Google shows a different title: why title tags get rewritten and how to reduce it

Confirm it is a rewrite

1. Check the live tag. curl -s https://example.com/page/ | grep -io '<title>[^<]*'. If this is not the title you think you set, the problem is on your site: a cache, a template override, or a second <title> element.
2. Check when Google last crawled. Inspect the URL in Search Console and read the last crawl date. If it predates your title change, Google is showing the previous version. Request indexing and wait.
3. Search for the page by its URL or a unique phrase. If the displayed title differs from the tag and the crawl is recent, it is a rewrite. Note where the replacement text comes from: your H1, your site name, a heading further down, or anchor text.

What Google uses to build a title link

Google's documentation lists the sources it considers:

• the <title> element
• the main visual title shown on the page
• heading elements such as <h1>
• other content that is large and prominent through styling
• other text on the page
• anchor text on the page and in links pointing to it
• WebSite structured data

The title element is used for the large majority of results. Knowing the alternatives explains most rewrites: the replacement is usually your own H1.

Documented reasons for rewriting

Google names these patterns as ones it tries to correct:

• Half-empty titles. | Site Name with nothing before the separator, typically from a template whose variable came back empty.
• Obsolete titles. A year or date in the title that the page content has moved past, such as a "2023" title on a page updated since.
• Inaccurate titles. A title that does not reflect what is on the page.
• Micro-boilerplate. The same title, or one differing by a word, across a group of pages; see duplicate title tags.
• No clear main title. Several headings of equal prominence, so it is unclear which is the page's title; see multiple H1 tags.
• Language or script mismatch between the title and the page's main content.
• The site name repeated needlessly within the title.

Titles far too long to display and lists of keywords are treated the same way.

Titles Google tends to keep

1. Describe the page, specifically. If the page is a guide to descaling kettles, say so. Avoid titles that could sit on any page of the site.
2. Keep the title and H1 aligned. They need not be identical, but they should plainly be about the same thing. When they diverge, Google often trusts the heading visitors can see.
3. Fit the display width. Google truncates by pixel width, not character count. Roughly 50 to 60 characters is a safe working range. Preview with our SERP snippet preview, which measures in pixels.
4. Put the brand at the end, once. Descriptive Title | Brand. For the homepage, lead with the brand.
5. Drop repeated boilerplate. A long tagline appended to every title invites trimming.
6. Keep dates honest. If the title says a year, the content should match it. In Hydrogen SEO templates, %currentyear% keeps evergreen titles current, but only use it where the content is maintained.
7. One clear H1. Make the main heading visually and structurally dominant.

In Hydrogen SEO, set a page's title in the SEO Settings sheet and site-wide patterns under Titles & Meta; both are covered in SEO titles and meta descriptions. The editor's SERP preview shows the title at result width as you type.

Empty variables and other WordPress-specific causes

• A template variable with no value. A category with no description, or a custom field that is blank on some posts, can leave a dangling separator. View the source of several page types and look for titles that begin or end with the separator.
• Two title elements. A theme printing its own <title> in addition to the generated one. Google may read either.

When to leave the rewrite alone

Compare performance before reacting. In Search Console's Performance report, filter to the page and look at click-through rate for its main queries. If Google's version is accurate and CTR is healthy, changing your tag to something closer to it is the simple resolution: adopt the wording that works. If the rewrite is worse, for instance it drops the detail that distinguishes your page, apply the points above.

There is no markup that forces Google to use your title, and no way to opt out.

See whether the change took

After editing, request indexing. Once Search Console shows a crawl date later than your edit, search again; allow days, and longer for rarely crawled pages. If the rewrite persists with a concise, accurate title that matches the H1, Google may be drawing on anchor text, so check how other pages describe this one in their links.