SEO page title tags: How to know when Google changes yours

Google, the world’s most popular search engine caused a stir when it published guidance on when and how it modifies or replaces page titles.

In some cases, Google replaced page titles with H1 header elements. In others, it dropped words from the page title or appended new ones (often the company name) to it.

Page titles are a very important part of SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

What is a page title?

This is the HTML title tag, which we also call the page title or SEO title. When you look something up in a search engine, you get a list of results that appear as snippets. Often, the SEO title is part of the snippet together with at least a URL and a meta description.

What’s changed in Google’s page title tactics?

Manipulation of page titles in search engine results pages (SERPs) isn’t new. Google has displayed different page titles in SERPs (search engine results pages) since 2012.

• Learn more about page titles and SEO
• Read also: SEO Page Titles: 15-Point Checklist for B2B and B2C Brands