Fix: title tags and meta descriptions

The title tag (<title>) is the clickable headline in Google results and the strongest on-page signal of what a page is about. The meta description (<meta name="description">) is the text under it. This guide covers every title and description check in Site crawl and in audit reports.

The audit also shows scanner lines such as Title not found, Title is too long, Title is too short, Keyword not found in title, Title tag should start with the exact keyword, Meta description not found, Meta description is too long, Meta description is too short, No keyword found in the Meta Description and Meta description should start with the exact keyword. They have the same fixes as the matching section below.

Find the affected pages in the app

1. Site crawl › open the crawl › Issues: click the issue to see the affected URLs (the first 20). Use Export for all of them.
2. Site crawl › open the crawl › Pages: the Title column shows each page’s title. Type part of a title into Search URL or title to find all pages that share it.
3. Audit report: in Audits, open the audit, then Issues to fix or the On-page section. How the report is laid out: Read your audit score and report. The value under Title length shows the title and its length, for example “Plumber in Leeds | Fast 24/7 Repairs (37 characters)”.

Missing title tag

How we detect it

The crawler reads the HTML of every page that returns 200 and looks for a <title> element with text. A page with no title, or an empty one, is counted. It is an error. The audit shows Title not found for the same problem.

Why it matters

Without a title, Google invents one from the H1 or from the anchor text of links pointing to the page, usually badly. The title is the strongest on-page relevance signal and the headline searchers click.

Common causes

• If every page lacks a title → the theme doesn’t output one (missing title-tag support in WordPress, a broken theme.liquid in Shopify).
• If only some pages lack it → those pages were created without an SEO title and the template has no default.
• If the title appears in the browser but not in the crawl → it is added by JavaScript after load. Output it in the HTML.

Fix: basic

Write a title for each page:

1. 50 to 60 characters (the audit passes from 30 to 60).
2. Main keyword first, brand last: Emergency Plumber Leeds | 24/7 Callouts | Smith Plumbing.
3. Unique on every page; for local pages, include the city.
4. Readable: no keyword lists like “Plumber, Plumbers, Plumbing Leeds”.
5. Formula: [Main keyword] – [Benefit or detail] | [Brand].

Then add it in the CMS (see Platform steps) and set a default template so new pages never lack one.

Fix: expert

Hand-coded HTML: put one title inside <head>:

<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>Emergency Plumber Leeds | 24/7 Callouts | Smith Plumbing</title>
</head>

WordPress theme without title support: add this to the child theme’s functions.php:

add_action( 'after_setup_theme', function () {
    add_theme_support( 'title-tag' );
} );

There must be only one <title> per page. Two SEO tools at once (for example Yoast plus a theme’s SEO option) often print two; turn one off.

Platform steps

WordPress (Yoast SEO)

Needs the Yoast SEO plugin (Yoast help).

1. Open the page or post in your WordPress admin editor.
2. Scroll to the Yoast SEO box (or click the Yoast icon in the top bar).
3. Fill in SEO title. The bar turns green at a good length.
4. Click Update.
5. Defaults for all items of a type: Yoast SEO › Settings › Content types › Posts / Pages / Products, set SEO title to %%title%% %%sep%% %%sitename%%, Save changes.

WordPress (Rank Math)

Needs the Rank Math plugin (Rank Math knowledge base).

1. Open the page, click the Rank Math icon, then Edit Snippet.
2. Fill in Title, close the window and click Update.
3. Defaults: Rank Math SEO › Titles & Meta › Posts / Pages / Products › Single Post Title %title% %sep% %sitename% › Save Changes.

Shopify

1. Product, collection, page or blog post: open it in your Shopify admin, scroll to Search engine listing, click Edit, fill in Page title, Save.
2. Home page: in the Shopify admin go to Online Store › Preferences › Title and meta description, Save (Shopify help: preferences).
3. If titles are missing on every page, open Online Store › Themes › … › Edit code › layout/theme.liquid and make sure the <head> contains:

<title>
  {{ page_title }}{% if current_tags %} – {{ current_tags | join: ', ' }}{% endif %}{% if current_page != 1 %} – Page {{ current_page }}{% endif %}{% unless page_title contains shop.name %} | {{ shop.name }}{% endunless %}
</title>

Webflow

1. Static pages: open the site from your Webflow dashboard › Pages panel › hover the page › Settings (gear) › SEO settings › Title tag › Save.
2. CMS items: open the Collection page template settings and build the title from fields, for example {Name} | Brand.
3. Click Publish.

