What is the meta title?
The meta title, also called the title tag, is together with the meta description the main component of the snippet that Google shows for a page in the search results (SERP). The title tag counts as one of Google’s ranking factors, and both elements decide whether people click your result at all.
A meta element holds additional information about one single page of a website. The meta title therefore does not have to be visible to the user on the page itself.
By hand, the meta title is added to the <head> area of the page with the <title> tag:
<head>
<title>Meta title</title>
</head>What length is optimal for the meta title?
On average, a length between 50 and 70 characters works well for the meta title. Titles that run longer are cut off automatically and can no longer be read in full.
The calculation is not quite that simple, though.
Many checking tools count characters when you write a meta title, but whether the title is displayed correctly depends on its pixel width. That width is about 920 pixels in the mobile view and about 580 pixels in the desktop view. Results in the search are rendered in Arial by default, and not every character has the same width in that font. So always check whether your titles show up in full in the search results, for example as part of a regular SEO audit.
Tip: the query “site:domainname.tld” (for example “site:taismo.de”) lists the indexed pages of a given domain.
What should a good meta title contain?
Write the title along the well-known AIDA formula:
- Attention: catch attention
- Interest: spark interest
- Desire: offer real value
- Action: include a call to action in the imperative
A meta title should answer three questions for the searcher:
- What content sits behind the link
- Who offers that content
- What the user gains from clicking the link
The SEO glossary explains the terms that surround the snippet in the search results.
Welt der SEO lernen?
