A title tag is the HTML <title> element in your page's <head> section that appears as the blue clickable link in Google search results and the text in your browser tab. It's your primary on-page ranking signal—Google uses it to understand your page topic, and searchers use it to decide whether to click. You get roughly 50–60 characters before Google truncates it with an ellipsis, which translates to about 580 pixels in desktop search results. Write for humans first: front-load your primary keyword, make it compelling enough to earn the click, and include your brand name at the end if space allows. A carpet cleaning company in Ottawa might use "Carpet Cleaning Ottawa | Same-Day Service | CleanCo" rather than "CleanCo: Professional Carpet Cleaning Services Available in Ottawa." Title tags directly influence click-through rate, which is a behavioral signal Google watches. A well-optimized title in position 4 can pull more traffic than a mediocre one in position 2. At Ottawa SEO, we've seen 15–30% CTR increases just from rewriting vague titles into specific, benefit-driven ones. Common mistakes to avoid: - Keyword stuffing multiple variations—Google groups synonyms now, so "Ottawa plumber | plumbing Ottawa | plumbers in Ottawa" wastes space and looks spammy. - Duplicate titles across pages—every page needs a unique title that reflects its specific content. - Overly branded titles on commercial pages—save the brand storytelling for your homepage; service and product pages need the keyword up front. Google may rewrite your title if it thinks it can do better, pulling from your H1, content, or even anchor text pointing to your page. This happens about 60% of the time now. You can't fully prevent it, but a clear, keyword-relevant title that matches user intent reduces the chances. If your title keeps getting rewritten, it's usually a sign of keyword-content mismatch or a vague title that doesn't satisfy the search query.