Wix

1. In your Wix dashboard, open the editor › Pages & Menu › click ⋯ next to the page › SEO basics › Title tag.
2. Defaults per page type: Dashboard › Marketing & SEO › SEO › SEO Settings › choose the page type › Edit the title pattern.
3. Click Publish.

Squarespace

1. Open the site from your Squarespace account, hover the page in the Pages panel › ⚙ Settings › SEO › SEO title › Save.
2. Site-wide format: Marketing › SEO › Search appearance (title format such as %p | %s).

Verify the fix

1. Open the page, press Ctrl+U (Cmd+Option+U on a Mac) and search for <title. There should be exactly one, with your text.
2. If you don’t see the change, clear the cache plugin, the host cache and the CDN cache (in the Cloudflare dashboard › your site › Caching › Configuration › Purge Everything).
3. In the app, open Site crawl, click Crawl again, then Compare: Missing title tag should be under Fixed issues.

Automation

Automatable: titles can be generated from page content and written through WordPress admin via plugin (Yoast/Rank Math meta fields), the Shopify Admin API (SEO title field) or the Webflow CMS API; review before publishing.

Duplicate title tags

How we detect it

The crawler groups pages that return 200 by their exact title text. Every page in a group of two or more is counted. It is an error.

Why it matters

Duplicate titles make pages compete with each other. Google can’t tell which one to rank, often picks one and ignores the rest.

Common causes

• If the duplicates are different pages (every location page called “Our Services”) → titles were never written per page, or the template uses only the site name.
• If the duplicates are the same page under different URLs (?sort=price, /page and /page/, HTTP and HTTPS, www and non-www) → a URL duplication problem, not a title problem.
• If the duplicates are blog page 2, 3, … → the archive title has no page number.
• If they are tag, author or date archives → thin archives that shouldn’t be indexed.

Fix: basic

1. In Site crawl › Issues, click Export and sort the file by title to group the duplicates.
2. Different pages: write a unique title for each (see Missing title tag for how).
3. Same page, different URLs: don’t rewrite titles. Add a canonical to the main URL and redirect the duplicates. See Fix: URLs with parameters and Fix: HTTPS, SSL and redirects.
4. Paginated archives: add the page number variable to the archive title template (see Platform steps).
5. Tag, author or date archives with no value: set them to noindex (see Platform steps; background: Google’s robots meta tag guide).
6. Check that every template contains the item-name variable (%%title%% / %title%), not only the site name.

Fix: expert

Point duplicates to the main URL with a canonical tag in the <head> of each variant (Google: consolidate duplicate URLs):

<link rel="canonical" href="https://example.com/services/roof-repair/">

Shopify: add the page number to paginated titles in layout/theme.liquid (the snippet under Missing title tag already does this with current_page).

Platform steps

WordPress (Yoast SEO)

1. Paginated titles: Yoast SEO › Settings › Content types / Categories & tags, use %%title%% %%page%% %%sep%% %%sitename%%.
2. Author and date archives: Yoast SEO › Settings › Advanced › Author archives / Date archives › turn them off.
3. Tags: Yoast SEO › Settings › Categories & tags › Tags › turn off Show tags in search results.
4. Click Save changes.

WordPress (Rank Math)

1. Paginated titles: Rank Math SEO › Titles & Meta, use %title% %page% %sep% %sitename%.
2. Archives: Titles & Meta › Authors / Misc Pages / Tags › Robots Meta › No Index.
3. Click Save Changes.

Shopify

1. Collection filter and sort URLs (?sort_by=, ?filter.) share the collection title. Shopify themes already add a canonical to the clean collection URL; check it with Ctrl+U and keep internal links pointing to the clean URL.

Verify the fix

1. In Site crawl › Pages, search the old shared title in Search URL or title: only one page should match.
2. Click Crawl again, then Compare: Duplicate title tags should move to Fixed issues or show fewer URLs.

Automation

Assisted: grouping duplicates and drafting unique titles is automatic; applying them needs WordPress admin via plugin, the Shopify Admin API or the Webflow CMS API, and canonical/redirect fixes may need server SSH.

Title too long (over 60 characters)

How we detect it

The crawler measures the title of every page that returns 200. Titles longer than 60 characters are counted. It is a warning. The audit shows the same as Title length with “Google cuts it off in results” and the scanner line Title is too long.

Why it matters

Google shows about 60 characters of a title (it measures pixels, roughly 580 px; see Google: title links). Longer titles end with ”…”, so the end of the message, often the brand or the benefit, disappears.

