Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
      Moz Pro

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

      Try it free!
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Access 20 years of data with flexible pricing
      Moz API

      Access 20 years of data with flexible pricing

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    4. Looking for opinions on structuring meta title tags/page title/menu title/H1

    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.

    Looking for opinions on structuring meta title tags/page title/menu title/H1

    Intermediate & Advanced SEO
    2
    4
    932
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • Brenda.Haines
      Brenda.Haines last edited by

      Hi everyone I am hoping a few of you can share your opinions. I have been having conversations (okay, healthy debates) about how to write/structure meta title tag and how to compliment them with the H1, page title, menu name. To help explain the thought processes I will use a pretend keyword. How about "screwdriver".

      Case: (I made this up) we are redesigning a website for a construction tools manufacturing company (pretend name: ABC Tools) targeting OEMs who are interested in purchasing large quantities of tools. The product categories (to become main menu items) are Screwdrivers, Nails, Drills, and Hammers. (bear with me .... this is just an example I am making up on the fly)

      K. Circling back to screwdrivers - let's say we have one landing page (a primary category page and in the main menu) listing products and great details about screwdrivers. Focus keywords are screwdriver manufacturer, screwdriver supplier, construction screwdrivers

      Below are questions being debated. If you are willing ... how would you address these questions? And, can you explain WHY?

      QUESTION ONE: How would you structure the meta title tag (feel free to write one of your own)

      1. Screwdriver Manufacturer - Construction Screwdriver | ABC Tools
      2. ABC Tools - US-based Screwdriver Manufacturer Supplier Near You
      3. High-Quality Screwdrivers for Construction with ABC Tools

      QUESTION TWO:

      • how would you write the H1 on the page? Would it match the meta tag? OR, would you write something different using the primary keyword?

      QUESTION THREE

      • Remembering this is not a blog post ... it is a primary landing page linked to the main navigation. What would the menu title be? (remember the product categories above are how the main menu items are bucketed)
      1. Screwdrivers
      2. Screwdriver Manufacturer

      Typically in WordPress, the H1 and the menu title is auto-populated using the page title (not the title tag)... So, if we use Screwdrivers as the page title but we want the H1 to match the meta title tag, would we manually change the H1? Or, have the page title and title tag match, but manually change the menu item?

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • ClaytonJ
        ClaytonJ last edited by

        Hi

        Never going to disagree with Rand. The first analysis is the actual SERP you want to rank on. So audit the SERP.  What are the Title tags that are ranking? What is the content that is working? So start there on your Title tag. That should make it an easy decision.

        WordPress only auto populates if you want, can set as per your requirements.

        Confused on menu title.. is that the navigation?

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
        • Brenda.Haines
          Brenda.Haines @ClaytonJ last edited by

          Thank you for the response! In an attempt to better explain my question I believe I overcomplicated it ...

          Your response is helpful, but also triggered more questions in addition to the ones I had.

          Here are questions I am still working on addressing:

          1. Your title tag example struck another question for me. Currently, we use the same structure which would be summarized by "Keyword | keyword version 2 | Brand/Company Name". Based on my understanding of Rand's recent Whiteboard Friday: https://moz.com/blog/one-hour-guide-to-seo-keyword-targeting-on-page-optimization this would not be considered best practice anymore. Rather, your title would be written to say Fast Car Insurance Quotes online with Example... It's not just keywords and brand, it's compelling, etc. Here is another supporting article: https://moz.com/blog/title-tag-hacks-whiteboard-friday Thoughts on that?

          2. Based on almost all guides findable and the fact that WordPress auto-populates the H1 with the page title, does the page title need (or should) to match the meta title tag?

          3. Does the menu name need to match the page title? In your case - the menu name itself (assuming in the main menu) does it need to include the longtail version. In other words - how much impact does the menu title itself have on SEO? If any? And does it need to match the page title/H1?

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • ClaytonJ
            ClaytonJ last edited by

            Hi

            I am an unclear but will frame from car insurance and hope it assists. As am not sure on which customer queries to target in your scenario - dangerous to make a suggestion without a better understanding of your business model and products highest ROI. The customer queries should be data driven, ie volume. If that is the goal. We use semrush. moz and keyword planner and a few tools.

            Lets say chasing car insurance, this got a client to No 1. This is a general answer..

            The url we recommend be

            www.example.com/car-insurance/

            The Title tag we would recommend be Car Insurance | Compare Car Insurance Quotes | Example

            If not a comparison site - Car Insurance | Car Insurance Quotes | Example

            Now for the H1.

            It should be different from the URL and Title but contextual..

            So lets say Car Insurance Quote or Car Insurance Australia

            The meta description should on our view the targeted keyword once and be about clickability..  not sure if that gets you there, but hope it helps.

            Go get em.

            Brenda.Haines 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
            • 1 / 1
            • First post
              Last post

            Got a burning SEO question?

            Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


            Start my free trial


            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.

            • See all categories

            Related Questions

            • Chris_Mc

              Home Page Title - Google Overriding my Title Tag

              title tags

              Hi, We have noticed our home page title tag has now been replaced by our brand name (by Google I'm assuming). We have also noted that the page is dropping off SERPS for our main keywords, I suspect they are related but ofc I cant be sure. I know the recent Google update has impacted titles but I wasn't sure if it would apply here. Has anyone any advice on this and/or having the same issue? We normally rank well for grass seed (UK search) https://thegrasspeople.com/ I also noticed some strange mark up in our source code which seems to have been left behind by Sketch - we are getting this removed. <title>Combined Shape</title> <desc>Created with Sketch.</desc> Chris

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Chris_Mc
              0
            • ColesNathan

              Is it best practice to have a canonical tags on all pages

              The website I'm working on has no canonical tags. There is duplicate content so rel=canonicals need adding to certain pages but is it best practice to have a tag on every page ?

