we get an A for this page: http://greenpromotionalitems.com/organic-t-shirts.htm but when searching organic t shirts, no Green Promotional Items... Ideas?
Algorithm Updates | | laidlawseo0 -
If Google turns down the weight of keywords in domains then what will they be turning up?
Per Matt Cutts video "We will be turning that keyword in domain down." http://youtu.be/rAWFv43qubI So what will they be turning up?
Algorithm Updates | | Thos0030