Can H1 and Meta title be exactly the same ?

[Tintanus]

I've heard from some SEO's that H1 and Meta Title shouldn't be exactly the same, why ?

Both of them describe what is ON the page right ? Why is it Spammy? Is it ?

[gheh2013]

Given the fine responses to the question, both vis a vis SEO and without considering SEO, do limits exist to the length of the H1 tag similar to the Title tag, which many say to should be between the max 65 and 70 characters to display in the SERPS?

Finding different ways to describe the same subject in a succinct way can be difficult and time-consuming, so I wonder how much time to spend on different H1 and Title text -- not to mention FB and other metadata for that page.

Tangentially, I have noticed that shorter Titles often have the site name appended, and I am not sure that is always a good thing -- especially when words can be duplicated. For example: "Why Live in London" can have the site name "- London Accommodations" auto-appended.

Thank you

[ASEO]

I have tested for this, my initial test does not address user experience of course but that would be easy to test for - but if you're looking for what seems to work in google - my advise it to run your own test. If anyone is interested in follow up testing - please feel free to PM me.

[Tintanus]

Thank you all for your comments, now I get it, It's not that it's spammy or that it can get me into trouble, it's just that I could really use them both better if I try to optmize them both separately. Thanks, God I love Moz's Community ! Thank you !

[TheChief]

The H1 and Title Tag can be the same but the issue that comes into play is whether or not the H1 tag provide a good user experience for the onsite content if it is the same as the Title Tag.

Take this post's Title Tag for example "Can H1 and Meta title be exactly the same ? Why not ? | Moz Q&A". If you put that as the full H1 it would not be as good as:

Can H1 and Meta title be exactly the same?

or

Can H1 and Meta title be exactly the same ? Why not ?

[ScottImageWorks]

Exactly! You won't be penalized, but your competition will probably make better use of both elements as individual opportunities, and then you'll be outranked.

[JVRudnick]

Agreed here on Monica's answer directly above....this is what should be done, eh!

[MonicaOConnor]

I agree with Valeria completely. To elaborate, your title should read like a newspaper heading, and your H1 tag can be more descriptive and detailed. To make them exactly the same means that one of them will not be used to their full optimization potential. The two things should work together. I have always used by H1 tag to expand on my title tag, for example:

Title - Generac 6244 | 20kW Generator | 200a ATS Package

H1 - Generac 6244 Guardian Series 20kW Home Standby Generator with **200a Automatic Transfer Switch **

[innermedia1]

It's not necessarily spammy, but you're just not making the most of your h1 and not optimising your site properly if you do leave them the same. Ultimately, the two serve totally different functions when you remove the SEO element.

Your h1 is to let people know what your page is about when they're already on the site - often, the h1 and the link in your menu is the same which helps build continuity and ensure that people get to the content they're looking for (although there may be slight differences).

Your meta title lets people know what that page is about _before _they get to your site - it's important that you provide them with more information about who you are and why they should go to your page over the other results on there. For example, if you are a leather clothing boutique in London, your h1 may be Leather Trousers. But your searcher is looking for a physical location and wants to try before they buy.... your page appears on a load of search results where people are saying things like Leather Trousers | Ethical British Leather | London (or similar - and that example is too long but you get my drift) and your result simply says 'Leather Trousers' - who do you think gets the click?

Now, when you add the SEO element back in, by not optimising your meta title you're just squandering the opportunity to let search engines know more about your page and your business. Since good SEO consists of lots of building blocks rather than one big thing, those squandered opportunities quickly add up.

[Houses]

I don't think it's s a problem for you but there's more info here: http://moz.com/community/q/why-should-your-title-and-h1-tag-be-different

[Keszi]

I do not believe that having the same text in h1 and title tag could cause any issues. For example we can see a lot of Wordpress websites rank where the title wasn't rewritten. There in most of the cases H1 and Title tag are exactly the same. (or differ only in a | Brand in the title)

That's a personal opinion.

Gr., Keszi