Is the title tag a critical ranking factor? Google says no

In June 2016, John Mueller revealed that the keywords in the title and header area were not critical in helping to rank a site. This changed the conventional wisdom that the title tag is the most important on-page SEO factor. It is supposed to provide an accurate description of the content on a page and is a strong sign of relevance.

In a Google Hangout session, John Mueller was asked the following question:

How important is the title tag?

This is your answer

“We use it to rank, but it is not the most important part of a page. Therefore, it is not worth filling it with keywords to expect it to work that way. In general, we try to recognize when a title tag is full. of keywords because that’s also a bad user experience for users in search results. If they’re looking to understand what these pages are about and they only see a jumble of keywords, then that doesn’t really help. “

According to him, if a page is missing the title tag, Google can still rank a page, but if content is missing, it makes it much more difficult for Google.

If the title tag is not critical, then what John considers most important for a page.

The answer was not rocket science.

It is the actual content of the page.

I’m sure many people who were obsessed with link building will pick up on this cardinal truth as it has come straight out of the horse’s mouth. Content is the reason people link to you.

So what is the bottom line of this?

The title tag is STILL an important factor on the page. Read carefully what John said. “It is not the most critical part of a page.” He never mentioned that he is not critical at all. The keywords in the title tag are important as always. You don’t need to fill the title tag with keywords, but if you don’t include keywords in the title tag, Google may find it difficult to rank your site for relevant terms.

Now, let’s go to the optimal format to create the title tag. According to moz.com, it is this:

Optimal format

Primary Keyword – Secondary Keyword | Brand name

Another way could be:

Keyword1 | Keyword2 | keyword 3 | Brand name

Which of the above two looks messy? The second.

Another misconception is that Google has a character limit for title tags. Its length is actually measured in pixels. The limit is 512 pixels. But how do you measure the length in pixels?

You do not have to do it. Fortunately, there are nifty tools that will do the job for you.

http://www.webshoptimizer.com/page-title-pixel-meter/
http://searchwilderness.com/tools/pixel-length/

As much as you try to write a perfect title, Google will always have the last word. In other words, Google WILL NOT ALWAYS show the correct page title in SERP.

Google changes the page titles in their results based on what they think is the central theme of a page. Google’s system may determine that a different title better represents the page better than the site owners think.

Here is the explanation from Google:

“If we detect that a particular result has problems with its title, we may try to generate an improved title from anchors, text on the page or other sources. However, sometimes, even pages with descriptive, concise and well formulated will end up with different titles in our search results to better indicate their relevance to the query. “

Better practices

It should be attractive enough for the search engine to click through your SERP listing.

Long: Best practices say it should be no more than 50-60 characters, including spaces. Although, there is no hard and fast rule. It depends on the pixel width of each character. Some characters will take up much less space than others.

Placement: Place specific keywords as close to the title tag as possible.

Brand: Should you add your business name to the title tag? Some people are of the opinion that this should be done for branding purposes. Think of it this way. You MUST always rank for your brand.

The point is, websites will always rank for searches that involve the business name anyway, even if it doesn’t appear anywhere in the title tag. Because there is little competition for your business name as a search term. And your business name is NOT a high-competition keyword.

But if you want to include your business name, put it last.

Separator: Don’t worry so much about it. No matter. You can use pipe (|) or dash (-).

According to Google’s Gary Illyes, it “doesn’t matter” whether or not you use pipes in your title tags. He never mentioned that you have to use the pipe symbol.

Uniqueness: Each page on your site has different content. The same should not be the case with title tags. Make them unique.

Relevance: Title tags must accurately describe the content on the page. Don’t fool users into thinking they landed on the wrong page. They will hit the “back” button faster than you imagined. The search engine may find another website that addresses your pain point.

This is what you call Pogo stuck. And it sends a bad signal to Google.

To summarize, you need to include your keyword as close to the title tag as possible, make it unique, attractive enough for the searcher to click while keeping an eye on the length.