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Different title in SERP

by ghazia
16 replies
  • SEO
    • |
Google shows a different title for my site in SERP , when searched for some keywords which I have not added in my title tag. What may be the reason for this?
#serp #title
  • Profile picture of the author Melissa82
    I'm having the same issue with one of my sites. If someone can't answer here I have posted the same question in Google's Webmaster forum and I will report back here if I get a fix.
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  • Profile picture of the author Canal IP
    Google is ignoring the title tag for serps results, for a year ago.
    For example, If you search for your brand name or for your url Keywords… Is it your case?
    I Reccommend you to wath Matt Cutts’ video “Title and snippets”
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  • Profile picture of the author Canal IP
    Google is ignoring the title tag for serps results, since February 2011.
    For example, If you search for your brand name or for your url Keywords… Is it your case?
    I Reccommend you to wath Matt Cutts’ video “Title and snippets”
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Google has been doing this for a long time. If they feel there is a title within your content that is more relevant to the search performed by the user, that will be displayed instead.
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      • Profile picture of the author Melissa82
        Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

        Google has been doing this for a long time. If they feel there is a title within your content that is more relevant to the search performed by the user, that will be displayed instead.
        Mike, your answer matches exactly what was said in Google Webmaster's Forum. In my case I have a meta title for my index page that is reflective of my whole site. Google does not care what's on your whole site just what content is on that index page. Thus my meta title was thrown out by Google and replaced with another that is directly related to my index page's content.
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        • Profile picture of the author paulgl
          Originally Posted by Melissa82 View Post

          Mike, your answer matches exactly what was said in Google Webmaster's Forum. In my case I have a meta title for my index page that is reflective of my whole site. Google does not care what's on your whole site just what content is on that index page. Thus my meta title was thrown out by Google and replaced with another that is directly related to my index page's content.
          Not to be picky..... but the title tag is not a meta tag.
          There is a meta title, but that has not been used since 1997 or about.
          Nobody use the meta title. You undoubtedly are referring to
          <title>, not <meta name="title" which has been ignored since the
          last ice age. Big difference between title tag and meta title.

          Just irks me a little bit when people that call themselves experts
          do not know that title is not a meta...especially when touting
          SEO services...

          Unless you are using the meta title. Which in that case would
          really be inane. Meta title is extinct in 2012.

          I have said many times. You can't force google to do anything.
          But the "ignoring" is overblown here. They don't do it as often
          as people think.

          Paul
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          If you were disappointed in your results today, lower your standards tomorrow.

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          • Profile picture of the author Melissa82
            Originally Posted by paulgl View Post

            Just irks me a little bit when people that call themselves experts
            do not know that title is not a meta...especially when touting
            SEO services...


            Paul
            That's a bit of a low blow Paul. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. I confessed that I had an issue with how Google was displaying my title in the SERPs. Thus I obviously don't know, nor claim to know everything.

            What do you do when you don't know something Paul? Do you have a second WF account to ask questions so that "Paulgl" can remain omniscient?
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      • Profile picture of the author uniquecontentclub
        This is what I have heard - per Mike. Whether or not it is true, your guess is as good as mine.
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  • Profile picture of the author silverace
    Google uses the <title> tag just fine to display my title in the serps, maybe theres something else going on with your sites?
    Signature
    POF PROFITS + AWESOME AFFPLAYBOOK DISCOUNT [CHEAP WSO]
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    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by silverace View Post

      Google uses the <title> tag just fine to display my title in the serps, maybe theres something else going on with your sites?
      Maybe you should try reading this thread before posting...
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  • Profile picture of the author SEOChemist
    If google does not think the text in your title tag matches page content they may change it, this is based on several ranking factors.
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    Filled with SEO Goodness

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    • Profile picture of the author jakson0100
      Banned
      [DELETED]
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      • Profile picture of the author NavalGogia
        I am facing the same problem with my site, Thanks for sharing it...
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  • Profile picture of the author tazosmr
    1) Sometimes, if you are listed in DMOZ (ODP), the search engines will display snippets of text about your site taken from them instead of your description meta tag. You can force the search engine to ignore the ODP information by including a robots meta tag in your header like this:
    Code:
    <meta name="robots" content="noodp,noydir" />
    The "NOODP" robots meta tag is fully supported by Google, Yahoo!, and MSN.
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    protect your Clickbank Download("Thank You") Page
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  • Profile picture of the author karismasand
    Google may use H1 tag for this ...
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    • Profile picture of the author yukon
      Banned
      Originally Posted by karismasand View Post

      Google may use H1 tag for this ...

      This.

      Google will sometimes use heading tags If the heading tag is more relevant to the search query than the page title.
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