Meta title not showing up correctly on SERP
-
We have an issue with some clients on a Wordpress CMS where title tags implemented on a Yoast SEO plugin for the Homepage are not coming up as we'd implemented them. However, the source code shows we'd implemented them correctly according to what we'd wanted.**For example, this is the title tag we implemented in the CMS:Towing Services Alberta | Jack's TowingSource code shows:Towing Services Alberta | Jack's TowingHowever, SERP results shows:**Jack's Towing | Towing Services Alberta This is not an issue with the rest of the other pages and there isn't a global template for our client's sites. It's perplexing that it's only happening on the Homepage and this is across for 3 of our clients' sites.Even more perplexing, recently we've noticed that SERP is only showing the client's business name as the title tag and this is across for 2 out of the 3 clients we'd mentioned above. Nothing has changed in the back-end.Would appreciate some insight on this issue!
-
A strange situation here also with https://locksmith24-7.nl/
I did not include Amsterdam in the meta titel but google is still showing this, how can this happen, any SEO EXPERT solutions for this?
-
Hi Gaston, LureCreative and Nigel, your responses and suggestions are much appreciated. We will test it out and hopefully be able to update on here what's the outcome!
-
Good advice. This is also better from an SEO point of view as the main Keyphrase is now at the beginning of the title. i.e. Towing Services Alberta is more likely to be searched for than 'Jack's towing'.
I would also experiment with putting two key phrases at the beginning with your name at the end. Which is what Google will often do if your name is missing.
so: Towing Services Alberta | Tow Service | Jack's Towing
This allows two contextually strong key phrases to be hoofed into the title. Frankly, I would put the phone number in the description, not in the title as it will not be searched for. Use the title only for keyword rich information that will be searched for, then flesh it out with a strong call to action in the description along with phone number.
Regards
Nigel
-
This is a common thing we see especially when your meta title is "(Keyword Phrase) | (Company Name)". Keep in mind that the Yoast plugin only "strongly suggests" the Meta Title to show up in Google's SERPs, but Google can alter it, and often will if they think it is too keyword heavy or if they want to put the business name first instead of last.
I would test "Towing Services Alberta | Jack's Towing | 888-888-8888" if the client is ok with having their phone number in, this would put the business name in the middle of the title, which in our experience makes it less likely to be changed in SERPs. If the client does not want their phone number in SERPs you may have to experiment with it.
To speed up the testing process, use Google Search Console's Fetch & Render tool and re-index the page to see Google change the result in their SERPs alot faster (usually). Hope this helps and best of success!
-
Hello Gavo,
How long has it been since the setting was applied in the yoast plugin? and how long has it been since you started seeing the wrong title in serp?
Would you please tellme in wich search engine (.com, or .co.uk or other) are you seing this issue?
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
-
Should you aim for Google to use your meta tags?
When updating meta titles and descriptions, I'm taking note of whether Google is displaying the set tag or changing it to copy from the page. Does this affect the ranking position if Google is having to change the tag? How much should I worry if Google is choosing to change every other page? Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | Omar_aw0 -
Fetch as Google is showing this, help!
Our Fetch as Google in Google Webmaster Tools is showing this. What is this?? Thanks! https://imgur.com/k6KOQZz
On-Page Optimization | | bluejay78780 -
Meta Title, Meta Description in Mobile Version
Hello all! We all know that having a responsive theme, with the same URL as the desktop version is what search engines prefer to best index our sites. But how is it when it comes to Meta Titles and Meta Description. Should we use different Metas for mobile visitors? Regards!
On-Page Optimization | | NelsonF0 -
Colons in title tag?
Does Google view the colon as a keyword separator like it does with the pipe (|) character? Currently, our site automatically constructs the title tag based on the page name given by the user. Long ago, we started using the colon character to visually separate the brand & model of the product from the size, and as a result, all of our title tags have been constructed this way. This was done more to make it easier to read for humans than for search engines. My question is - should I consider getting rid of the colon from our title tags? To give more info, our website sells tires. So, for any given model of tire, there might be 25-100 different individual sizes. The tags are constructed as follows: (brand)(model) : (size). Here's an example from our site: GENERAL ALTIMAX ARCTIC : 225/45R17 91Q The brand is General Tire, the model is the Altimax Arctic and the size is 225/45R17 91Q Since this entire string really constitutes the full product name, should I remove the colon so that Google views it that way? Or, since I have used a colon instead of a pipe, will Google simply ignore it and treat the entire string as one keyword phrase?
On-Page Optimization | | kcourtem0 -
Duplicate Page Titles and Duplicate Content
I've been a Pro Member for nearly a year and I am bound and determined to finally clean up all the crawl errors on our site PracticeRange.com. We have 180 errors for Duplicate Page Titles and Duplicate Content. I fixed many of the pages that were product pages with duplicate content. Those product descriptions were edited and now have unique content. However, there remain plenty of the errors that are puzzling. Many of the errors reference the same pages, for example, the Home Page, Login Page and the Search page (our catalog pages).
On-Page Optimization | | AlanWills
In the case of the Catalog Page errors, these type pages would have the same title every time "Search" and the results differ according to category. http://www.practicerange.com/Search.aspx?m=6
http://www.practicerange.com/Search.aspx?m=15 If this is rel=canonical issue, how do I fix it on a search result page? I want each of the different category type pages to be indexed. One of them is no more important than the other. So how would I incorporate the rel=canonical? In the case of the Home Page errors, I'm really confused. I don't know where to start to fix these. They are the result of a 404 error that leads to the home page. Is the content of the 404 page the culprit since it contains a link to the home page? Here are examples of the Home Page type of crawl errors. http://www.practicerange.com/404.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/Golf-Training-Aids/Golf-Nets/~/Assets/ProductImages/products/Golf-Training-Aids/Rubber-Wooden-Tee-Holder.aspx http://www.practicerange.com/404.aspx?aspxerrorpath=/Golf-Training-Aids/Golf-Nets/~/Assets/ProductImages/products/Golf-Training-Aid/Impact-Bag.aspx Thanks , Alan WillsPracticeRange.com0 -
Which is better, have our location in the title or have a title that is 66 characters?
I was told by an SEO company that I need to put our name and location in every page title, however, an seomoz.org campaign gave me warnings for having a page title that is too long. Which is better, have our location in the title or have a title that is 66 characters? We have both a physical and online store, so it would still be nice to direct foot traffic to our physical store.
On-Page Optimization | | HockSports0 -
Title Tag Over Optimization
Hey, I've read that adding the company name to the title tag was a waste of space since the more words the less weight each one has, with all this over optimization preventive measures, should I rewrite the title tags format with company names? and if so should it be (company name): (naturally organized keywords) (naturally organized keyword) | (Company name). or can I keep it just naturally organized keywords Also I used to do (keyphrase) - (keyphrase) instead of commas, should I fix this? I asked this question on Randy's post http://www.seomoz.org/blog/6-changes-every-seo-should-make-before-the-over-optimization-penalty-hits-whiteboard-friday but didn't really get an answer. Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | nrv0 -
Duplicate Page Titles
I have over 200 duplicate page titles on a site that I am working on. Does putting a date at the end of some of them make it a unique enough title?
On-Page Optimization | | SavingSense0