Even though I have tag, Google show the name of the link instead of the actual title in results</a></h1> </div> <div class="grid fw-wrap pb8 mb16 bb bc-black-075"> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mr16 mb8" title="2016-01-12 19:07:53Z"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Asked</span> <time itemprop="dateCreated" datetime="2015-07-12T21:46:55.787" class="fromnow">Jul 12 '15 at 21:46</time> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mr16 mb8"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Active</span> <time class="fromnow" title="2015-07-12T23:37:47.923" datetime="2015-07-12T23:37:47.923">Jul 12 '15 at 23:37</a> </div> <div class="grid--cell ws-nowrap mb8" title="Viewed 224 times"> <span class="fc-light mr2">Viewed</span> 224 times </div> </div> <div id="mainbar" role="main" aria-label="questions and answers"> <div id="question" class="question" data-questionid="83093" data-ownerid="12673" data-score="2"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="83093"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="2">2</div> <button class="js-bookmark-btn s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer py4"> <svg aria-hidden="true" class="svg-icon iconBookmark" width="18" height="18" viewBox="0 0 18 18"><path d="M6 1a2 2 0 00-2 2v14l5-4 5 4V3a2 2 0 00-2-2H6zm3.9 3.83h2.9l-2.35 1.7.9 2.77L9 7.59l-2.35 1.7.9-2.76-2.35-1.7h2.9L9 2.06l.9 2.77z"></path></svg> <div class="js-bookmark-count mt4" data-value=""></div> </button> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>I noticed today that in some cases in the google results of my page, some of the title results are shown not with the <code><title></code> tag, but with the link name.</p> <p>Fore example if the <code>contact</code> link is <code>contact</code> and the title is <code>hi let's talk</code> google chooses to show the <code>contact</code></p> <p>I have noticed this when I submitted my updated sitemap that contains the translated pages, for example I have an english version and an italian version. This strange thing is shown in the italian version.</p> <p>What can I do about this ?</p> </div> <div class="mt24 mb12"> <div class="post-taglist grid gs4 gsy fd-column"> <div class="grid ps-relative"> <a href="../../questions/tagged/google|google-search-console|google-search|title" class="post-tag js-gps-track" title="show questions tagged 'google|google-search-console|google-search|title'" rel="tag">google|google-search-console|google-search|title</a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature owner grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="asked Jul 12 '15 at 21:46">asked Jul 12 '15 at 21:46</time> <a href="../../users/12673/enexoonoma" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/12673.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="EnexoOnoma" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/12673/enexoonoma" class="s-user-card--link">EnexoOnoma</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">121</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="1 gold badge">1</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="2 silver badge">2</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingbronze" title="6 bronze badge">6</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> <div id="comments-83093" class="comments js-comments-container bt bc-black-075 mt12 " data-post-id="83093" data-min-length="15"> <ul class="comments-list js-comments-list" data-remaining-comments-count="0" data-canpost="false" data-cansee="true" data-comments-unavailable="false" data-addlink-disabled="true"> <li id="comment-99355" class="comment js-comment " data-comment-id="99355" data-comment-owner-id="17633" data-comment-score="0"> <div class="js-comment-actions comment-actions"> <div class="comment-score js-comment-edit-hide"> </div> </div> <div class="comment-text js-comment-text-and-form"> <a name="comment99355_83093"></a> <div class="comment-body js-comment-edit-hide"> <span class="comment-copy">Links to many similar questions <a href="../../a/44374#44374">in this answer</a>. </span> – <a href="../../users/17633/unor" title="21,739 reputation" class="comment-user ">unor</a> <span class="comment-date" dir="ltr"><a class="comment-link" href="../../questions/83093/even-though-i-have-title-tag-google-show-the-name-of-the-link-instead-of-the-a#comment99355_83093"><span title="2015-07-12T23:26:31.497 License: " class="relativetime-clean">Jul 12 '15 at 23:26</span></a></span> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="answers"> <a name="tab-top"></a> <div id="answers-header"> <div class="answers-subheader grid ai-center mb8"> <div class="grid--cell fl1"> <h2 class="mb0" data-answercount="9">2 Answers<span style="display:none;" itemprop="answerCount">2</span></h2> </div> </div> </div> <a name="83097"></a> <div id="answer-83097" class="answer " data-answerid="83097" data-ownerid="36029" data-score="3" itemprop="suggestedAnswer" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Answer"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="83097"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="3">3</div> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>I am not sure about how Google might treat an Italian site, however, I rather suspect the process is the same. So I will continue.</p> <p>In your case, Google likely does not like the title as provided in the title tag. It is important that the title tag is not too short or too long and that the title tag be carefully crafted especially when using the pipe character. There may be other conditions under which Google will not use the title as given as a SERP link.</p> <p>In your case, Google is likely looking to traditional pages and traditional links. Certain pages have special importance; About, Contact, Company Info, Privacy Policy, and so on, that have been treated somewhat differently in the original parser models where pages were read top-to-bottom like any page in a book. These pages were different in that there were expectations put upon them by users. Contact, for example, would have contact information and special agents (as in the AI tradition) were used to extract contact information. Perhaps part of what you are experiencing is related to this. Who knows for sure?