Common causes

• If every title is long → the template adds a long site name or tagline (%%sitename%% - Best Plumbers in Leeds and Bradford).
• If only some are long → hand-written titles with filler or keyword lists.
• If product titles are long → the product name is used as the title and is very long.

Fix: basic

1. Open the title from the report value or the Title column.
2. Remove filler words (“Welcome to”, “Home page of”, “Best”, repeated brand names).
3. Move the brand to the end, or drop it on long titles.
4. Keep the main keyword in the first 30 characters so it stays visible even if Google cuts the title.
5. Aim for 50 to 60 characters and save.

Fix: expert

Shorten the site-wide part of the template: change the separator and site name once in the SEO plugin, or in Shopify remove the | {{ shop.name }} part of the title snippet for product templates if product names are long.

Platform steps

WordPress (Yoast SEO / Rank Math)

1. Per page: edit SEO title (Yoast) or Edit Snippet › Title (Rank Math) and remove %%sitename%% / %sitename% if needed.
2. Site name: Yoast SEO › Settings › Site basics › Website name (Yoast), or Settings › General › Site Title (used by Rank Math’s %sitename%). Use a short brand.

Shopify / Webflow / Wix / Squarespace

1. Edit the page title in the same place as under Missing title tag › Platform steps, then save and publish.

Verify the fix

1. In Site crawl › Pages, check the Title column.
2. Click Crawl again, then Compare: the issue should move to Fixed issues.

Automation

Automatable: shortening titles to 60 characters can be drafted automatically and written via WordPress admin via plugin, the Shopify Admin API or the Webflow CMS API; review before publishing.

Missing meta description

How we detect it

The crawler looks for <meta name="description"> with non-empty content on every page that returns 200. It is a warning. The audit shows Meta description not found.

Why it matters

The description is the ad text under the result (Google: snippets and meta descriptions). A clear one with the search term (shown in bold) gets more clicks. Without one, Google picks random text from the page.

Common causes

• If no page has one → no SEO plugin, or the plugin has no default template.
• If only some pages lack it → they were published without a description.
• If the description is in the CMS but not in the HTML → a theme or caching issue, or two plugins fighting.

Fix: basic

Write a description for each page:

1. 140 to 160 characters (the audit passes from 110 to 160).
2. Use the main keyword once, in the first half.
3. Say what the page offers and give a reason to click: speed, guarantee, area served.
4. End with a call to action, for example “Get a free quote today.”
5. Make it unique on every page.

Example: Need an emergency plumber in Leeds? We arrive within 60 minutes, 24/7, with fixed prices and a 12-month guarantee. Book online in two minutes.

Fix: expert

Hand-coded HTML, inside <head>, only one per page:

<meta name="description" content="Need an emergency plumber in Leeds? We arrive within 60 minutes, 24/7, with fixed prices and a 12-month guarantee. Book online in two minutes.">

Shopify layout/theme.liquid:

{% if page_description %}
  <meta name="description" content="{{ page_description | escape }}">
{% endif %}

Platform steps

WordPress (Yoast SEO)

1. Edit the page › Yoast SEO box › Meta description › Update.
2. Default: Yoast SEO › Settings › Content types › Posts / Pages › Meta description template such as %%excerpt%% › Save changes.

WordPress (Rank Math)

1. Edit the page › Rank Math icon › Edit Snippet › Description › Update.
2. Default: Rank Math SEO › Titles & Meta › Posts / Pages › Single Post Description %excerpt% › Save Changes.

Shopify

1. In the Shopify admin, open the product, collection, page or post › Search engine listing › Edit › Meta description › Save.
2. Home page: Shopify admin › Online Store › Preferences › Title and meta description.

Webflow

1. From the Webflow dashboard, open the site › Pages panel › page Settings › SEO settings › Meta description; for CMS templates build it from a field. Publish.

Wix

1. Wix dashboard › editor › Pages & Menu › ⋯ › SEO basics › Meta description › Publish.

Squarespace

1. Squarespace account › your site › page ⚙ Settings › SEO › SEO description › Save.

Verify the fix

1. Press Ctrl+U on the page and search name="description": exactly one, with your text.
2. Clear the caches, then in Site crawl click Crawl again and check Compare.

Automation

Automatable: descriptions can be drafted from page content and written via WordPress admin via plugin, the Shopify Admin API or the Webflow CMS API; review before publishing.

