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Most SEO reports go unread.

Or, worse — they get skimmed, misunderstood, and ignored.

But knowing how to create an SEO report that demands attention can change everything.

It’s not just a performance recap.

It’s a strategic tool that helps you build trust with decision-makers. Win bigger budgets. And keep your SEO efforts on track.

In this article, you’ll learn how to:

• Create SEO reports that people actually read (and act on)
• Tie SEO performance to business goals
• Highlight wins and uncover growth opportunities

Free resource: Download our SEO Report Template. It has ready-made sections for tracking key metrics, visualizing performance, and presenting clear next steps.

What Is an SEO Report and Why Is It Important?

An SEO report is a tool for measuring performance and shaping strategy.

It tracks key metrics like traffic, rankings, and conversions.

Then, connects them to business outcomes, opportunities, and priorities.

A strong SEO report helps answer:

• What changed?
• Why did it happen?
• What should we do next?

For example, let’s say you run SEO for a workplace furniture ecommerce company.

You notice a spike in traffic and rankings for your category page on ergonomic office chairs.

Here’s how a useful SEO report would break that down:

It’s a clear, focused snapshot that distills the data into what improved, why it happened, and why it matters.

How to Create an SEO Report That Drives Results

Too many SEO reports dump data without insight.

Traffic, rankings, and top pages might look impressive — but they don’t tell the full story.

And without context, stakeholders are left guessing.

The best SEO reports connect the dots. They tie performance to business goals, spotlight what’s working, and make the next move obvious.

Here’s how to build one that actually drives results:

Step 1: Determine the Stakeholders

Before pulling data or building charts, get clear on who you’re reporting to.

Knowing your audience should shape your whole report, from the SEO stats you’re using to how you communicate them.

Ask yourself:

• Who will read this?
• What do they know about SEO?
• Who will be making the decisions?
• What decision do I want them to make?

And here’s one more that’s just as important:

Have I asked what metrics actually matter to them?

A quick conversation can surface priorities that no dashboard will show you.

From there, tailor the format, metrics, and language accordingly.

(This is where many SEO reports go sideways — too much data, not enough direction.)

Here’s a quick breakdown of how to match your audience to your data and format:

For example, if your primary audience is a CEO or CMO, you probably wouldn’t lead with details about unindexed pages or on-page engagement time.

Likewise, a report for a small business owner with zero SEO background shouldn’t be packed with complex metrics or jargon.

They need simple wins, clear summaries, and next steps they can act on.

Pro tip: When your SEO report serves multiple audiences, prioritize what matters most to decision-makers — like ROI, growth, and performance. Then, layer in tailored insights for other teams (product, content, dev, etc.) in separate sections or an appendix.

How to Report to Non-SEO Audiences

Working with clients who don’t speak SEO?

You can help them level up their knowledge by translating industry terms into easy-to-understand language.

Add simple explanations to your reports and introduce new concepts one at a time.

Here are three ways you can do this in your SEO reports:

1. Include key takeaways to clarify complex points.

2. Add links to educational resources on SEO concepts.

3. Add short videos with explanations of the client’s data or performance.

Step 2: Decide Which Metrics Matter Most

Start with the key SEO metrics every report needs, no matter the audience.

You can find the majority of your must-have metrics in SEO tools like Google Search Console (GSC) or Semrush.

Add-On SEO Report Metrics

Once you’ve covered the essentials, you can layer in additional metrics depending on your team’s strategy and goals.

Further reading: Curious about some of these add-on metrics? Check out our guides on bounce rate and dwell time.

Step 3: Turn Raw Data Into Actionable Insights

Raw data doesn’t drive decisions — clear stories do.

Knowing how to create an SEO report means turning numbers into narratives.

It needs to clearly tell a story around these questions.

• Is our SEO strategy working?
• What changed?
• Why did it change?
• What should we do next?

One of the best ways to tell the story is through time-based comparisons.

Show how SEO performance has changed month-over-month (MoM), quarter-over-quarter (QoQ), or year-over-year (YoY).

Highlighting changes over time makes it easier for stakeholders to spot trends. And understand why they matter.

For most SEO teams, the challenge isn’t collecting data. It’s translating it into context stakeholders care about.

Raw numbers might make sense if you’re inside the tools every day.

But executives and cross-functional teams need more than charts. They need meaning.

The best reports go beyond what changed. They explain why —and connect the dots to business impact.

Like this:

Translate percentages and numbers to what actually happened:

• What new pages were published?
• Did your development team ship technical fixes?
• How many backlinks were earned?
• Are algorithm changes or seasonal searches a factor?

Most importantly, link the SEO impact to business terms.

For example, let’s say your top product page jumped from position No. 9 to No. 3.

In the same month, inbound demo requests doubled.

That’s not just a ranking improvement. It’s a signal that higher visibility on the right terms is driving qualified traffic.

In this case, the takeaway isn’t just “rankings are up” — it’s that SEO is contributing directly to revenue growth.

Step 4: Showcase the Results

A great SEO report doesn’t overwhelm your reader — it guides them.