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ColesNathan
              0
            • MIGandCo

              Is it alright to repeat a keyword in the title tag?

              I know at first glance, the answer to this is a resounding NO, that it can be construed as keyword stuffing,
              but please hear me out. I am working on optimizing a client's website and although MOST of the title tags
              can be optimized without repeating a keyword, occasionally I run into one where it doesn't read right if I
              don't repeat the keyword. Here's an example: Current title:
              Photoshop on the Cloud | Adobe Photoshop Webinars | Company Name What I am considering using as the optimized title:
              Adobe Photoshop on the Cloud | Adobe Photoshop Webinars | Company Name Yes, I know both titles are longer than recommended. In both instances, only the company name gets
              truncated so I am not too worried about that. So I guess what I want to know is this: Am I right in my original assumption that it is NEVER okay to
              repeat keywords in a title tag or is it alright when it makes sense to do so?

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | MIGandCo
              0
            • Whebb

              Structured Data + Meta Descriptions

              Hey All, Was just looking through some google pages on best practices for meta descriptions and came across this little tidbit. "Include clearly tagged facts in the description. The meta description doesn't just have to be in sentence format; it's also a great place to include structured data about the page. For example, news or blog postings can list the author, date of publication, or byline information. This can give potential visitors very relevant information that might not be displayed in the snippet otherwise. Similarly, product pages might have the key bits of information—price, age, manufacturer—scattered throughout a page. A good meta description can bring all this data together. For example, the following meta description provides detailed information about a book. " This is the first time I have seen suggested use of structured data in meta descriptions.  Does this totally replace a regular meta description or will it work in conjunction with the regular meta description? If I provide both structured data and text, will the SERP display text and the structured data the way it was previously displayed? Or will the 150 -160 character limit take precedence and just cut off all info after that?

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Whebb
              0
            • ShaqD

              Change url structure and keeping the social media likes/shares

              Hi guys, We're thinking of changing the url structure of the tutorials (we call it knowledgebase) section on our website. We want to make it shorter URL so it be closer to the TLD. So, for the convenience we'll call them old page (www.domain.com/profiles/profile_id/kb/article_title) and new page (www.domain.com/kb/article_title) What I'm looking to do is change the url structure but keep the likes/shares we got from facebook. I thought of two ways to do it and would love to hear what the community members thinks is better. 1. Use rel=canonical I thought we might do a rel=canonical to the new page and add a "noindex" tag to the old page. In that way, the users will still be able to reach the old page, but the juice will still link to the new page and the old pages will disappear from Google SERP and the new pages will start to appear. I understand it will be pretty long process. But that's the only way likes will stay 2. Play with the og:url property Do the 301 redirect to the new page, but changing the og:url property inside that page to the old page url. It's a bit more tricky but might work. What do you think? Which way is better, or maybe there is a better way I'm not familiar with yet? Thanks so much for your help! Shaqd

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | ShaqD
              0
            • 6thirty

              Should you include domain / brand in Meta Title

              Hello, I am trying to come up with a strategy for creating meta title information for my eCommerce store. I have read mixed reviews on the examples below. The first includes the company / brand in the meta title and thus is included in SE results. The second does not. Probably not a 'right' answer here so I look forward to answers with rationale... also open to a completely difference strategy all together! 1MR Vortex by BPI Sports - $Company_Name OR 1MR Vortex by BPI Sports - Pre Workout Supplement Thanks!

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | 6thirty
              0
            • fablau

              Are pages with a canonical tag indexed?

              Hello here, here are my questions for you related to the canonical tag: 1. If I put online a new webpage with a canonical tag pointing to a different page, will this new page be indexed by Google and will I be able to find it in the index? 2. If instead I apply the canonical tag to a page already in the index, will this page be removed from the index? Thank you in advance for any insights! Fabrizio

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | fablau
              0
            • Peter264

              NOINDEX listing pages: Page 2, Page 3... etc?

              Would it be beneficial to NOINDEX category listing pages except for the first page.  For example on this site: http://flyawaysimulation.com/downloads/101/fsx-missions/ Has lots of pages such as Page 2, Page 3, Page 4... etc: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Aflyawaysimulation.com+fsx+missions Would there be any SEO benefit of NOINDEX on these pages?  Of course, FOLLOW is default, so links would still be followed and juice applied. Your thoughts and suggestions are much appreciated.

              Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Peter264
              0

            Get started with Moz Pro!

            Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

            Start my free trial
            Products
            • Moz Pro
            • Moz Local
            • Moz API
            • Moz Data
            • STAT
            • Product Updates
            Moz Solutions
            • SMB Solutions
            • Agency Solutions
            • Enterprise Solutions
            • Digital Marketers
            Free SEO Tools
            • Domain Authority Checker
            • Link Explorer
            • Keyword Explorer
            • Competitive Research
            • Brand Authority Checker
            • Local Citation Checker
            • MozBar Extension
            • MozCast
            Resources
            • Blog
            • SEO Learning Center
            • Help Hub
            • Beginner's Guide to SEO
            • How-to Guides
            • Moz Academy
            • API Docs
            About Moz
            • About
            • Team
            • Careers
            • Contact
            Why Moz
            • Case Studies
            • Testimonials
            Get Involved
            • Become an Affiliate
            • MozCon
            • Webinars
            • Practical Marketer Series
            • MozPod
            Connect with us

            Contact the Help team

            Join our newsletter
            Moz logo
            © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
            • Accessibility
            • Terms of Use
            • Privacy

            Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.