SERP Snippet Preview

A preview shows how your tags could look. Google writes the final title and description itself, and they can change from one search to the next.

Titles

Google builds the title link automatically. Your <title> is the main source, but it also looks at the main heading, og:title, other prominent text, links pointing to the page and your WebSite markup. It’s most likely to replace your title when it’s:

• half empty, like “| Site Name”;

• out of date, like last year’s date while the page shows this year’s;

• not about what the page actually shows;

• the same on many pages;

• stuffed with repeated keywords;

• in a different language or script than the page.

Google also shortens long titles to fit the screen. Source: Google’s title link guide.

Descriptions

Snippets come mostly from the page content, picked to match each search. Google uses your meta description when it describes the page better than the page text does. So one page can show different snippets for different searches.

How to make your version more likely

• Write a unique, specific title for each page and put the same idea in the page’s main heading.

• Put your brand once, at the start or end, after a separator like “–” or “|”.

• Write each description as a short summary of that page, not a list of keywords.

• Keep the key words at the start, because long text gets cut.

• After changes, wait for Google to recrawl, or request indexing in Search Console.

Source: Google’s snippet guide.

1. 1.

   Lead with the keyword

   Put the words people search for at the start of the title.

2. 2.

   Stay within the limits

   Green counters mean the text should show in full on desktop. They’re estimates — Google doesn’t publish its limits.

3. 3.

   Give a reason to click

   Use the description for a benefit, a price or a detail the title doesn’t have.