Google’s John Mueller answered a question about the ideal title tag length for SEO and ranking purposes in a recent Google SEO Office-hours hangout. The questioner was concerned because most of the titles his tags were well over his 65 characters.
65 characters for the title tag
Google search results generally state that the general range that Google displays on search engine result pages (SERPs) is 60-65 characters (letters, spaces, and numbers).
Longer titles may be shortened or completely rewritten by Google.
Your title tag will appear prominently in the SERPs, so proper title tag placement is important to maximize clicks and traffic to your website.
The title tag is a small ranking factor, so you should also consider the impact your title has on search rankings.
John Mueller explains title tags
So the asker had good reason to care about the length of the title tag..
The person said he worked for a news agency that had millions of articles, typically featuring title tags of over 65 characters each.
He raised this concern with the newsroom administrator about the length of the title tag.
He explained the position this put him in:
“They were very upset about it because … news has to be like long titles and good titles.”
So he was basically caught between meeting the demands of SEO and adhering to journalism best practices.
He searched the Internet to find a definitive answer, but was not satisfied with what he found, which explains why he asked at the office hour hangout.
Is title tag length a ranking factor?
The person asked if the 65-character limit was a ranking-related factor.
he asked:
“Is it really a good ranking factor if the title (length) is something like a cap?”
John Mueller replied:
“No. We do not have recommendations for title length.”
Title tag length is editor’s choice
Mueller went on to point out that title length is a publisher decision and not an SEO issue related to ranking.
Muller explained:
“So I think I’ll pick a number from your side and say there’s room for this much on mobile, so as an editorial guideline, I’d say 65 or whatever you want to choose.
That’s perfectly fine.
From Google, … from the search quality side, from the ranking side, there is no guideline that it should be this long. ”
The questioner followed up and asked if the length of the title didn’t matter, even though the entire title was too long to show up as a snippet in search results.
he asked:
“Is it like a ranking factor?”
John Mueller shook his head in reply.
“No no… the length doesn’t matter.
Showing something shorter, or showing something a little different than how it appears in search results, doesn’t change your ranking. ”
best length for title tag
The ideal length looks similar to what people use for headlines. This is to use what is appropriate to describe what the reader expects.
Google’s title tag best practices documentation states:
“Title links are important to help users quickly understand what the result is and why it’s relevant to their query.”
Here are some additional tips:
- Title tags should be descriptive and concise (to the point)
- Do not use it for keyword dumping (keyword stuffing).
- Boilerplate, avoid repeating words across multiple pages
- Title of the brand website (describe the purpose of the site, etc.)
Quote:
Google title tag recommendations
Control title links in search results
Optimal title tag length
Watch John Mueller talk about the title tag at the 2:57 minute mark.
