Wordpress SEO

SEO: How To Change The Title Tag In WordPress

By on 10th June 2024

Reading Time: 4 minutes

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SEO: How To Change The Title Tag In Wordpress

As a WordPress SEO Consultant I would say one of the most important things you must be able to do on the platform is update your title tags.

And that doesn’t just apply to WordPress, it is probably the most fundamental, important element of a web page across any platform.

So What Is A Title Tag?

A title tag is an HTML element that specifies the title of a web page. It appears in the page’s source code inside the <head> section, like this:

<title>Example Title Tag</title>

The title tag text is displayed in search engine results as the clickable headline for a page, and in the browser window’s title bar or tab.

Title tags should be 50-60 characters long. Longer titles get truncated in search results.

Each page should have a unique title tag that accurately describes the page’s content. It should contain the page’s main keyword near the start.

And Why Are Title Tags Important For SEO?

Title tags are important for SEO for several reasons:

  1. They help search engines understand what a page is about. The title tag is a strong relevancy signal. Including keywords in the title helps pages rank for those terms.

  2. They are prominently displayed in search results. The title tag is the most visible element in a search listing. Descriptive, compelling titles attract more clicks.

    Title Tag In The SERPs
  3. They appear in browser tabs/windows when a page is open. Unique, descriptive titles help users navigate between open pages and find a page again later via their browsing history.

  4. They may be used as anchor text when people link to the page. Some websites automatically copy a page’s title tag when it’s linked to. Descriptive titles help links pass more relevance.

How To Modify The Title Tag in WordPress

Remarkably, WordPress doesn’t allow you to have a custom title for each post or page you create – just for your home page.  On other pages it uses the post or page name as the title tag.  

If you only want to amend the home page title tag (maybe you’re site is a one pager), then go to Settings -> General and amend the site title box as follows:

How To Modify The Title Tag in WordPress

However, if you want to do this across all your pages there are plugins that will add this functionality for you.

Yoast SEO:

Yoast SEO is a popular WordPress SEO plugin with over 10 million active installations. It provides an SEO analysis tool that rates pages based on factors like keyword usage, content length, and readability. The plugin allows users to set custom title tags, meta descriptions, and Open Graph tags for each post and page.  It also includes features such as XML sitemap generation, canonical URLs, breadcrumbs, and a redirect manager. Yoast SEO can also integrate with Google Search Console to help users track their website’s search performance.

Once installed, go to the page or post you wish to edit and scroll to the bottom where you will find the option to edit your title tag and meta description:

How To Modify The Title Tag in WordPress using Yoast SEO

All in One SEO Pack:

All in One SEO Pack has over 3 million active installations. Similar to Yoast It enables users to set custom title tags, meta descriptions, keywords, and Open Graph tags for each post and page. The plugin generates XML sitemaps and notifies search engines of site updates, helping to improve crawlability and indexing. It  also supports Google AMP pages, Schema markup, and local SEO features. If you are an online store it also provides basic SEO functionality for using WooCommerce.

As with Yoast, go to the page or post you wish to edit and scroll to the bottom where you will find the option to edit your title tag and meta description:

How To Modify The Title Tag in WordPress using All In One SEO Pack

Rank Math:

Rank Math is a fast-growing WordPress SEO plugin with over 2 million active installations. It offers a user-friendly setup wizard and an SEO analysis feature that provides suggestions for improving posts and pages. As is standard it allows you to set custom title tags, meta descriptions, Open Graph tags, and Schema markup for each post and page. It supports XML sitemaps, Google Search Console integration, local SEO, WooCommerce SEO, and breadcrumbs. Additionally, it includes a 404 error monitor, redirect manager, and rich snippet previews directly in the WordPress editor, making it a comprehensive SEO solution.

Once installed, you will see an icon at the top right of the screen which you click to open the panel, and then click on “Edit Snippet”

How To Modify The Title Tag in WordPress using Rank Math - Step 1

There, you will find the title tag ready for you to make you amends.

How To Modify The Title Tag in WordPress using Rank Math - Step 2

And that’s it, dead simple.

Other SEO plugins are available.

Dave Ashworth

About The Author -

I would describe myself as an SEO Expert and a specialist in technical optimisation with a professional approach to making websites better for people and better for search engines.

When I'm not blogging, I deliver website optimisation consultancy and organic SEO solutions by addressing a website's technical issues and identifying opportunities for growth


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