Google has published a new update a long time ago. In August, the search engine announced that instead of using predefined titles, it will now use H1 headlines if they fit better with the topic of the page. The whole thing got the name “Title Rewrite” and has the goal that they become more readable and especially accessible. The reasons for replacing the actually specified title can be, for example:
- The reasons for replacing the actually specified Title can be, for example:
- The title is overloaded with keywords
- The title contains little meaningful text, so-called boilerplate text
In addition, since the update, Google only decides on one title per page, regardless of the search query.
However, as performance marketing experts, we are now faced with the question of the impact on ranking and CTR.
Title Rewrite and the impact on Google ranking
Good news first: According to various findings and statements on the part of Google, replacing the title in the search results with the H1 heading used has no effect on the ranking. That is, the presentation of the title and the title as a ranking factor exist independently of each other. Among other things, John Mueller pointed out that more ranking factors are needed than just a title tag.
Click-through rate and the impact of title rewrite
So far, we know that Google uses the H1 headings or other appropriate text of the page played out in the title tag. But what does that do to the CTR? Because it is also certain: often the changes made by Google do not fit 100% with the intention of the website, which could very likely result in a decreasing CTR.
Some pages show a drop in CTR of several percentage points, while other pages show only slight or no CTR losses.
Conclusion: No generalization of the effects possible
Currently, as with most Google updates, it is not possible to make a generalized statement about the title rewrite and its impact on CTR for all pages. For each website, its subpages and the corresponding titles should be decided individually Sistrix offers a function that allows website operators to track the exchange of the title for individual pages. If the changes are to be reversed by Google, an indexing request in the Google Search Console after adjusting the title will help. However, it remains to be seen whether Google will take this into consideration.
