The latest chatter in the webosphere is that Google has extended the character limit of title tags. Along with the changes to the title tag, they have also increased both the meta description character limit per line and also the number of lines of the meta description. All these changes may seem minor. However, they may offer website owners more flexibility in how they present their pages. Let’s take a look at how.
Previously, the average Google title tag that appeared in search engine results averaged around 55. It seems that the new limit extends up to 70 characters, an increase of 15 characters. How much can you achieve with an extra 15 characters? Well, considering the very limited space you are given to title web pages, one or two extra descriptive words could very well affect how a searcher could perceive the page.
The same information applies to the meta description. The role of this field is to give a brief explanation of what a web page is about. By increasing the character or size limit of this field to up to 100 characters per line and up to three lines, the Webmaster can potentially explain the purpose of the web page clearer. This allows users to find exactly what they are looking for with less ambiguity.
Something to consider when creating your title tags and meta description is that the size of a character can affect how many characters will show on the results page. This is because, in reality, Google doesn’t have an actual character limit for these fields, but designates an amount of space for these tags. For example, using an ‘I’ as opposed to a ‘W’ will take up more space, diminishing your potential character count.
At this point, Google has not officially announced or recognized the changes. SEO experts have noted the changes through search tests and industry blogs.
That is why at Slavtech Marketing Inc. we keep up with the latest changes in the SEO industry so that you personally don’t have to keep track of these variations. Over the coming months, we will monitor how these adjustments progress and keep you posted. If you need help with your website’s SEO, please feel free to contact us!