How Google Can Change Your Meta Titles and What You Can Do About It?
Google has long maintained that its focus is all about user experience and relevance. And they consistently remain committed to this, despite many website managers trying to game the system to get better rankings.
How Users Find Relevant Content
Web searches are all about finding relevant content for your query. One of the ways that users determine which site is relevant to their search is by the title of the page. Google Search tries to ensure that each page connects to relevant searchers by making sure the title best matches the content of the piece. That has traditionally been done through meta titles and descriptions.
How Titles Are Usually Created
Web developers use HTML text to create everything from titles to format to font sizes for website pages. HTML, or HyperText Markup Language, is the standard language used for web design, to give it the structure the developer intends and direct users to its content. Meta titles and meta descriptions are short pieces of code that tell browsers what the content is about, so it is connected with relevant searchers.
Google has always encouraged website owners and developers to write unique and descriptive titles and meta descriptions to allow searchers to understand what the page is about. But some developers and managers have found ways to circumvent the established rules within their coding, sometimes using hidden codes that invariably hijack a search. Even when owners and developers are playing by the rules, the HTML title tag is often too long, stuffed with too many keywords in the hopes to rank better, or lacking title tags completely.
Google Keeps Tweaking
Google is always trying to develop ways to keep website owners and developers honest and provide the best experience for its users. Because of this, they are always tweaking ways that a user gets to a page that offers relevant content for their search.
Google has long rewritten meta descriptions that appear in search engine results, sometimes displaying only a portion of content instead of the meta description that was written. Google will also change title tags as well. Just last month, Google updated a new system for generating more relevant titles for pages, suggesting that their new system will produce titles that will be even more relevant to the page.
Google will now be using more text that the user can actually see when they arrive at a page. The new update is designed to produce better titles for pages by adding titles where there are none or, when a meta title is too long, changing titles to reflect the most relevant portion of the text.
But, as we know, Google is not infallible. Most site owners know best what their page is about and who their user is. Sometimes, an algorithm, as good as it may be, misses the mark. While Google believes their new system creates titles that are “preferred” by searchers, they admit that these titles will not always be perfect.
So What Can You Do As a Site Owner?
Site owners and their developers should understand what attracts the right user to their site and create meta titles and descriptions accordingly within browser parameters. As always, a good developer creates a great website experience all the way around. And part of this means creating the best possible HTML title tags to get the user to your site. Google admits that what they use over 80 percent of the time to generate their own titles is content from the existing title tags. If Google insists upon changing your title tag, let it be by using the best possible tag you’ve put forward.
As a website owner, you probably have little experience with HTML coding and meta titles. Even if you do, chances are that you are more focused on your business than keeping current with constant algorithm updates. That is why it is critical to have a developer who does it all for you. That’s where we come in.
At Fuel Web Marketing, it’s our job to know what browsers want to keep you one step ahead of the competition. Contact us to learn how we can improve your website reach so you have time to do what you do best.