It frames wins. Flags issues. And makes the next move crystal clear.

Executive Summary

Start with a snapshot that shows where things stand.

The Executive Summary gives a high-level view of key metrics and overall performance trends.

So, stakeholders can get the big picture fast.

Keep it sharp and clear. Spotlight what’s working, what’s driving it, and where to go from here.

Performance Metrics

This section covers your core SEO performance data — like traffic, rankings, keywords, and backlinks.

Include context and key takeaways.

When showcasing trends, show the progress over time, not just one-off wins.

And use visuals as much as possible.

Charts, graphs, and annotated screenshots really can make your performance insights pop.

Next Steps

What needs to be tackled next?

Here’s your chance to include those thoughts for your stakeholders.

Include clear, actionable recommendations, like a fresh SEO audit or doubling down on high-performing content.

Appendix

This optional section includes deeper data for teams, stakeholders, and ongoing projects.

It helps keep the main report focused, while still delivering the context others may need.

Bonus move: Once your report is done, record a short walkthrough to present it. It’s a great way to highlight key takeaways, explain the big picture, and guide stakeholders through anything they might overlook.

Mistakes to Avoid in Your SEO Report

Even with the right data, your SEO report can still fall flat if it’s hard to interpret, misaligned with business goals, or missing a clear takeaway.

Here are some common mistakes to avoid — and how to fix them.

Reporting Data Without Context

Don’t just drop data into your report. Make it meaningful.

Show how it relates to business goals and your site’s overall SEO performance.

For every metric, briefly explain what it means, why it matters, and what action it might prompt your team or your client to take.

Surfacing Issues Without Providing Solutions

Reporting on every issue isn’t helpful unless it impacts your site’s SEO performance.

For example, say you note that a group of pages are experiencing index issues.

Include a hypothesis on why this is happening and how you might recommend fixing it.

Listing Every Keyword Ranking

A full list of keyword shifts (especially minor ones) can bury your most important wins.

Instead, spotlight high-impact keywords — non-branded terms driving traffic or tied to revenue pages.

Including Every. Single. Page.

Reporting on every page creates noise, not insight.

Focus on the top 10 pages for organic traffic, or spotlight the top page in each key topic cluster.

Ignoring Business Outcomes

Your report might show SEO progress. But, does it show business progress?

Tie your work to signups, revenue, pipeline, brand visibility — whatever matters to your decision-makers.

Telling, Not Showing

You shared the data. But did you explain the story?

Use visuals, comparisons (e.g., MoM or QoQ), and commentary to walk the reader through what changed, why, and what’s next.

Show the Impact. Earn the Buy-In.

SEO reporting isn’t just about checking a box.

It’s your opportunity to show impact, earn trust, and steer strategy.

Surface insights that get stakeholders aligned and excited about what’s possible.

Want to make it easier on yourself?

Download Backlinko’s free SEO report template to create reports that stand out and get results.

The post How to Create an SEO Report That Wins Trust (and Budgets) appeared first on Backlinko.

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Imagine if your website could rank for every single keyword related to your niche.

That’s the promise of programmatic SEO.

It’s how Tripadvisor creates “Things to Do in” pages for countless locations across the globe…

…and ranks for almost 100K keywords featuring the words “things to do in”:

But the reality is more nuanced. It’s not a magic trick that’ll instantly drive traffic.

And we’ve seen programmatic plays go wrong countless times (more on that below).

The real differentiator nowadays isn’t the ability to create thousands of pages. It’s whether those pages actually deserve to rank.

In this guide, I’ll show you when programmatic SEO works, when it doesn’t, and how you can build your own winning programmatic SEO strategy.

What Is Programmatic SEO?

Programmatic SEO, also referred to as pSEO, is the systematic creation of content at scale using templates and data to target thousands (sometimes millions) of related search queries. The goal is to drive traffic and revenue through these automatically generated pages.

Put another way:

You create landing pages at scale to rank in lots of search results.

In traditional content marketing, you create individual articles targeting specific keywords. With programmatic SEO, you automate page creation based on patterns in search behavior.

Each page uses the same template structure, layout, and core elements. The only things that change are the keywords you’re targeting.

You use automation to spin up hundreds or thousands of variations. Each one targets different long-tail keywords with relatively low competition.

The goal is to drive traffic, build authority, and generate revenue for your business — at a volume you couldn’t replicate manually.

4 Successful Programmatic SEO Examples

Use the programmatic SEO examples below to get inspired and understand how to spot patterns that make good candidates for programmatic campaigns.

Note: Some of these sites have millions of pages, and they often run across multiple different types of programmatic SEO efforts. As a result, the number of pages and traffic figures are estimates. But they should still give you a good idea of what is possible when pSEO works well.

1. Wise

Wise is a global financial platform that helps users send, spend, and receive money internationally.

You’ll see Wise as a common example of programmatic SEO in action, generally for their currency converter pages. But most discussions on the topic don’t properly convey the true scale of Wise’s pSEO play.

The total number of currency converter pages across Wise’s domain (including across different global subfolders like /gb/ and /us/) is a whopping 8.5 million.