Title length

How we detect it

The audit measures the page title. It passes from 30 to 60 characters. Over 60 shows “Google cuts it off in results”; under 30 shows “The title is only N characters.” Scanner lines: Title is too long, Title is too short, Title length is good.

Why it matters

A cut-off title looks unfinished; a very short title wastes space that could carry the keyword, location or a benefit. Both get fewer clicks.

Common causes

• If too long → see Title too long (over 60 characters) above.
• If too short → a one-word title such as “Services” or “Home”.

Fix: basic

1. Too long: follow the steps in Title too long (over 60 characters) above.
2. Too short: add a benefit or location: “Roof Repair” → “Roof Repair in Austin | Same-Day Quotes | Apex Roofing”.
3. Save and publish.

Fix: expert

Same as Missing title tag: edit the template or the <title> element directly.

Platform steps

All platforms

1. Edit the title where described under Missing title tag › Platform steps (Yoast, Rank Math, Shopify, Webflow, Wix, Squarespace).

Verify the fix

1. Open the audit in Audits and click Run again. Title length should say “Google shows it in full.”

Automation

Automatable: same access as Missing title tag.

Keyword in title

How we detect it

In Keyword Score audits, the check looks for the keyword you entered inside the page title (lower-case match). Missing keyword is Critical. Scanner lines: Keyword not found in title, Title tag should start with the exact keyword.

Why it matters

The title is the strongest on-page signal of what a page is about, and words at the start carry the most weight.

Common causes

• If the title uses a synonym (“Dental clinic” vs “dentist”) → the check needs the exact phrase.
• If the title is only the brand → it was never optimised.
• If the page isn’t really about the keyword → you audited the wrong page.

Fix: basic

1. Put the exact keyword at the start of the title: keyword “dentist in Bristol” → Dentist in Bristol | Gentle Family Dental Care | SmileCo.
2. Use it once; repeating it looks like spam and Google may rewrite the title.
3. If another page is a better match for the keyword, audit that page instead.

Fix: expert

No code needed beyond editing the title (see Missing title tag).

Platform steps

All platforms

1. Edit the title where described under Missing title tag › Platform steps.

Verify the fix

1. In Audits, open the Keyword Score audit and click Run again. The check should say “The title contains …”.

Automation

Assisted: the change is one field, but choosing the right page and wording needs a person; writing it needs WordPress admin via plugin, the Shopify Admin API or the Webflow CMS API.

Meta description length

How we detect it

The audit measures the meta description. It passes from 110 to 160 characters. Scanner lines: Meta description is too long, Meta description is too short, Meta description not found, Meta description length should be between 140 to 160 characters.

Why it matters

Google cuts long descriptions and may replace short ones with other page text. A complete one gets more clicks.

Common causes

• If under 110 → a one-line description with no offer or call to action.
• If over 160 → a pasted paragraph.
• If not found → see Missing meta description above.

Fix: basic

1. Under 110 characters: add the offer, a proof point (reviews, years, guarantee) and a call to action.
2. Over 160 characters: cut it to 150 to 160 characters.
3. Not found: add one (see Missing meta description).
4. Save and publish.

Fix: expert

Edit the <meta name="description"> tag or the template, as under Missing meta description.

Platform steps

All platforms

1. Edit the description where described under Missing meta description › Platform steps.

Verify the fix

1. In Audits, open the audit and click Run again. Meta description length should say “a good length.”

Automation

Automatable: same access as Missing meta description.

Keyword in meta description

How we detect it

In Keyword Score audits, the check looks for the keyword inside the meta description. Scanner lines: No keyword found in the Meta Description, Meta description should start with the exact keyword.

Why it matters

Google shows the search term in bold in the description, which draws the eye to the result.

Common causes

• If the description uses a synonym → the check needs the exact phrase.
• If there is no description → Google shows random text and the check fails.

Fix: basic

1. Use the exact keyword once in the first half of the description.
2. Keep it natural: “Looking for a dentist in Bristol? Our family practice …”.
3. Save and publish.

Fix: expert

No code needed beyond editing the description.

Platform steps

All platforms

1. Edit the description where described under Missing meta description › Platform steps.

Verify the fix

1. In Audits, open the audit and click Run again. The check should say “The description mentions …”.

Automation

Automatable: same access as Missing meta description; review the wording before publishing.

Common questions

Related articles

• Crawl a whole website
• Read your audit score and report
• Fix: H1 and heading issues
• Fix: content — word count, keyword placement and readability
• Fix: URLs with parameters and URL structure

Still need help?

Ask in the chat inside the app, or send us a message on the contact page. You can also browse all help topics.