Meta tags are like the backbone of a webpage, guiding both Google and users. They’re useful for both machines and people, showing what the page is about and how relevant the information is. Without meta tags, a page is like a car without lights on a night highway. All meta tags are important, but they have a hierarchy. Head tags come first, then Body tags. The most important tags are Title and Description.
Topics Covered:
- What is a Title tag
- What is a Description tag
- Emojis in meta tags
- Spelling and punctuation
- Translation function
- What is a Keywords tag
- What is an H1 tag
- What is an Alt meta tag
- Tools for checking and implementing meta tags
What is a Title tag
This tag is the page’s title. Don’t confuse it with H1. The Title appears in search results, when hovering over the favicon, and when sharing the link on social media and messengers. Let’s look at some examples in more detail.
It’s important for the Title to encourage users to click on the link in search results (or wherever it appears).
- First, it’s about presenting the brand: “judged by the cover.”
- Second, Google needs the tag to understand what the page is about.
Important: H1 and Title are different tags! Sometimes they may look the same, but their roles are different. You see the Title tag in search results and when sharing content on almost any platform. The H1 tag is the heading you see on the page. Often, websites make them the same because it’s simpler and clearer for the optimizer. If users click through from search results expecting a certain heading, they likely expect to see the same (or similar) heading on the page. That’s why H1 is often used as a basis.
Title Tag Rules
Length: 40-60 characters including emojis.
If you see three dots, it means the Title is too long. Google cuts off title tags longer than 70 characters (around 80 for mobile).
The size actually depends on pixels, but usually, it’s 40-60 characters. So, don’t make them longer.
📌 Read in our blog: What is storytelling and why should you use it?
Common Mistakes
- Write for people, not search engines: don’t use too many keywords if they look unnatural.
- Make sure Titles are unique. Repeating Title tags is a common mistake.
- Ensure every page has a Title tag. This is also a common mistake.
- Don’t use all caps. It’s okay to highlight a word, like an acronym, but writing the whole Title or a part of it in caps is a serious mistake.
- Don’t use vertical slashes — decorate tags with emojis.
- Remember, the dash should be long, like this: —. Copy it into auto-replace if you haven’t already.
- In separate columns, include a character count function: =len(cell). So you always know if you’ve exceeded the character limit.
- To work easily with H1, definitely include the XML H1 import formula for Google Sheets.
- In Title and Description, the H1 should be as it is (or as you corrected it, if initially, H1 was missing or uninformative). Don’t change numbers, but if needed, change cases. For example, H1 — Door Locks COMIT.
| Correct or Incorrect | Title | Description | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Correct | Door Locks COMIT 🔒 Quality hardware at site.com | Door Locks COMIT — models for entrance doors are strong and reliable 🚪 Original products from an Italian manufacturer for door hardware at site.com | Here H1 is exactly matched, all correct by character count, spelling checked. |
| Incorrect | Door Lock COMIT | site.com | Looking for hardware? Models for entrance doors are high strength and reliable. Original products from an Italian manufacturer for door hardware at site.com | In Title, H1 is incorrectly matched, and Description doesn’t have it at all. No emojis, there’s a vertical slash. |
| Incorrect | Buy a sleeping bag blanket — Terra Incognita Asleep Wide 300 | Buy a sleeping bag blanket — Terra Incognita Asleep Wide 300 ⛺️ Free shipping. Extra comfort sleeping bag, width increased to 100 cm. Buy at a favorable price from the manufacturer’s store | Doesn’t make you want to buy this sleeping bag at all. Written bureaucratically and without soul. Marketers should be able to write better. |
| Correct | Going camping and need a wide, warm sleeping bag? ⚡️ Terra Incognita Asleep Wide 300 sleeping bag is what you’ve been looking for: easily turns into a blanket, anatomical hood. A must-have for tourists | Written in simple language, highlights benefits for the customer. This is how all ads should be written. |
How to Write a Good Title
The Title appears in search results, and users decide whether to visit the page based on it. So, include the page’s main keyword in the Title, which is sometimes the H1 but not always.
For example, if H1 is “Delivery” or “Catalog,” wrap it into something like: “Free Delivery from Store X,” “Lightning-Fast Delivery from Store X,” “Learn More about Comfortable Delivery from Store X,” “I Want to Order. When Can It Be Delivered? — Store X.” Only claim free delivery if it’s actually free. Don’t make up benefits — check with the client’s website text.
Don’t write like this: “H1+ Buy cheap without registration, reviews, in USA and the world.”
If you need to write a Title for pages like Delivery, Payment, Catalog, the worst thing you can do is H1+ {buy wholesale/cheap/fast in Chicago/Toronto}. Service pages are very important, and they should be handled this way.