Not tens of thousands. Millions of pages. That all look like this:

How do I know there are that many?

Because Wise’s main sitemap index contains 170 individual sitemaps for the currency converter pages alone (it starts at “sitemap-0”):

And each of those contains 50K individual URLs (except the last one, which has just under 47K):

All of which are indexable and canonicalized:

That includes the variants for specific currency amounts.

That’s right, Wise has created a bunch of pages for various currencies that are prefilled with common amounts of currency to convert. Like “2,000 Maldivian rufiyaas to New Zealand dollars.”

And they rank:

In fact, Wise ranks for tens of thousands of related keywords, including 36.5K that include the word “convert”:

Wise’s currency conversion pages demonstrate the difference between valuable programmatic content and thin content.

Each page (like USD to EUR) includes real-time rates, interactive calculators, historical charts, bank comparisons, and transactional capabilities. Not just basic templated text with a CTA.

Their pages solve real user problems rather than merely existing to capture keywords.

But that’s not the only way Wise uses programmatic SEO. They also use it for:

SWIFT codes for businesses (1.25 million pages):

Stock tickers (280K+ pages):

And they also have:

• Currency exchange pages (~8K)
• Account pages (~1K)
• “Send money” pages (~16K)
• IBAN pages (~10K)
• Comparison pages (~38K)
• Routing number pages (~45K)
• Various landing pages (~6K)

Overall, the Wise website has more than 10 million pages. Combined, they drive 100+ million visits every month.

Note: Want to see traffic metrics for other sites? Try our free website traffic checker tool.

This isn’t necessarily the most relatable example. It would require extensive resources to pull off this kind of automated page creation.

But it does show the sheer scalability and ranking power of programmatic SEO.

Why this works: Wise has massive amounts of proprietary data about currencies and other financial information. Each page also caters to a very specific user need that is globally relevant.

2. Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor uses programmatic SEO for its location pages.

Search for “things to do in [city]” and you’ll see how they’ve dominated this pattern.

For example, here’s the result for “things to do in Paris”:

And this is the result for “things to do in New York”:

Each page follows the same structure. But each one is populated with location-specific attractions, reviews, and booking options unique to that destination.

These pages collectively drive millions of organic traffic to Tripadvisor.

Bonus note: This is just counting the URLs on Tripadvisor’s .com domain. There are similar pages on its global domains too, like .co.uk.

Why does this work so well?

Because Tripadvisor is able to meet the pain points of users all over the world. Travellers are always looking for things to do in different locations.

And Tripadvisor can cater to this need with its vast array of data on landmarks, sights, and activities. Plus, they have proprietary user data (like reviews) that helps make every programmatically generated page unique and useful.

Why this works: Tripadvisor has an Authority Score of 100. Add to that the fact that its pages cover the global travel market and contain heaps of UGC (like reviews) and you have the ideal candidate for pSEO.

3. Zillow

Zillow uses programmatic SEO to generate thousands of hyper-local pages for every city, neighborhood, and property type to capture long-tail real estate search traffic.

The site transforms raw data (like home value estimates, price trend visualizations, school information, and walkability scores) into context-rich resources that both rank well and help users make important decisions.

And they have A LOT of listings.

I trawled through their sitemaps and found various groups of pages:

• Home values by location (173K pages)
• Miscellaneous listings (9K pages)
• School districts (146K pages)
• For sale by agent (1.6M pages)
• For sale by owner (26K pages)
• New construction (160K pages)
• Pending (1.5K pages)
• Recently sold (7.5M pages)
• For rent (1.2M pages)

Then there are other sitemaps covering buildings, apartments, off-market, other, and “for sale” suggesting tens of millions of pages.

But one sitemap index for off market homes contained 4999 sitemaps, each with seemingly around 23K URLs. This would suggest there are more than 100 million URLs in this category.

Either there is some overlap on the pages (which would be impossible to manually check for) or Zillow lists pretty much every single home in the US on its site.

Regardless, Zillow has millions of pages. And these rely on programmatic SEO.

The result?

243 million organic visits every month.

Why this works: Zillow has massive authority (Authority Score of 97). When you combine that with masses of proprietary data and a nationwide market, you have a brilliant use case for programmatic SEO.

4. Zapier

Zapier is an automation platform that connects different web apps and creates workflows based on these connections.

They generate detailed integration pages for every possible app combination to capture search intent around software integrations. With 590K+ pages, Zapier’s programmatic efforts are impressive.

The /apps/ subfolder that contains these integration pages drives more than 610K organic visits every month:

Each integration page (like “Connect Calendly to Slack”) offers specific use cases via templates…

…along with lists of supported triggers and actions:

Why this works: Zapier’s entire tool works around integrating different tools. So they have proprietary data they can lean on (the lists of templates and triggers) that nobody else can replicate. But the key part is that every one of these pages serves a very specific intent in a detailed way.

When pSEO Makes Sense (And When It Doesn’t)

Not every business can or should use programmatic SEO.

So before you spend resources building a system that cranks out thousands of pages, let’s be brutally honest about when this approach actually works.

