Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Solved Recommended title length for Google search results
-
I read the recommended title length is 50-60 characters depending on alphabets, etc,.
Anyways, my question is, is there any harm of having longer title?
If all my important keywords are within the 50-60 characters that will show up on search results, I can still make the title longer, it's just that those keywords outside won't have any effect on search results? -
Search engines still read the whole title tag no matter how long it is. The 50-60 character recommendation comes up because that is what people will see in the SERPs.
I'm all for testing different lengths of title tags to see which version gets me the best rankings for the most phrases that are mapped to that URL along with the highest conversion rate.
I've even tested and kept title tags with 80-100 characters because they performed better for me than shorter ones.
Don't be scared to test title tags. You can always change them back and get your rankings back if the test made things worse. One example: I made a change last year to a title tag that dropped the rankings from #3 to not in the top #100 for the main phrase and so I changed it back. As soon as Google recrawled the page, my rankings came back.
-
Title tags should be between 50-60 characters in length. Google has not specifically come out and said that title tags should be this length; however, if your title is longer than 60 characters, you risk the chance of it becoming cut off in the middle.
-
Google typically displays the first 50–60 characters of a title tag. If you keep your titles under 60 characters, our research suggests that you can expect about 90% of your titles to display properly. But if you want to add more characters feel free to add them.
-
From 40-50 characters are enough getting a look in search engine, you must have already few info about ranking as I know. I found one simple look site that is: http://amazeinvent.com/ having not what you think.
-
Search engines still read the whole title tag no matter how long it is. The 50-60 character recommendation comes up because that is what people will see in the SERPs.
I'm all for testing different lengths of title tags to see which version gets me the best rankings for the most phrases that are mapped to that URL along with the highest conversion rate.
I've even tested and kept title tags with 80-100 characters because they performed better for me than shorter ones.
Don't be scared to test title tags. You can always change them back and get your rankings back if the test made things worse. One example: I made a change last year to a title tag that dropped the rankings from #3 to not in the top #100 for the main phrase and so I changed it back. As soon as Google recrawled the page, my rankings came back.
-
Yes, the ideal length is 50-60 characters. But if you want to add more characters feel free to add them.
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
-
Virtual URL Google not indexing?
Dear all, We have two URLs: The main URL which is crawled both by GSC and where Moz assigns our keywords is: https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/ The second one is called a virtual url by our developpers: https://andipaeditions.com/banksy/signedandunsignedprintsforsale/ This is currently not indexed by Google. We have been linking to the second URL and I am unable to see if this is passing juice/anything on to the main one /banksy/ Is it a canonical? The /banksy/ is the one that is being picked up in serps/by Moz and worry that the two similar URLs are splitting the signal. Should I redirect from the second to the first? Thank you
On-Page Optimization | | TAT1000 -
How to get a mobile thumbnail image next to the search result?
Hey! I noticed the last few months that a lot of google searches now show an image next to your result when on mobile. i managed to get my listing to show an image before but I made some changes to the image and site and can’t seem to get Google to ahow the new image (or any image). I’ve added the image to schema mark up and still no luck. Wouod ahyone have any advice on how to get the image picked up, or st least help increase the odds? The site is https://tourstoniagarafalls.com and you can see it on search (for me it shows on the bottom of page 1) for the keyword “Niagara Falls tours“. Thanks again!
On-Page Optimization | | Originaladam0 -
Does Google penalize you for reindexing multiple URLS?
Hello, Just a quick, question! I was wanting to know if multiple page indexing (site overhaul) could cause a drop in organic traffic ranking or be penalized by Google for submitting multiple pages at one time. Thanks
On-Page Optimization | | InternetRep0 -
Meta title not showing up correctly on SERP
We have an issue with some clients on a Wordpress CMS where title tags implemented on a Yoast SEO plugin for the Homepage are not coming up as we'd implemented them. However, the source code shows we'd implemented them correctly according to what we'd wanted.**For example, this is the title tag we implemented in the CMS:Towing Services Alberta | Jack's TowingSource code shows:Towing Services Alberta | Jack's TowingHowever, SERP results shows:**Jack's Towing | Towing Services Alberta This is not an issue with the rest of the other pages and there isn't a global template for our client's sites. It's perplexing that it's only happening on the Homepage and this is across for 3 of our clients' sites.Even more perplexing, recently we've noticed that SERP is only showing the client's business name as the title tag and this is across for 2 out of the 3 clients we'd mentioned above. Nothing has changed in the back-end.Would appreciate some insight on this issue!
On-Page Optimization | | Gavo4 -
Why is Google replacing my meta title with the business name on home page?
For all queries that return the home page, Google is not showing my meta title. Instead it replaced it with the official business name which of course makes it harder to rank for key terms since they don't exist now in the meta title. You can see this is you search on "mt view estate planning attorney". The site in question is dureelaw.com and the title showing is "The Law Office of Daniel L. DuRee." View the source and you'll see my meta title. Why is Google substituting it?
On-Page Optimization | | katandmouse0 -
How to find google indexed pages
I can't find where the # of indexed pages are on my google analytics. I tried the instructions below, but the index status was not an option on my dashboard. View the Index Status page: On the Webmaster Tools home page, click the site you want. On the Dashboard, click Google Index, and then click Index Status.
On-Page Optimization | | SoftwareMarketing0 -
Does Title Tag have to be in the HEAD tag?
We are using templates that load the same header for every page. I'd like to just include a different title tag in the "body" template of each page. If I was to do this, does it affect SEO at all?
On-Page Optimization | | moziodavid0 -
Using commas in the title tag?
Is there a disadvantage/advantage to using commas to separate words in the title tag. Which will be more effective as a title tag: "keyword1 keyword2 - Brand" OR "keyword1, keyword2 - Brand"?
On-Page Optimization | | Audiohype0