Add action words to your Title. For example: buy, view, learn, find. Combine these words with terms like free, simple, or new, and people will be more likely to click.
Meta Tag Description
Meta Description is the second most important tag and describes the page for people and search engines. The optimal length of a Meta Description is 160-200 characters. You can write longer, but they might not display correctly on all devices. Generally, don’t obsess over length, for example, 160 characters is enough, but 150 is too little.
Ensure a connection between Title and Meta Description so search engines can easily recognize what you’re about to talk about. Meta Description is a continuation of the Title.
Each web page should have one target keyword. And this keyword should appear in both the Title and Meta Description.
You can’t write “SEO” in the Title and “content publish on the website” in the Meta Description. These are two different keywords, and their mismatch will confuse search engines.
If using emojis in Meta Description, remember that one emoji ≠ one character. One emoji can take up to ten characters.
Without a meta description, Google will default to using any sentence that it thinks best covers the content.
How to Make a Good Meta Description
Evaluate the site’s content, see what’s written in H1 and Title, but decide what to keep and what to change. Add the company’s benefits, look at good examples from competitors, make several Meta Description templates, and mix and match them.
Emojis in Meta Tags
Emojis grab the attention of those deciding to visit a site from search results. Google is more for than against emojis in meta tags.
Some emojis might not display correctly in search results, so after inserting an emoji, check how it looks on Google.
🚀👍 💫 🏅🏆⚡✌✅
Get creative. If a client sells grain cleaners, use a corn 🌽 or wheat 🌾 emoji. For repair services, use tools 🧰⚒️, for board games 🎲, for alcohol 🍹 or 🥃. This creative approach helps clients stand out from competitors, meaning more earnings, satisfaction with the collaboration, and growth together.
Be cautious with emojis
Add one emoji in the Title and one in the Meta Description. That’s it. Don’t clutter tags with too many emojis. Google penalizes for that.
One Emoji Isn’t Just One Character. For example, the fire emoji 🔥 takes up nine characters in HTML code — 🔥. So, with character limits for Titles around 60, keep this in mind.
Don’t use face emojis like 🤯😝. After an emoji, start with a capital letter, and don’t put a period before an emoji unless required by rules, like abbreviations (e.g., etc.).
Spelling and Punctuation
Check before adding to the client’s file structure. Also, check for long dashes (like this: —). Be careful with similar-looking symbols.
Install a grammar and spelling checker like LanguageTool for easier checking.
Translation Functions
When meta tags are written and approved, they need to be translated. If the client’s site is in multiple languages, consider translating.
The GOOGLETRANSLATE function allows translating text directly in Google Spreadsheet:
English to Spanish: =GOOGLETRANSLATE(“text/cell”;”en”;”es”)
Long dashes might get lost in translation, so check auto-replacements and proofread meta tags before submitting them for review.
Meta Tag Keywords
Keywords are a list of key words for the page.
Keywords used to be important, but today they don’t impact search ranking as much. Filling them out is just an option.
<meta name = “keywords” content = “list your page’s keywords separated by commas“>
- How keywords look in the code:
H1 meta tag
The most important rule for H1 is that there should be only one on the page, and it must be present.
If there’s no H1 on the page, add one that’s relevant to the content. If there are multiple H1s, keep only one. Convert the others to H2 or H3 if they deserve it, delete them, or change them to regular text, depending on the situation.
Alt meta tag
Alt and Title attributes of images are called alt tag and title tag. Technically, they are attributes, not tags. Alt text describes what’s in the image and its function on the page.
If you use an image as a button to buy product X, the alt text should say: “Button to buy product X.”
Alt is also used for screen reading for blind and visually impaired people. Special screen reading programs tell users what is shown in the picture by reading Alt.
If there’s no field to enter Alt on the site, make sure to write a task about it. This will be a task for the client’s programmers.
Tools for Checking and Implementing Meta Tags
Web Site Plugin SEO meta data extension Web Site
Helps with primary page analysis when you need an answer right away.
Yoast SEO Plugin for WordPress
With Yoast, all pages you publish have internal parameters for SEO optimization, updating tags, and other metadata.
When Yoast is installed on your WordPress site, a few mouse clicks and seconds of your time are all you need to add meta tags.
Other Tools
- Serpstat
- Screaming Frog
Conclusions
- Watch the length of meta tags; don’t write them too long, but make sure they are comprehensive. The recommended length for Title is 30 to 60 characters, and for Description, 160 characters.
- The H1 heading plays a key role in structuring content and should accurately reflect the main theme of the page, being informative and clear.
- Add emojis to meta tags, but control their number and don’t overuse them.