Marketplace sites, aggregators, and directories are the perfect candidates for pSEO. Think Zillow (property listings), Tripadvisor (travel destinations), or Zapier (software integrations).

Why do these programmatic SEO sites work so well?

Because each piece of content changes enough to justify its own page. Plus, users genuinely need that specific information or functionality.

Key takeaway: If your data or functionality doesn’t meaningfully change between variations, strongly reconsider whether you should use programmatic SEO.

Simply changing “[City] plumbers” to target 500 locations while offering identical generic text isn’t programmatic SEO — it’s spam.

The Dangers of Programmatic SEO

Programmatic SEO can look a lot like spam if you just create a bunch of thin content.

But even if it doesn’t look like spam, if users have a different intent or there are better sources out there, you’ll struggle to rank.

We’ve seen programmatic efforts have negative consequences with the likes of G2 and ZoomInfo.

ZoomInfo’s databases of companies and people still drive significant traffic:

But nowhere near as much as they used to:

The same goes for G2.

The product review and comparison site used to drive almost 12 million monthly visits back in 2021. But now it gets less than 1 million:

Both sites saw major drops in traffic on at least two occasions:

• Between May-August of 2021, coinciding with several major Google updates (including for spam specifically)
• In October 2023, again coinciding with major Google updates, and again with one for spam specifically

There are other factors at play too, like the prevalence of AI Overviews in search results, Reddit’s SERP dominance, and more authoritative competition.

But these are two examples of programmatic SEO working very well — until it doesn’t.

How to Know if Programmatic SEO Is Right for You

Before you invest in programmatic SEO, ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you have lots of proprietary data, user-generated content, or structured information at your disposal?
• Does your site already have rankings and authority?
• Will your hypothetical pages each provide real value individually?
• Would you be proud to show each individual page to any user?

You should be able to answer “yes” to all of these questions. If not, rethink whether programmatic SEO is worth your investment.

How to Build Your Programmatic SEO Strategy in 5 Steps

Step 1: Find Scalable Keywords

The foundation of programmatic SEO isn’t finding high-volume keywords. It’s about identifying patterns that you can target systematically.

What Good Programmatic SEO Keywords Look Like

You’re looking for search queries that follow consistent formats but change one or two variables.

Like these examples:

• [product] vs [competitor]
• best restaurants in [city]
• convert [currency] to [currency]
• [language] to [language] translation
• average salary for [profession]
• cheap flights from [location] to [location]

The key is evaluating whether the underlying search intent stays consistent across variations.

For example, let’s take a closer look at Wise’s currency converter pages:

Someone searching “USD to EUR” wants the same core information as someone searching “GBP to JPY.” They just want to convert different currencies.

But these pages aren’t just glorified calculators. They also feature historic conversion charts:

Tables of the highs, lows, averages, and changes:

And a comparison of Wise’s own rates versus competitors:

This is why they dominate these searches: they’re solving the specific problem searchers have with each currency pair. It’s the same intent but with different variables — the right mix for programmatic SEO.

How to Find Your Own pSEO Keywords

Good programmatic SEO keywords consist of two key parts:

• Head term: The consistent part that appears in all variations (e.g., “Resume templates”)
• Modifier: The variable element that changes with each page (e.g., job titles like “product managers” or “systems engineers”)

You can use Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool to find keywords like this.

For example, imagine we’re looking to create programmatic content around the head term “SEO tools”:

We’d look for patterns where only one variable changes across multiple keywords.

For example, patterns like “best seo tools for [business type]”:

Once you’ve identified a potential pattern, you’ll need a variety of modifiers to create your programmatic pages.

The right modifiers expand your keyword targeting exponentially, while maintaining consistent search intent.

Here are some keyword modifiers that work across multiple niches:

• Geographic modifiers: “in [city]”, “near [location]”, “for [country]”
• Comparison modifiers: “vs [competitor]”, “alternative to [product]”, “[product] or [product]”
• Attribute modifiers: “best [product] for [use case]”, “[color] [product]”, “[size] [product]”
• Professional modifiers: “for [profession]”, “[skill] for [industry]”, “[tool] for [job]”
• Format modifiers: “[topic] template”, “[topic] calculator”, “[topic] checklist”
• Question modifiers: “how to [verb] [topic]”, “can [subject] [verb]”, “why does [topic] [verb]”
• Statistical modifiers: “average [metric] for [category]”, “[topic] statistics [year]”

Pro tip: Use the asterisk (*) search operator in Google to find even more variations (like “seo tools for *”).

Set the Keyword Difficulty to “(KD) < 30” and use the “Include” filter to narrow down to specific patterns (e.g., include “for” to find “seo tools for [industry]”).

Finally, sort by volume to prioritize higher-traffic opportunities.

Next, check the SERPs for several variations of your pattern and to confirm similar content types appear across variations.

This is an important step. Let’s say you were planning to programmatically create pages that list the top SEO tools for different business types.

Your plan was to create pages that contained a simple list with basic facts and stats about each tool, along with some features and pricing info. You have a database with all this information, and you plug in an AI tool’s API to help create unique content for each page.

