A title tag is a short line of HTML that gives a page its name. Visitors see it in the browser tab and in bookmarks, and Google usually uses it as the clickable headline in search results. It is one of the clearest signals you give search engines about what a page covers.
Where the title tag lives and how Google uses it
It sits in the head section of the page code, separate from anything shown on the page itself:
<title>Wedding Cakes in Bath | Rosie's Kitchen</title>
Each page should have exactly one. Google reads it as a strong hint about the topic and normally displays it on the results page. However, Google's documentation says it may generate its own title link from other parts of the page, such as the main heading, when the title tag is missing, vague, stuffed with keywords or the same across many pages.
There is no official character limit. Google truncates titles to fit the width of the results on screen, so long titles get cut off with an ellipsis. Keeping the important words near the start avoids losing them.
Before and after on a real page type
A physiotherapy clinic's sports injury page is titled "Services". In results it tells searchers nothing, and every other page on the site has the same title. Rewritten as "Sports Injury Physio in Exeter | Riverside Physio", it states the service, the place and the brand. Searchers can tell at a glance whether it fits what they need, which affects how many of them click, measured as click-through rate.
How much time to spend on titles
Titles deserve care on every page that matters for search: home, services, products, key articles. They take minutes to fix and are frequently the problem when a page ranks but gets few clicks. Pages like privacy policies or login screens need a sensible title but no further thought.
Title tag mistakes
- The same title everywhere. Templates that output the site name on every page leave search engines guessing.
- Brand first, topic last. "Smith and Sons Ltd | Home | Roofing" buries the useful word.
- Keyword lists. Repeating variations separated by pipes looks spammy and may be rewritten by Google.
- Title and page do not match. A title promising prices on a page with no prices disappoints visitors.
- Confusing it with the H1. The main heading is visible on the page; the title tag is not. They can be similar but serve different places.
Related terms
- Meta description: the summary often shown beneath the title.
- On-page SEO: titles are one part of optimising a page.
- Click-through rate: the metric a better title usually improves.
- Keyword stuffing: what over-packed titles turn into.