Web & SEO
What is a title tag?
A title tag is the HTML element that names a page, shown as the clickable headline in search results and as the browser tab label.
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Technical definition
The title tag lives in the head of the document and applies to the whole page. Google truncates displayed titles at around 600 pixels, which works out to roughly 50 to 60 characters, though the engine may rewrite a title entirely when it judges another phrasing a better match for the query.
It is distinct from the H1, which is the visible headline within the page body. The two often say similar things and serve different jobs: the title tag sells the click in search results, the H1 confirms the visitor landed in the right place.
In plain terms
It is the blue link text in Google. Not the headline on your page, the line people read before deciding whether to click.
Fifty to sixty characters, most important words first, and it should name the thing the page is actually about.
Why it matters
The title tag is the highest-leverage on-page element for search traffic, because it affects both what you rank for and whether anyone clicks. Two pages at position four can get very different traffic depending on what their titles promise.
The mistakes are consistent. Leading with your business name pushes the useful words past the truncation point, so put the subject first and the brand last if at all. Duplicating the same title across pages tells search engines the pages are interchangeable. And a title that does not match the page's content gets rewritten by Google, so the effort is wasted. Say what the page is, in the words people search for, inside sixty characters.
