Title tags are one of the most important elements in SEO. This can have a significant impact on your rankings. In my experience, optimizing your title tag can significantly improve your rankings.
There are various ways to optimize title tags. One is to try to stay within the 55-60 character limit (which I think is a bit outdated today). Other SEOs suggest that title tags can be up to 70 characters in length.
There are also concerns that titles being truncated in search results or rewritten by Google can negatively impact organic performance and click-through rates.
In this article, I explore the basis for such concerns, Google's official statements on title length, and my findings after manually examining 645 title tags in Google's SERPs.
Example of title tag being cut off in SERP
Technically speaking, the number of characters in a title tag that Google can display in the SERP is measured in pixels. If your title tag is too long, Google can trim it like this.
Update title tag and beyond
In August 2021, Google released an update targeting title tags. This update will allow Google to display a different title to users in his SERP than the one available in his HTML title tag.
HTML title tags can be rewritten in SERPs if:
- Too long.
- It's packed with keywords.
- Missing or containing repetitive “boilerplate” language (i.e. the home page could be called “home”).
When this update was released, it caused an uproar in the SEO community as many SEOs reported incidents where title rewrites went “horribly wrong.”
Rob Woods reported an incident where the title tag was replaced with the URL slug.
Chatter, an SEO community, helps Google search results.
This caused panic in the SEO community. Many he SEOs have begun to further emphasize the importance of avoiding title rewriting by keeping titles short and within character limits.
confusion
It's no secret that Google wants short titles in the SERPs.
But does that mean that instead of the HTML title, the title that appears in the SERP (which can be cut or rewritten) is used for ranking?
Because of this, many SEOs assume that long titles will be removed or rewritten, and Google will not consider them for ranking, instead ranking new titles that appear in the SERP. It will be considered as a target.
What is Google's official statement regarding title length?
On an episode of Search Off the Record, Google's John Mueller asked Gary Illyes about title tag length.
“Gary, I guess I have a yes-or-no question: Is there value in the displayable space and title tag that is longer than the section?”
To this, Illies answered very clearly and precisely, “Yes.”
He further added, “Title length, this is an externally created metric… Technically, there are limits like how long it can be within a page, but it's not a small number. Like 160 characters. 100 characters, 200 characters, 20 characters, etc.”
And, “Try to write exactly along the page, but don't think too much about its length, whether it's long enough or too long. If it fills the screen, then it's probably It may be too long, but if it's just a single sentence that fits on one or two lines, you don't need to deal with it manually.
If you look at Google's documentation on SERP titles (aka title links), they don't specify any recommended length or character limits for title tags.
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Will a long title affect my ranking?
If long title tags can be cut or rewritten in the SERPs, won't that affect rankings? Luckily, Lily Ray posted this question on X and this reply from Glenn Gabe I received it.
This is consistent with what Mueller said during Google's SEO office hours on December 11, 2020.
Therefore, even if a title is removed or rewritten in a SERP, Google will continue to use the HTML title tag instead of the title that appears in the SERP for ranking purposes.
Personally, I don't think you should write a short title for that purpose. Title tags are one of the few factors that influence rankings and are within our control. I always try to maximize keyword usage and avoid spammy practices such as keyword stuffing.
my analysis
I would like to put an end to this debate. As an industry, I wish we would stop encouraging clients to “shorten” their title tags. As evidence to support this recommendation, nearly every online resource and tool circulates a title length metric, based solely on the fact that you don't want your title to be cut or replaced. is.
We compiled 100 URLs and analyzed the HTML and SERP titles for each of those URLs. For the selected URL, we also had historical data for his SERP titles from 2022. I mean, you can also check out how Google changed the way his title appears in the SERPs (interesting, right?).
My findings are:
- Google seems to prefer displaying short titles. The longest title that will appear in the SERP for a sample of 100 URLs is 61 characters.
- 27 URLs had their titles cut off. HTML titles in these situations ranged from 59 to 117 characters. So, if you create a short title, is there a guarantee that it won't get cut off in the SERPs? No!
- This is an example URL with the 59 character HTML title “Business to Business Advertising: Changing the Conversation”. This is what it looks like in the SERPs (still cropped).
- Another interesting observation is an example where Google decided to rewrite the title and remove it. Yes, Google removed the title you created. The HTML title for this URL is “Small Business Marketing Guide: Everything You Need to Know to Grow” and consists of 67 characters. In the SERP it looks like this:
- Comparing the 2022 SERP title to the 2024 SERP title for the same set of URLs (making sure the HTML title has not changed) shows that 33 out of 100 URLs have a different SERP title than in 2022. You can see that the title has changed. version. This means that Google can change his SERP title over time if necessary. The main differences are:
- Google has removed branding text added to the end of title tags. This means that even if you add branding text to the end of your HTML title tag, Google can decide not to display it. Even if you want your title to be short, we recommend that you don't count branded text as part of your character limit.
- Google generally shortened SERP titles even more in 2024 compared to 2022. A sample of the changes noted is:
- On the other hand, in the 100 URL sample, there is one instance where Google decided to add the brand name to the SERP title even though the brand name was not part of the HTML title tag.
- Of the 100 URL samples, 29 are the same as the HTML title.
- Google seems to be consistent in removing branding from title tags, even if they are short. Below is an example of a title less than 55 characters with the brand name removed from the SERP title.
- Can I avoid title rewriting by writing shorter titles? No! Below is a list of examples of titles that have been rewritten by Google in his SERPs, even if they are short.
- The most common title lengths that appear in this sample SERP are between 45 and 55 characters (see histogram below).
- Here we also show you what the title length will be in 2022, so you can get an idea of the changes that have occurred. You can see that the title is shorter. (Note that the sample here is much larger for 600+ URLs)
Title tag length in 2024
You don't have to stick to the 55-60 character limit for title tags. Titles can and should be as long as reasonably necessary. Shorter titles do not provide any additional benefits in terms of SEO.
- Shorter titles may be rewritten.
- Even short titles may be cut off.
- Even short titles can result in your brand name being removed.
There is no real value in shortening the title tag. Optimize them well and utilize the entire real estate. Title tags are one of the few assets that have a significant impact on rankings, and we still have some control over them. Make the most of them.
The best advice I can give is to optimize your title to rank #1 even if you exceed the 60-70 character limit. Next, experiment by adjusting how your title appears in the SERPs.
Additionally, if you use character limits, don't count branded text added at the end of the title as part of the character limit. Because Google will likely ignore that part.
It doesn't matter how long your title is if it doesn't rank. So, first focus on optimizing and ranking the title, then evaluate how it looks in his SERPs and tweak accordingly.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.