What titles and meta descriptions do
The title tag and meta description are the two lines Google shows for your page in the results: the blue headline and the grey text under it. The title helps Google understand and rank the page, and both decide whether anyone actually clicks. You can rank on page one and still lose the visit to a competitor whose snippet reads better. It is one of the cheapest wins in SEO, and one of the most neglected.
How to write a title that gets clicked
- Put the important word first. Lead with what the page is about, not your business name. "Roof repair in Lüneburg" beats "Home | Müller GmbH".
- Be specific, add the place. A concrete promise and a location out-earn a vague label, especially for local searches.
- Stay in the visible length. Roughly 60 characters before Google truncates. Front-load so the key words survive the cut.
- One title per page. Every page needs its own; duplicate titles across pages confuse Google and waste the slot.
The meta description is your ad line
It does not directly affect ranking, but it is free ad copy. Write about 150 characters that say what the visitor gets and why you, and end with a nudge to act. Match it to the search intent of the page. If you leave it blank, Google writes one for you from the page text, and it is usually worse than what you would write.
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| Home | Müller GmbH | Roof repair & renovation in Lüneburg | Müller GmbH |
| Welcome to our website | Fast, tidy roof repairs across the Lüneburg area. Free quote within 24h. |
| Services | Our roofing services: repair, renovation, flat roofs, storm damage |
Why Google sometimes rewrites them
Google may replace your title or description if it thinks another version fits the query better, or if yours is missing, stuffed with keywords or duplicated. That is not a failure on your part to fight; it is a reason to write a clear, honest, query-matching version so Google has no reason to override it. Clean titles also feed how machines understand your page, which matters as more searches move to AI.
Frequently asked questions
How long should a title and description be?
Aim for about 60 characters for the title and about 150 for the description, front-loaded. Those are guides, not hard cuts; Google measures pixels, not characters.
Does the meta description affect ranking?
Not directly. But a good one lifts your click-through rate, and getting the click is half the point of ranking at all.
Why did Google change my title in the results?
It rewrites titles it finds missing, keyword-stuffed, duplicated or a poor match for the query. Write a clear, specific, honest one and it usually keeps yours.
Do I need a unique one for every page?
Yes. Duplicate titles and descriptions across pages waste the slot and blur which page should rank for what.