Titles and descriptions people click
Your title is your ad on Google. How to write titles and descriptions that earn the click, and what to do when Google rewrites them.
Ranking gets you seen. The title and the short description under it decide whether people click. In the same spot, a clearer title can bring noticeably more visits.
Titles
- Lead with the search: “Furnace Repair in Des Moines”, not your business name.
- Add a reason to click: “Same-Day, Upfront Prices”.
- Keep it under about 60 characters, so it isn't cut off.
- Put your business name at the end, if there's room.
- Give every page its own title. Two pages with the same title confuse Google and searchers alike.
Google sometimes shows a different title from yours, usually when yours is long, vague or doesn't match the page. If it rewrites yours, make your title shorter and closer to the page's main heading.
Descriptions
The description doesn't change your ranking, but it helps people choose. Write one or two sentences that say what's on the page and why it's worth the click. Google sometimes shows its own excerpt instead; a good description gives it something better to use.
For example
Furnace Repair in Des Moines | Same-Day, Upfront Prices Same-day furnace repair across Des Moines and Ankeny. Price agreed before we start, and a 1-year warranty on every repair.
Do this before the next lesson
- Search for your three most important pages and read their titles as a customer would.
- Rewrite each: the search first, a reason to click, under 60 characters.
- Write a one- or two-sentence description for each.
In Groow
Groow finds your pages with weak titles for the searches they show up for, drafts title and description options, and spots the titles Google rewrites.
Put this to work on your business
Groow checks how ChatGPT, Google and Google Maps see your business every week, tells you what to fix first, and drafts the work for your OK.