Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Google changes my title in search results randomly, any idea why?
-
hi all,
i recently noticed google changing the title tag of one of my pages in search results for certain keywords...
I've done a bit of a search and see its not uncommon, however from what i can tell they usually change the title if it is too long, or they seem to change the branding location etc...
In my case they are litterally adding key words to it...
Example -
See Image 1 - This is my main keyword - the title displays correctly
See Image 2 - Another keyword - see how google has added "irrelevant" keywords to the title
Any ideas why this happens?
-
Thanks for the info Sorina, i agree with you that Google decided the page is also relevant for the keyword cctv cameras...
But i disagree with google.. lol.. i mean, we have a cameras page, the recorder page has nothing to do with cameras, there are no cameras on that page, it is recorders...
Just seems a little odd to me... I will try lengthening the title as it is a little short (only 36 characters)... perhaps if its a bit longer they wont bother adding to it...
Thanks again
-
In some cases Google rewrites the title of web pages in its search results pages. Here is the exact answer from a Google Employee about this issue:
In general, when we run across titles that appear to be sub-optimal, we may choose to rewrite them in the search results. This could happen when the titles are particularly short, shared across large parts of your site or appear to be mostly a collection of keywords. One thing you can do to help prevent this is to make sure that your titles and descriptions are relevant, unique and compelling, without being "stuffed" with too much boilerplate text across your site.
(source: http://productforums.google.com/forum/#!msg/webmasters/GxPvar_uSwE/ARAsgZ5Rt0kJ)
In your case I believe Google decided that your page is also relevant for the keyword "CCTV Cameras" and added that to the page title.
-
sorry
I just realised in image 2 i used the words "scrolling down" suggesting the search result in question is on page one... my mistake - it is not, the search result in question is on the second page of results...
The images were just to show people the same website page with different tittle tag in google search results...
-
just logged out and tested, i still get the same...
i should point out with image 2 - there is another of our pages that ranks on page 1 for the keyword in that image... but if you go to page two, it shows the page reffered to in image 1 - and you can see the different title...
-
I'm getting different results then you,
I can see your login to your Google account, try login out or if your using Chrome use incognito to search.
What you got, same or different?
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is it a bad idea to hyphenate keywords?
Hello, my understanding was that Google reads hyphens in keywords as spaces, but if that's accurate how come keywords with hyphens that I research with Keyword Explorer — for instance, hospital-acquired infections — rank lower when I include the hyphen? If the hyphen hurts SEO, do I have to remove them all from the blog or page in question? Removing hyphens means a blog or page will have punctuation errors, which is irritating to an editor, but I don't want to sacrifice the effectiveness of keywords, either. Thanks, in advance, for your response!
Keyword Research | | SallieJ0 -
How does Google treat special characters in titles?
Seems like a stupid question, but one that I never really gave much thought about before. How exactly does Google treat special characters in titles? Do they all get seen as spaces? e.g. Does Awesome Product - OptionA/OptionB/OptionC available get seen the same way as **Awesome Product - OptionA, OptionB, **OptionC available ? Or even **Awesome Product - OptionA OptionB **OptionC available ? Or will Google see the first title as **OptionA/OptionB/OptionC **being a whole "keyword" due to there being no space between them? Like I've always just assumed that with apostrophised words will be seen as keyword s. And when using commas, there's always a space after the comma anyway. Are all "special characters" treated the same?
Keyword Research | | Ria_0 -
How can I tell if Google considers two words to mean the same thing
For example, "wives" and "brides" They're often interchangeable, but given context they can still mean fairly different things. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks
Keyword Research | | CupidTeam0 -
How Do You Find the Total Search Volume for an Industry?
Currently my company is working on trying to find the total search volume (read: search potential) for our industry, but aren't sure how best to go about it. Obviously GWT data and Keyword Planner data came to mind, but those are not all encompassing (at least we don't think they are) -- GWT only has data for terms you rank for and the Keyword Planner only gives you volume if you already know the queries. Is there some quick and easy way to go about finding this that we haven't thought of? One thing to note is that our business is nationwide, meaning that all our terms will have a geo-identifier associated with them for each location i.e. [city] + search term -- this just makes things even more complicated. Any advice on to approach would be much appreciated!
Keyword Research | | sparefoot0 -
How can you perform a simulated search query from another location?
In order to review the search results for different locations (New York, London, Paris, Berlin, etc.) I have tried several ways to simulate a search query from different locations. None of the ways I tried gave me the correct results, mostly because Google recognized my location anyway. Tools such as Browserstack also didn't give me the results I hoped for. Any ideas how to generate search results from different locations?
Keyword Research | | Digital-DMG0 -
Does combining keywords in the page title help or hurt you?
I am working on a site which sells elliptical equipment. I used Google Adwords to determine number of searches on the following keywords: Elliptical trainer – 3.,600 searches Elliptical machine – 14,800 searches Elliptical trainer machine - 22 searches I am currently optimizing “elliptical trainer” – but after seeing results above would also like to optimize “elliptical machine”. My question is: if I add “machine” to “elliptical trainer” will Google now only read “elliptical trainer machine” or will it read “elliptical machine” in addition to “elliptical trainer”. How do you know what word or “chunk” of words Google picks up?
Keyword Research | | ChristieC1 -
Google Keyword Tool: What is considered a unique keyword?
I'm trying to research keywords using Google's Keyword Tool. After looking at results, I have the following questions: 1. Does singular/plurals of a word count as two different keywords to Google (ie: photobooth and photobooths)? Would I need to have a unique page targeting each word or will one page on my site be sufficient for targeting both? 2. I've noticed that different variations of keywords have the same global monthly search results. This leads me to believe that Google see's all of them as one keyword. ie: "photo booth props" and "props for a photo booth" and "props with photo booth", all have 22,200 search global monthly search resluts. On the other hand "moustache prop" and "prop moustache" have different global monthly search results (480 and 590). Can anyone explain this?
Keyword Research | | Alchemist230 -
How can a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition?
Sometimes I notice in Google keyword tool that a keyword has very low search volume (<10) and high competition? Why would anyone go for a keyword with very less search volume ?? (note: If Checked in Google keywords tool with Exact match) Though I understand this tool doesn't always have exact data but still any explanation to that question?
Keyword Research | | Personnel_Concept0