</p> <p>What we can say is this. If you craft your title tag for length, you should be fine. Here are some answers I have given in the past that may help you to understand what is going on.</p> <p>Speaks to how Google can change SERP links. <a href="../../questions/14415/title-tag-different-from-title-appearing-in-google#69206">Title tag different from title appearing in Google?</a></p> <p>Speaks to the title length. <a href="../../questions/69050/my-title-tag-doesn-t-appear-to-be-getting-crawled-by-google-properly#69080">My title tag doesn't appear to be getting crawled by Google properly</a></p> <p>Speaks to the title length. <a href="../../questions/65767/title-in-google-does-not-match-title-of-document#65768">Title in Google does not match <title> of document</a></p> </div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:33">edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:33</time> <a href="../../users/-1/community" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/-1.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="Community" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/-1/community" class="s-user-card--link">Community</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">1</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="answered Jul 12 '15 at 22:59">answered Jul 12 '15 at 22:59</time> <a href="../../users/36029/closetnoc" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/36029.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="closetnoc" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/36029/closetnoc" class="s-user-card--link">closetnoc</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">32,849</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="4 gold badges">4</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="45 silver badges">45</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingbronze" title="69 bronze badges">69</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> </div> </div> </div> <a name="83098"></a> <div id="answer-83098" class="answer " data-answerid="83098" data-ownerid="46807" data-score="1" itemprop="suggestedAnswer" itemscope="" itemtype="https://schema.org/Answer"> <div class="post-layout"> <div class="votecell post-layout--left"> <div class="js-voting-container grid jc-center fd-column ai-stretch gs4 fc-black-200" data-post-id="83098"> <button class="js-vote-up-btn grid--cell s-btn s-btnunset c-pointer"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="m0 svg-icon iconArrowUpLg" width="36" height="36" viewBox="0 0 36 36"><path d="M2 26h32L18 10 2 26z"></path></svg></button> <div class="js-vote-count grid--cell fc-black-500 fs-title grid fd-column ai-center" itemprop="upvoteCount" data-value="1">1</div> </div> </div> <div class="postcell post-layout--right"> <div class="s-prose js-post-body" itemprop="text"><p>Going by your example, I will guess that google chooses the word "contact" over "hi let's talk" as a title because your page probably has the word "contact" more than once and it sounds more professional.</p> <p>But if you want a good chance at having your title as the title in search results, then you want to make it related to your page. This means having keywords from your title appear in your page. All the better if the match is word for word in exact order.</p> <p>Go here: <a class="external-link" href="http://www.seoworkers.com" rel="nofollow">http://www.seoworkers.com</a></p> <p>Then put the URL of the page you have a title issue with, and you'll see a section in the results about title relevancy.</p> <p>The results will tell you how many characters are in the title and its opinion. I'd aim for no more than 65 characters per title. And you want to make sure the title relevancy to the page is 100%. Also in the result is a video by Matt Cutts that talks about title tags.</p> </div> <div class="mb0"> <div class="mt16 grid gs8 gsy fw-wrap jc-end ai-start pt4 mb16"> <div class="grid--cell mr16 fl1 w96"></div> <div class="post-signature grid--cell"> <div class="s-user-card s-user-card"> <time class="s-user-card--time" datetime="answered Jul 12 '15 at 23:37">answered Jul 12 '15 at 23:37</time> <a href="../../users/46807/mike-no-longer-here" class="s-avatar s-avatar32 s-user-card--avatar"> <img class="s-avatar--image" src="../../users/profiles/46807.webp" data-jdenticon-width="32" data-jdenticon-height="32" data-jdenticon-value="Mike -- No longer here" /> </a> <div class="s-user-card--info"> <a href="../../users/46807/mike-no-longer-here" class="s-user-card--link">Mike -- No longer here</a> <ul class="s-user-card--awards"> <li class="s-user-card--rep" title="reputation score">13,610</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blinggold" title="4 gold badges">4</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-blingsilver" title="28 silver badges">28</li> <li class="s-award-bling s-award-bling__bronze" title="60 bronze badges">60</li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-layout--right js-post-comments-component"> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="sidebar" class="show-votes" role="complementary" aria-label="sidebar"> <div class="module sidebar-linked"> <h4 id="h-linked">Linked</h4> <div class="linked"> <div class="spacer"> <a title="Vote score (upvotes - downvotes)"><div class="answer-votes answered-accepted default">5</div></a> <a href="../../questions/44372/my-website-title-shows-up-slightly-different-from-what-s-in-my-title-tag-only-" class="question-hyperlink">My website title shows up slightly different from what's in my title tag, only in Google search</a> </div> </div> <div class="linked"> <div class="spacer"> <a title="Vote score (upvotes - downvotes)"><div class="answer-votes default">2</div></a> <a href="../../questions/107613/google-is-adding-archive-to-the-title-of-tag-and-category-pages-and-not-using-" class="question-hyperlink">Google is adding "Archive" to the title of tag and category pages and not using the meta description</a> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script src="../../static/js/stack-icons.js"></script> <script src="../../static/js/fromnow.js"></script> </body> </html>