But then you check the SERP for some common terms and realize that Google seems to be rewarding more detailed lists.

Lists that feature:

• In-depth tool info
• Expert takes and opinions
• Screenshots that show the writer has used the tool

Do you think your programmatic content will rank alongside these guides?

Probably not.

That’s why checking the SERP and evaluating the search intent is so important.

But once you do have a list of ideal keywords to target, you can export it and group by modifier types (locations, products, features). This organized data will feed directly into your template planning.

Step 2: Collect and Structure Data

Every successful programmatic SEO project thrives because of its data.

Without unique, valuable information, you’re just going to create thin pages Google will eventually demote.

You have three main options for data acquisition:

1. Proprietary data: Information you own or generate that competitors can’t access is the gold standard. Think Zapier’s integration data or Tripadvisor’s reviews. If you have proprietary data, your programmatic SEO has built-in defensibility.
2. Public data with added value: You can transform, combine, or present data from public sources in uniquely valuable ways (like from government databases or APIs). Because anyone else can access this data, how you present it is absolutely key.
3. Scraped data: This is the riskiest option. If you go this route, focus on adding significant value through analysis, visualization, or aggregation. Remember: scraping should be a starting point, not your end product.

If you’re struggling to find data, here are some free datasets for programmatic SEO across different niches (including stocks, salary data, social media, books, and more).

Just remember that anyone can find these data sets. So it’s best to use them for inspiration rather than hinging your pSEO campaign on them.

Step 3: Create Quality Content Templates

Templates are the engine of programmatic SEO. But they’re also where most projects go wrong. It’s easy to generate 100,000 pages. It’s hard to make them genuinely useful.

Start by manually creating 3-5 examples of your target pages. These are your test runs. Use them to validate that your data, structure, and content actually helps users.

Once you’re happy, build your template with the following:

• 500–1,000+ words of helpful content: Use headings, bullet points, and other visual breaks to improve clarity
• Conditional content logic: Use if/then rules to tailor each page’s copy, examples, recommendations, or CTAs to match the specific data or topic
• Rich elements like HTML tables, charts, or maps: Visualize your data to make your page interactive and genuinely informative
• Internal links: Guide users to related pages, deeper resources, or next steps

Step 4: Technical Setup (Based on Skill Level)

You don’t need to be a developer to launch a programmatic SEO site. But you will need to choose your approach based on your technical comfort and scale requirements.

Here are a few examples of what your setup might look like depending on your skill level:

Pro tip: Roll out your programmatic SEO efforts in stages. Don’t push 100K URLs live overnight.

Step 5: Monitor and Improve Your SEO

Like any SEO strategy, programmatic SEO is an ongoing effort. Because you might have hundreds or thousands of pages to manage, staying on top of performance and technical issues is key.

Here are some important things to track, and the best tool(s) to use:

• Indexation rate: What percentage of your pages are in Google’s index? (Google Search Console)
• Crawl stats: How frequently is Google visiting your pages? (Google Search Console)
• Traffic distribution: Are certain variations performing better than others? (Google Analytics)
• Conversion patterns: Which page types drive valuable actions? (Google Analytics)
• Page-level metrics: What do your loading speeds, bounce rates, and time on page metrics look like? (PageSpeed Insights, Google Analytics)
• Cannibalization issues: Are your programmatic pages competing with each other? (Google Search Console, Semrush Position Tracking)

Is Programmatic SEO Really the Way to Go?

It’s hopefully clear by now that programmatic SEO can yield some pretty impressive results.

But it should also be clear that it’s not the right choice for everyone.

Unless you have:

• Existing authority
• Plenty of resources
• Unique data

It’s probably not the right approach for your website (at least not yet).

For now, I recommend focusing on growing your site with quality, not quantity. For more on this, check out our guide to creating high-quality SEO content.

The post Programmatic SEO: What It Is and When to Use It (+ Examples) appeared first on Backlinko.

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You can create the most helpful, well-optimized content on the web.

But if you mess up the title tag, none of that will matter.

The title tag is the blue, clickable headline that shows up in search results.

It’s also your one shot at convincing a reader to choose your content over everyone else’s.

A subtle tweak to the title tag can make all the difference.

Take this example from the Backlinko blog: rain

Original title tag: “17 Ways to Get More Views on YouTube in 2025”

Position: 4th in search results

Improved title tag: “17 Powerful Tactics To Get More YouTube Views in 2025″

Position: 1st in search results and the featured snippet

Same topic, same content. Wildly different result.

But, why did that second title tag work better?

And how can you get the same results?

In this guide, I’ll break down what makes a title tag work.

I’ll cover real examples, a simple framework for writing them, and tools you can use to improve your title tags — and search results — today.

Free resources + AI Prompt

Ready to start improving your title tags right away? Download our:

• Title Tag Checklist: Optimize your titles step-by-step
• Title Tag Formulas: 50+ proven frameworks for high-CTR titles

Prompt:

“Help me write a title tag for [YOUR KEYWORD] using the Backlinko formulas and checklist I’ve attached.”

