undefined
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.

    Let your business shine with Listings AI
    Moz Local

    Let your business shine with Listings AI

    Learn more
  • 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

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    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. Exact match Title and H1 tags, and over optimization

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.

Exact match Title and H1 tags, and over optimization

Intermediate & Advanced SEO
4
8
3.1k
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.
  • McTaggart
    McTaggart last edited by Nov 13, 2013, 10:08 AM

    Hi Mozzers - was just wondering whether matching H1 and Title tags are still OK, or whether there's an over optimization risk if they exact match?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
    • EGOL
      EGOL @SEMbyotic last edited by May 19, 2017, 4:48 PM May 19, 2017, 4:48 PM

      I think that Google knows what (keywords) your articles are about - so there is less need to stuff them into a title tag.

      However, matching the keyword to what the searcher has in mind and will see bolded in the SERPs is still important.

      "providing variety within the SERP when compared to other results"

      Exactly.  You need to stand out.  Show that your content or product has special value, inspire the searcher to click on your page.  I believe that title tags can move rankings if you can get the visitor to click and hold them after they land.

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • SEMbyotic
        SEMbyotic @EGOL last edited by May 19, 2017, 4:40 PM May 19, 2017, 4:40 PM

        Thanks for responding so quickly. Upon further thought, I think what I'm seeing is less about Title and H1 matching, and more about providing variety within the SERP when compared to other results. I'm trying some things on a low risk site so we'll see what happens.

        EGOL 1 Reply Last reply May 19, 2017, 4:48 PM Reply Quote 1
        • EGOL
          EGOL @SEMbyotic last edited by May 19, 2017, 4:34 PM May 19, 2017, 4:34 PM

          I still think that there is no problem with having title tags that match your H1 tags.

          Ten years ago, I wrote title tags that focused on keywords.  Now I am writing title tags that focus more on presenting something interesting from the article that might elicit clicks.   A lot of the old title tags remain on the site but I revisit them every time I update or rewrite a page.

          SEMbyotic 1 Reply Last reply May 19, 2017, 4:40 PM Reply Quote 1
          • SEMbyotic
            SEMbyotic @EGOL last edited by May 19, 2017, 4:14 PM May 19, 2017, 4:14 PM

            Almost 4 years later, I'm curious what your current thoughts on this are EGOL? I too have seen great results with exact match title tags, but I've started to notice more recently that it doesn't work like it used to. Especially in cases where many other results in the SERPs also show results with exact match (or very close to exact) title tags. My untested suspicion is that Google doesn't want a SERP chalk full of results that all look the same (neither would users for that matter), so a better SERP would show more variety.

            Anyway, the world of SEO is ever-changing and I was curious to see how your answer from 2013 stacks up in 2017.

            EGOL 1 Reply Last reply May 19, 2017, 4:34 PM Reply Quote 0
            • topic:timeago_earlier,4 years
            • McTaggart
              McTaggart @EGOL last edited by Nov 13, 2013, 11:23 AM Nov 13, 2013, 11:23 AM

              Thanks for feedback EGOL and Oleg - can't see there's a problem myself, though I haven't carried out any testing - I remember Rand debated this very issue a few years back.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • EGOL
                EGOL last edited by Dec 10, 2013, 9:05 PM Nov 13, 2013, 10:44 AM

                there's an over optimization risk if they exact match?

                Who is saying this stuff?

                I have this on LOTS of pages.  LOTS.   Have been doing this since the 1990s.

                My pages rank great.

                Why would google penalize for this?  This is giving the visitor a page that is named exactly what he saw when the title tag was displayed in the search engines.

                I don't think that Google engineers are in the Plex saying.  "Let's screw people who use identical title and H1."  "Gotcha you sneaky weasel!"

                If somebody is getting a rankings reduction for this I bet that they have awful spammy title and H1 that on their own deserve a markdown.

                <title>Best Green Widgets | Nice Green Widgets | Cheap Green Widgets</title>

                If anybody knows where a credible SEO is publishing stuff like this, backed-up with good experimental data involving lots of demoted pages, please post a link here.  And, if I am motivated enough by it to go out and change a huge number of pages, I'll let you know.

