Page titles and descriptions that get clicks

When your page appears in Google, people see two things before they decide to click: the title and the description. They are a small piece of text with a big effect, and many small business sites leave them empty or the same on every page.

The page title

The title is the clickable blue line in Google results, and it is one of the strongest signals for what a page is about. Google recommends a unique, descriptive and concise title for every page, without keyword stuffing [1].

Good page titles:

• are unique for every page
• put the most important words first: the service and, for local businesses, the place
• are short enough not to be cut off, roughly up to 60 characters
• include your business name at the end, if there is room

Examples:

• "Bathroom renovation in Sofia | Kochev Stroy"
• "24/7 roadside assistance in Veliko Tarnovo"
• "Website for €50 a month, live in 7 days | Studio V1"

Avoid "Home", "Services" or the same title on every page.

The meta description

The description is the short text below the title. It does not directly change your ranking, but it strongly affects whether people click. Google says it may use the meta description for the snippet when it gives a more accurate summary of the page than the page text, and that identical descriptions on every page are not helpful [2].

Good descriptions:

• summarise what the page offers in one or two sentences
• include a concrete detail: a price, a time, a guarantee, an area
• end with a reason to click
• stay roughly under 155 characters so they are not cut off

Example: "Bathroom renovation in Sofia from design to final cleaning. Free site visit and a clear quote. 20 years of experience."

Google may rewrite them

Google sometimes shows a different title or description if it thinks another part of the page matches the search better. That is normal. Clear, honest titles and descriptions that match the page content are the ones Google usually keeps.

Where to start

Google's SEO Starter Guide covers titles and descriptions together with the other basics [3].

1. Write titles and descriptions for your homepage and each service page first.
2. Use the keywords from your keyword research.
3. Check how they look in Google Search Console after a few weeks, and improve pages with many impressions but few clicks.

The title gets you found; the description gets you clicked.

Built in from day one

On every Studio V1 site, each page has its own title and description as part of the SEO-ready setup. Our own blog articles work the same way. See SEO for a business website: where to start and the website launch checklist.

References

1. Google Search Central. "Influencing your title links in search results." developers.google.com
2. Google Search Central. "Control your snippets in search results." developers.google.com
3. Google Search Central. "SEO Starter Guide." developers.google.com