What Is a Title Tag?

A title tag is a line of HTML code that tells search engines (and searchers) the title of your webpage.

Think of it as your content’s elevator pitch — your chance to convince a searcher that you have the answer to their questions.

A title tag isn’t something that readers will see on the webpage itself. It’s the text that appears:

• As the blue hyperlink in search engine results
  

  

• As the text on a browser tab m
  

  

• In some social media previews of your web content
  

  

Behind the scenes, it looks like this in your website code:

<title>How to Create an Effective SEO Strategy in 2025</title>

Why Title Tags Matter

Google’s guide says title tags are key for both readers and search rankings.

“It’s often the primary piece of information people use to decide which result to click, so it’s important to use high-quality title text on your web pages.”

Our research backs that up.

We analyzed 11.8 million Google search results and found that most first-page results include some or most of their target keyword in the title tag.

In other words, a clear title tag that uses the keyword is your ticket to the first page.

But simply ranking isn’t enough.

Even if your page shows up in the search results, it won’t matter unless people actually choose to visit it.

That’s why your title tag also needs to be human-friendly. It’s your one chance to win the click.

And that click really matters.

The No. 1 result in Google gets an average click-through rate (CTR) of 27.6%.

The result in position 10? Just 2.4%.

That’s more than 10x fewer clicks and a massive difference in traffic.

So, a strong title tag doesn’t just help your page show up in search results.

It also encourages more people to click on your link, which can help your page move even higher in the rankings.

Side note: Our CTR study was conducted in 2019. With the introduction of AI Overviews and other SERP changes, click patterns have evolved. However, the core principle remains: higher positions still attract significantly more clicks than lower ones. For the latest on how search is changing, see Semrush’s 2025 AI Overviews Study.

There’s one more reason title tags in SEO are so important:

If you get the title wrong, Google might just rewrite it.

Studies show Google rewrites around 61% of title tags in search results.

Usually because they’re too long, vague, or overloaded with keywords.

And when that happens, you lose control over what shows up in the search engine results page (SERP).

Sometimes Google will just grab the heading (H1) of the page.

Other times, it’ll generate something entirely new. And not always better.

If you want to make sure your pages look polished in the search results, writing a solid, search-optimized title tag is non-negotiable.

Title Tags vs H1 Tags

Personally, I used to muddle these up. So if you’re confused about the difference between title tags and H1s, you’re not alone.

Your title tags and H1 tags should both convey the same information.

They don’t need to be word-for-word the same, though.

For instance, we’ve written an article with the heading “What is Content Marketing?”

That’s the H1 tag.

But our title tag is “What Is Content Marketing? Complete Beginner’s Guide.”

Different, but clearly covering the same information.

Write Better Title Tags With the 3C Framework

Your title tag has one job: get more clicks.

The 3C Framework gives you a simple way to create titles that rank well AND get clicked more than your competitors.

Clear

The title should tell people what your page is about. No need to guess.

Bad:

“Solutions That Work for the Modern Business”

What does that even mean?

Better:

“CRM Software for Small Businesses | Free Trial Available”

It tells Google what the page is. And it tells humans why they should click.

Clickable

Ranking is only half the battle. The other half? Getting the click.

To do that, your title needs to stand out and make people want to learn more.

Bad:

“Marketing Strategy Guide”

It’s fine, but a bit blah.

Better:

“Marketing Strategy Guide: Get Explosive Growth in 7 Days”

It’s actionable, shows value, and uses an emotional power word (“explosive”).

Want some ideas for turning bland language into more clickable titles?

Contextual

You need to give readers (and search engines) context — and that means keywords.

But tread carefully. No stuffing allowed.

Bad:

“Email, Email Marketing, Email Campaigns, Email Tips”

Likely to get rewritten. Also just annoying for readers.

Better:

“Email Marketing Guide for Beginners (2025 Edition)”

Front-loaded keyword, used once, in a natural way.

Want to try it out yourself?

Here’s an AI prompt you can use to incorporate these rules when writing your title tag:

You are a digital marketing specialist focusing on SEO and content strategy.

Your task is to craft a title tag that is clear, clickable, and offers context to enhance search engine ranking and user engagement.

Approach this step-by-step:

1. Determine the primary topic or keyword of the page to ensure the title is clear and relevant.

2. Use power words or emotional triggers to enhance the clickability and engagement of the title.

3. Naturally integrate the primary keyword to provide context, avoiding keyword stuffing.

Adhere to these guidelines:

1. Keep the title concise and between 50–60 characters.
2. Avoid vague or generic language that fails to clearly convey the page’s content.
3. Balance keyword usage with readability and natural language.

Keyword is: [INSERT YOUR KEYWORD HERE]

For example, for the keyword “marketing strategy,” ChatGPT gave me:

• Marketing Strategy Guide: Build a Plan That Gets Results
• Proven Marketing Strategy Tips to Grow Your Business
• How to Create a Marketing Strategy That Works
• Effective Marketing Strategy Examples + How to Use Them
• Marketing Strategy Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Approach

Not bad for a few seconds of work, right?