                McTaggart SEMbyotic 2 Replies Last reply May 19, 2017, 4:14 PM Reply Quote 3
                • OlegKorneitchouk
                  OlegKorneitchouk last edited by Dec 10, 2013, 9:06 PM Nov 13, 2013, 10:44 AM

                  I think you should still be fine as I've not noticed any penalties when thats the case. However, you can throw the brand name into the title. "Keyword - Brand" with "Keyword" as the H1 is very common and wouldn't be overoptimized for sure.

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                  • 1 / 1
                  1 out of 8
                  • First post
                    1/8
                    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

                  • AndyRSB

                    Near Duplicate Title Tag Checker

                    Hi Everyone, I know there are a lot of tools like Siteliner, which can check the uniqueness of body copy, but are there any that can restrict the check to the title tags alone? Alternatively, is there an Excel or Google Sheets function that would allow me to do the same thing? Thanks, Andy

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Nov 12, 2019, 1:55 PM | AndyRSB
                    0
                  • JCN-SBWD

                    Should I disable the indexing of tags in Wordpress?

                    Hi, I have a client that is publishing 7 or 8 news articles and posts each month. I am optimising selected posts and I have found that they have been adding a lot of tags (almost like using hashtags) . There are currently 29 posts but already 55 tags, each of which has its own archive page, and all of which are added to the site map to be indexed (https://sykeshome.europe.sykes.com/sitemap_index.xml). I came across an article (https://crunchify.com/better-dont-use-wordpress-tags/) that suggested that tags add no value to SEO ranking, and as a consequence Wordpress tags should not be indexed or included in the sitemap. I haven't been able to find much more reliable information on this topic, so my question is - should I get rid of the tags from this website and make the focus pages, posts and categories (redirecting existing tag pages back to the site home page)? It is a relatively new websites and I am conscious of the fact that category and tag archive pages already substantially outnumber actual content pages (posts and news) - I guess this isn't optimal. I'd appreciate any advice. Thanks wMfojBf

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | May 6, 2024, 2:16 PM | JCN-SBWD
                    0
                  • blankslatedumbo

                    Should I use **tags or h1/h2 tags for article titles on my homepage**

                    I recently had an seo consultant recommend using tags instead of h1/h2 tags for article titles on the homepage of my news website and category landing pages. I've only seen this done a handful of times on news/editorial websites. For example: http://www.muscleandfitness.com/ Can anyone weigh in on this?

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Aug 20, 2015, 10:56 AM | blankslatedumbo
                    0
                  • PeteC12

                    H2 Tags- Can you have more than 1 H2 tag

                    Hi All, Screaming frog has identified that we have a few H2 tags on our pages , although we only have 1 H1 tag. We have numerous H3,H4's etc. I am wondering, is it good SEO to have only 1 H2 tag like with H1 tag or can you have more ? thanks Peter

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Feb 18, 2015, 3:43 PM | PeteC12
                    0
                  • Shawn124

                    Pagination duplicate title and meta description

                    Hello, Getting a lot of duplicate title and meta description errors via google webmaster tools. For best SEO practices, do i no-index the page/2's, page/3's...? More importantly, i see how MOZ did it by adding "page 3" to their titles such as http://moz.com/blog?page=3.  Is that a better way of doing it?  If so, how do i do that on Yoast SEO? Thank you so much!

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Apr 3, 2017, 4:41 AM | Shawn124
                    0
                  • BeytzNet

                    Should I remove Meta Keywords tags?

                    Hi, Do you recommend removing Meta Keywords or is there "nothing to lose" with having them? Thanks

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Aug 29, 2012, 8:12 AM | BeytzNet
                    0
                  • askotzko

                    Does rel=canonical fix duplicate page titles?

                    I implemented rel=canonical on our pages which helped a lot, but my latest Moz crawl is still showing lots of duplicate page titles (2,000+). There are other ways to get to this page (depending on what feature you clicked, it will have a different URL) but will have the same page title. Does having rel=canonical in place fix the duplicate page title problem, or do I need to change something else? I was under the impression that the canonical tag would address this by telling the crawler which URL was the URL and the crawler would only use that one for the page title.

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Feb 11, 2014, 10:45 AM | askotzko
                    0
                  • JSOC

                    Should I Allow Blog Tag Pages to be Indexed?

                    I have a wordpress blog with settings currently set so that Google does not index tag pages. Is this a best practice that avoids duplicate content or am I hurting the site by taking eligible pages out of the index?

                    Intermediate & Advanced SEO | Jun 2, 2011, 2:05 PM | JSOC
                    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
                  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.