In the recent Google’s page title update, the search engine will continue using a website’s original titles to rank results in the SERPs.
John Mueller confirms that Google is still using Original Titles for Search Rankings for a webpage when it’s generated in SERPs.
This is officially stated during the Google Search Central SEO hangout recorded on September 3, 2021.
A concerned SEO person wants to know if the initial title (your published meta titles) will be used for rankings if it’s not shown in search results.
Here is Guru Mueller’s response.
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Google’s John Mueller on the Page Title Update (On Ranking)
In response to the question being asked if original titles (your published meta titles) are relevant for rankings,
Mueller confirms that’s currently the case though it could change in the future.
If your original page title targets an important keyword, and that keyword is not in Google’s replacement, do not panic it is still being used by Google’s search ranking algorithms.
“Yes. At least that’s the way it is at the moment. You never know how these things evolve over time, but at least at the moment it is the case that we continue to use what you have in your title tag, in your title element, as something that we can use for ranking.
It’s not like something that replaces everything for the website, but it is a factor that we use in there. Even if when we display the title for your page we swap out maybe that one keyword that you care about, we would still use that for ranking.”
So, we can say that even “when you see generated titles instead of your own titles, the ranking would be decided on the basis of your titles“.
A commonly asked question about the rollout of the page title update is that whether websites should change their titles to the ones Google has generated.
Mueller clearly says no, that’s not recommended.
Google’s replacements aren’t superior titles by default as you know your website and the users the best, so don’t follow blindly.
Google algorithms can provide you good ideas, so that you can improve but just don’t blindly use the generated titles instead of your own.
Mueller addresses this misconception:
The other question that I always get around the titles is: “Should I change my titles to be what Google has chosen? Because obviously Google knows better.”
And the answer is no. These are algorithms that are looking at things and trying to figure things out but you know your site best. You know your users best. So I would not blindly follow what Google’s algorithms are doing.
Maybe there are cases where Google’s algorithms give you good ideas, and that’s fantastic. But I would not blindly follow that.”
Other Useful Resources:
Google Using Original Titles for Search Rankings: Conclusion
We can conclude that Google Using Original Titles for Search Rankings is not a thing we should worry about.
Instead SEO professionals who are thinking to use generated titles instead of their own, must avoid this practice as it may have adversely affect on your keyword rankings.
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