The title tag is one of the most important SEO elements. It can have a great impact on your rankings. In my experience, optimizing title tags can give rankings a strong boost.
There are many different ways to approach optimizing a title tag.
One is making sure they fit within the 55–60-character limit. Though other SEOs suggest it’s okay to have title tags that are up to 70 characters long.
There are also concerns that getting the title truncated in search results or having it rewritten by Google can negatively affect organic performance.
The title tag update and the aftermath
In August 2021, Google released an update aimed at title tags. This update enables Google to show a different title to users in SERPs than the one available in the HTML title tag.
HTML title tags may get rewritten in SERPs when they are:
- Too long.
- Stuffed with keywords.
- Missing or containing repetitive “boilerplate” language (i.e., home pages might be called “Home”).
What is Google’s official statement about title length?
In a Search Off the Record episode, Google’s John Mueller asked Gary Illyes about title tag length:
“I have a question that is, maybe, just a yes or no thing, Gary. Is there a value in having <i>title</i> tags that are longer than the displayable space and the sections of it?”
To which Illyes gave a very clear and precise answer, “Yes.”
He added, “The <i>title</i> length, that’s an externally made-up metrics… Technically, there’s a limit, like how long can it be anything in the page, but it’s not a small number. It’s not 160 characters or whatever– 100, 200, 20, or whatever.”
And recommended to “Try to keep it precise to the page, but I would not think too much about how long it is and whether it’s long enough or way too long. If it fills up your screen, then probably it’s too long, but if it just one sentence that fits on one line or two lines, you’re not going to get a manual action for it.”
If we refer to Google’s documentation on SERPs titles (a.k.a., title links), there’s no recommended length for the title tag.
Would having longer titles impact rankings?
If longer title tags can get cut off or rewritten in SERPs, wouldn’t that impact rankings?
Title tag length in 2023
In summary, you do not need to stick to a 55–60-character limit for your title tags. Your titles can be – and should be – as long as needed within reason.
Title tags are among the few assets which highly impact rankings that we still have some control over. Let’s make the best out of them.
If you’re worried about getting cut off or having your title rewritten, know that these are secondary concerns. Ranking well gets the highest priority.
Optimize your titles to rank first even if you go above the 60–70-character limit. Then, experiment to adjust how your titles look in SERPs.
But if you don’t rank, it doesn’t matter how long your titles are anyway.
Content Source: searchengineland.com
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