Two lines of code visitors never see in the page, but that they read first in Google: the title, which becomes the clickable blue link, and the meta description, which can become the gray text beneath it. They are often what decides the click.
Google has said a lot about what it does with them. Here are the essentials, and how to write them for a shop, a practice or a craftsperson.
The title becomes, most of the time, the blue link
Google calls this blue link the “title link”. It generates it automatically, from several sources:
- the page’s title tag;
- the page’s main visible heading, often the h1 tag, and its subheadings;
- the og:title tag, the one used for shares on social networks;
- other text that stands out by its size or style;
- the text of links pointing to the page, and other text on the page.
The title remains the main source. In 2021, Google said it used it in about 87% of cases, against 80% before (Google Search Central blog, 2021). We haven’t found a more recent figure published by Google.
Google also states that it can’t manually change the title of a particular site: everything is automatic. If you don’t like the result, it is the page you have to fix.
Why Google rewrites a title
Google lists the cases that lead it to pick a text other than your title:
- a half-empty title, such as “| Boulangerie Martin”;
- an outdated title, still carrying last year;
- an inaccurate title, which no longer describes the content;
- a repeated title on almost identical pages;
- several large headings of equal importance, with no clear main heading: Google often takes the first;
- a different language from the page’s.
A title reduced to “Home” or “Welcome” will thus often be replaced by the page’s large visible heading. After a fix, allow a few days to a few weeks: Google first has to come back and crawl the page.
Writing a good title
Google’s guidelines come down to a few points:
- one title per page, unique;
- descriptive and concise: what the page offers, and for a local business, where;
- no keyword stuffing: it doesn’t help and can pass for spam;
- the brand, briefly, at the start or the end, separated by a dash, a colon or a vertical bar;
- in the page’s language.
And the length? Google sets no limit. It truncates the title on display, depending on screen width. So put the essentials, the trade and the town, in the first words: if something disappears, it will be the end.
| Trade | Weak title | Clear title |
|---|---|---|
| Bakery | Home | Le Fournil bakery in Rennes: sourdough bread |
| Osteopath | Practice, welcome | Osteopath in Lyon 7th, by appointment – Claire Morel |
| Plumber | Cheap plumber plumber Nantes plumbing | Plumber in Nantes, emergency call-outs 7 days a week – Lebrun |
| Restaurant | Restaurant | La Treille, Provençal restaurant in Arles |
| Photographer | Portfolio 2023 | Wedding photographer in Brittany – Studio Ilan |
The meta description, a summary that makes people want to click
The meta description is a short text placed in the page’s code. Google doesn’t always use it: it builds the snippet mostly from the page’s content, and uses the meta description when it describes the page better. So the snippet varies with the search: someone looking for your opening hours doesn’t necessarily see the same text as someone looking for your prices.
Here too, Google sets no length, and it truncates on display. Its advice:
- a description specific to each page;
- useful facts: what you do, where, when;
- sentences, not a list of keywords, which Google is less willing to show;
- a faithful summary of the page.
Google itself gives the example of a haberdashery: a list of products is a bad summary, a sentence saying what the shop offers, with its opening hours and its address, is a good one.
A few examples:
- Bakery: “Sourdough bread baked on site, all-butter pastries, cakes to order. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., place Sainte-Anne in Rennes.”
- Practice: “Osteopath in Lyon 7th for adults, infants and athletes. Consultations by appointment Monday to Saturday, two minutes from the Jean Macé metro.”
- Craftsperson: “Plumbing call-outs in Nantes and the surrounding area, 7 days a week: leaks, water heaters, unblocking. Free quote by phone.”
- Restaurant: “Seasonal Provençal cuisine in Arles, menu renewed every month. Shaded terrace, online booking, closed on Mondays.”
On a one-page website
A one-page website has only one title and one meta description. They must sum up the whole, starting with the main activity and the town. Secondary activities live in the page, under clear subheadings, where Google can read them. The rest is explained in our article on getting a one-page website found.
One precaution: the large visible heading on the first screen is one of the sources of the title link. Have it say the same thing as the title, in other words if you like, but not something else. Our tips for writing the homepage headline go the same way.
Checking what Google shows
Type your name and your town into Google, on desktop and on phone, and look at what shows up. Then open the performance report in Search Console: for each search, it gives the impressions (how many times you appeared), the clicks and the click-through rate. A search that shows you often but gets few clicks points to a title or a snippet to rework.
In short: a unique title, which states the trade and the town in the first words; a meta description in sentences, with facts. Google can rewrite either one, especially if they are empty, outdated or misleading.