Optimize Your Title Tags for Search Engines

You need titles that both Google and humans love.

These optimization tips help search engines understand and rank your content higher.

1. Match Your Title to What People Are Searching for

Before you write your title tag, look at what’s already showing up in Google for your keyword.

This helps you understand what searchers want and what kind of content Google is rewarding.

Here’s how to do it:

Google Your Keyword

Type your keyword into Google and look at the top 5–10 results.

Look for Patterns

Are most of the results lists?

That usually means people are exploring or comparing their options. Try a title like “Top 10…” or “Best Tools for…”

Do they include the current year?

People want the latest updates. Add the year to your title to show it’s fresh.

Are the pages explaining a concept?

People are looking for information or education. A title like “What Is X? [+ Examples]” works well.

Do you see a lot of tutorials?

People want a walkthrough. Go with a how-to title like “How to Do X Step-by-Step”.

When your title matches what people are looking for, they’re more likely to click. And Google is more likely to show your page.

2. Keep It Short

If you go too long, you risk Google rewriting it.

If you go too short, you miss an opportunity to engage your readers.

When we analyzed 4 million search results, we found that titles between 40-60 characters have the best click-through rate.

Titles in this range get 8.9% more clicks on average.

So, that’s a good starting point. But here’s what really matters:

Google truncates title tags based on pixels (the actual width of the letters), not characters.

Around 580–600 pixels is the max width before your title gets cut off.

And on mobile, titles often get truncated even earlier.

So while ~40–60 characters works most of the time, it’s not guaranteed.

Want to check your title before hitting publish?

Use a free tool like the Mangools SERP Simulator. Just make sure to switch it to mobile view first.

3. Use Keywords First

This helps in two ways:

• Google tends to focus on words at the front of the sentence
• Readers (usually) read from left to right, so the keywords will stand out to them

One exception here:

For listicles, it’s often better to lead with the number.

Think “5 Powerful AI Tools for Content Creation” rather than “Content Creation Tools: 5 Powerful Options.”

It gives readers a clear idea of what to expect.

4. Give Each Page a Unique Title Tag

Google doesn’t like duplicate or boilerplate titles:

“Titling every page on a commerce site “Cheap products for sale”, for example, makes it impossible for users to distinguish between two pages.

Long text in the <title> element that varies by only a single piece of information (“boilerplate” titles) is also bad.”

So if you duplicate your SEO title tags (or just change a single word), you’re more likely to have them rewritten.

Instead, take a moment to craft a unique title tag for every page.

One that accurately reflects the content and intent of that specific URL.

Pro tip: Skip your brand name in most title tags. It often shows up anyway and can count as duplicate content. If you include it, add it at the end with a dash, colon, or pipe.

5. Match the Title to the Content

Simple, but important.

Your title has to accurately reflect what’s on the page.

If you’ve promised “The 17 Most Important SEO Tips,” there had better be seventeen juicy bits of SEO wisdom there.

Google might rewrite your title if it doesn’t match your content.

More importantly, you’ll annoy your readers, and they’ll bounce right off the page.

Also, remember to be specific, not vague.

Generic titles like “Home” or “Services” don’t help readers know what they’ll see if they click.

6. Vary Your Title and H1 Tags

If your title and H1 are identical, you’re missing an opportunity to hit additional keywords.

Plus, you’ll typically want to use the title tag to say what the page is about, and the H1 to get more detailed or conversational.

For example:

vs.

• The title tag is contextual and clickable. It includes a number, a benefit, and a clear topic.
• The H1 tag is more conversational and reader-friendly. It’s aimed at people who already know what’s on the page.

You can also include multiple variations of your keywords (e.g., “email marketing tips,” “email campaigns,” “email marketing”) without repeating yourself.

Start optimizing your title tags today with our title tag checklist.

Compare Good vs. Bad Title Tags (Across Industries)

Great title tags don’t just follow best practices. They match intent, highlight value, and stand out in crowded search results.

Let’s break down a few real examples (good and bad) to show what works — and what to avoid.

SaaS

Keyword: “project management for small businesses”

The first result we get is from Zapier:

Why it works:

• It matches why someone would be searching and shows the benefit they’ll get from reading
• It includes the keywords so the reader knows they’ll get exactly what they’re looking for
• It includes the power word “best”

Compare that with this result from Scoro, way back on page 10.

Why it doesn’t work:

• It’s too vague. The reader doesn’t know what they’ll get if they click.
• It doesn’t match what the reader is looking for
• It’s jargon-heavy. It assumes we’ll know what PSA Software is.

Ecommerce

Keyword: “buy leather backpack”

Here’s the first result:

Why it works:

• Hits both “leather” and “backpack”
• Addresses searcher needs — includes both genders, links backpacks to travel
• “Best” works as a power word

And here’s one from page 10:

Why it doesn’t work:

• Leading with “MINA BAIE” wastes valuable space (this isn’t a household name)
• A diaper bag isn’t obviously the same as a backpack, so it misses search intent
• “Modern” is vague and lacks emotional punch

Local Business

Keyword: “coffee shops in Austin”

Here’s a result from the top of the SERPS:

Why it works:

• Matches exactly what this searcher might be looking for
• “Awesome” is an appealing emotional power word
• Location-based

And here’s one from page 10:

Why it doesn’t work:

• Too much brand, not enough benefit
• Doesn’t match search intent
• Jargon-heavy — what is a neighborhood work club anyway?

