How to fix your title tag for SEO
Your title tag is two things at once: the biggest on-page ranking signal you control, and the blue headline searchers actually click. Get it wrong and you lose on both.
The <title> tag is the text in your page's <head> that becomes the clickable headline in search results and the label on the browser tab. Of everything on the page, it carries the most on-page ranking weight — which is why an empty, duplicated, or generic title is such an expensive miss.
A good title is specific, front-loads the primary keyword, stays around 50–60 characters so it doesn't get truncated, and reads like something a human would click.
Why it matters
Search engines lean on the title to understand what a page is about, and searchers lean on it to decide whether to click. A title like “Home” or “Untitled” tells neither anything. Fixing titles is often the highest-leverage on-page change you can make because it moves relevance and click-through at the same time.
How to tell if this is you
Abby flags “Title” when the tag is missing, empty, duplicated across pages, or outside the 50–60 character range. Duplicate titles across many pages are an especially common pattern on template-built sites.
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Add a descriptive <title> tag in the <head> section of your HTML. Keep it between 50-60 characters and include your primary keyword.
Before
<head> <title>Home</title> </head>
After
<head> <title>Handmade Blue Suede Shoes – Free 24h Shipping | Example</title> </head>
Fix it on your platform
WordPress
Install an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO or Rank Math. Go to the post/page editor and fill in the "SEO Title" field. Alternatively, set a default title format in the plugin's settings under Search Appearance.
Shopify
Go to Online Store > Pages (or Products), click the page, scroll to "Search engine listing preview", and click "Edit website SEO". Fill in the "Page title" field.
Wix
Click on the page in the Wix Editor, go to Page Settings (gear icon) > SEO (Google) > SEO Basics, and fill in the "Title tag" field.
Squarespace
Go to Pages, hover over the page, click the gear icon, then click the "SEO" tab. Fill in the "SEO Title" field.
WooCommerce
Install Yoast SEO for WooCommerce. Edit the product/page and fill in the "SEO Title" field in the Yoast meta box below the editor.
Next.js
In the App Router, export a metadata object or generateMetadata() function from your page.tsx/layout.tsx: export const metadata = { title: "Your Title" }. In Pages Router, use <Head> from next/head.
Magento
Go to Content > Pages, edit the page, expand the "Search Engine Optimization" section, and fill in the "Page Title" field.
BigCommerce
Go to Storefront > Web Pages, edit the page, and fill in the "Page Title" field under the SEO tab.
Canva
Canva websites have limited SEO controls. Go to your site settings in Canva and look for the page title option. For advanced control, consider migrating to a full CMS.
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Get my fix planFAQ
How long should a title tag be?
Roughly 50–60 characters. Google measures width in pixels, but 50–60 keeps you safely under the truncation point on most desktop and mobile results.
Should my brand name go in the title?
Usually yes, at the end (e.g. “Primary Keyword – Benefit | Brand”). On your homepage the brand can lead; on deep pages, put the specific keyword first.
What's the difference between the title tag and the H1?
The title tag is the headline shown in search results and the browser tab; the H1 is the main visible heading on the page. They can differ, and often should — the title earns the click, the H1 orients the reader.