Landing Page

Keyword: “seo strategy template”

Why it works:

• Clearly stated benefit — you get what you were looking for
• Hits all three keywords
• “High-level” sets an expectation about scope — if that’s what you need, you’ll find it here

Google breaking its own rules here:

Why it doesn’t work:

• Doesn’t clearly communicate that the page offers SEO strategy templates
• Lacks a compelling reason to click
• Overly branded — many searchers won’t recognize or be looking for Looker Studio

How to Analyze and Improve Your Title Tags

Got title tags already? Let’s find the ones losing you clicks.

These simple analysis methods show which titles need fixing ASAP for quick traffic wins.

Check Your Current Title Tags

Audit your existing title tags to spot issues like:

• Titles that are too long, too short, or duplicated
• Titles that don’t clearly describe the page
• Titles that don’t match what people are searching for

A few tools you can use:

Google Search Console

First, open Google Search Console and select your website property.

If you’ve never used it before, or you have a new website, take a look at our Guide to Google Search Console to get started.

On the left-hand menu, under “Performance“, click on “Search results.” This report shows how your site appears in Google Search.

Click on the “Pages” tab.

This shows performance data for individual pages on your site.

Look for pages with high impressions but low clicks.

High impressions + low clicks = your page is showing up but not convincing people to click.

These are the pages where improving your title tag could make a big difference.

Semrush On Page SEO Checker

Use Semrush’s On Page SEO Checker to make sure your title tags include your target keywords, without keyword stuffing.

First, configure the tool to crawl your site and collect data.

Then, head to the “Optimization Ideas” tab to see a list of your pages along with the number of suggestions for each one.

Click on the “# ideas” next to any page.

In the “Content” section, you’ll see whether your title tag uses your target keywords appropriately.

Semrush Site Audit

Use Semrush Site Audit to spot duplicate or missing title tags.

Set up the Site Audit from your Project dashboard.

Once the audit is complete, go to the “Issues” tab and type “title tag” into the search box.

The tool will show you a list of issues related to title tags — like duplicates, titles that are too long, or ones that match the H1 exactly.

Click on the issue to see the list of affected pages.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

You can also use Screaming Frog to spot title tag issues.

Download the free version of the app (available for Windows, Mac, or Linux). Then, follow the installation steps.

Open the tool, type your homepage URL into the search bar at the top, and click “Start.”

Screaming Frog will begin crawling your site. This can take a minute or two.

Once the crawl is done, click “Page Titles” to see a full list of your website’s title tags.

Use the filter dropdown or look at the “Issues” column to find problems.

Watch the Right Metrics

Here are the numbers to keep track of:

• CTR: If you update a title and your CTR jumps, it’s probably working. You can check this in your Pages report in Google Search Console.
• Impressions without clicks
  This means you’re showing up in search results, but nobody’s clicking. Go back to the 3Cs. Is it clear, clickable, and contextual?
• Ranking changes
  If a page drops in search rankings after a title change, maybe Google doesn’t like the new version.

Or, maybe you’ve missed the user intent this time round.

Try this: Want to see if your new title works better? Pick one underperforming page, change the title tag, and track the CTR in Google Search Console over the next few weeks.

If clicks go up (and rankings stay steady), the new title is probably stronger.

Steal These Winning Title Tag Formulas

Writing title tags from scratch every time? No, thank you.

Below are three proven formulas that we use at Backlinko to craft headlines that stand out.

List or Number Formula

• Formula: X [Unique Adjective] [Topic]
• Why it works: Lists provide clarity and set expectations but need unique adjectives to grab attention.
  

  

The Keyword-Colon Formula

• Formula: [Content Topic]: [Actionable promise]
• Why it works: Directly addresses the topic and hooks the reader with an actionable promise.
  

  

The Keyword-Question Formula

• Formula: [Keyword Question]? [Promise]
• Rationale: Answers the reader’s question head-on and draws them in with a clear benefit.
  

  

Need More Ideas?

We analyzed 150+ real title tags from top-ranking SEO content and combined that with AI-trained insights from thousands more.

The result?

Over 50 proven, plug-and-play formulas you can use to boost clicks and match search intent — no guesswork required.

Download our file of 50+ title tag formulas.

Time to Fix Those Title Tags

Your title tag is more than just metadata. It’s your best shot at earning the click.

So, don’t let it go to waste.

Pick your top three pages, apply what you learned here to improve your title tag SEO, and track the results.

Want to keep leveling up?

Head over to our On-Page SEO Guide for more ways to boost traffic, rankings, and engagement.

The post Title Tags: How to Write Them <br>(+ Steal Our Formulas) appeared first on Backlinko.

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