How long should a title tag be?

Aim for 50 to 60 characters. Google truncates around 580 pixels, so front-load the primary keyword before the cutoff.

Is the title tag a ranking factor?

Yes. The is one of the strongest on-page relevance signals and it is the clickable headline in search results, so it drives both ranking and CTR.

Should the brand go in the title tag?

If at all, put it at the end: "Primary keyword · Brand". Leading with the brand wastes the most valuable characters on a word nobody searched for.

Document does not have a title element: how to fix it

Quick answer: This audit fails when the page has no title element. Add one unique, descriptive title of 50 to 60 characters per page, with the primary keyword first and the brand last if at all. The title is the strongest on-page SEO signal and the clickable headline in search results.

Lighthouse fails this audit when the page has no <title> element, or it is empty. The title is the single most important on-page SEO signal and the clickable blue headline in Google search results.

TL;DR

What: Missing or empty <title> in <head>.
Why it matters: It is Google's strongest on-page relevance signal and the headline searchers click. No title means Google invents one, usually badly.
Fix: Add one unique, descriptive <title> per page, 50-60 characters, primary keyword first.

What does the document-title audit check?

Lighthouse confirms <head> contains a non-empty <title>. It does not score quality, but the title's wording determines ranking and click-through far more than its mere presence.

Why does the title tag matter for SEO and CTR?

Two separate effects:

Ranking. The title is a primary relevance signal. A page targeting "fix render-blocking resources" with that phrase in the title ranks far better than one titled "Blog · Home".
Click-through rate. The title is the headline in the SERP. Two pages can rank in the same position and see double the clicks based purely on title wording. CTR is itself an indirect ranking signal.

When the title is missing, Google synthesizes one from an <h1>, anchor text, or the site name. The result is often generic or duplicated across your whole site.

How do I write a good title tag?

<head>
  <title>Fix render-blocking resources: a practical guide</title>
</head>

What makes a title work:

Unique per page. Duplicate titles across a site dilute relevance and confuse Google.
50-60 characters. Google truncates around 580 px (~60 chars desktop, fewer on mobile). Front-load the keyword so it survives truncation.
Primary keyword early. Lead with what the page is about, not the brand.
Match intent. Describe what the searcher gets, not internal jargon.
Brand at the end, if at all. Primary keyword · Brand is the safe pattern. Drop the brand on space-tight pages.

What is a good title tag formula?

[Primary keyword / what the page solves] [optional modifier] [· Brand]

Page	Title	Chars
Audit explainer	`Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): what it is and how to fix it`	60
Pricing	`Pricing · Lighthouse audits for teams, from $9/mo`	49
Home	`PageSpeed to CLAUDE.md · turn Lighthouse audits into fixes`	58

What are common title tag mistakes?

Same title sitewide. A single hardcoded <title> in the template is one of the most common SEO bugs.
Brand first. Acme Inc · ... wastes the most valuable pixels on a word nobody searched for.
Keyword stuffing. Lighthouse audit fix Lighthouse pagespeed Lighthouse tool reads as spam and gets rewritten by Google.
Too long. Anything past ~60 chars is truncated mid-phrase with an ellipsis.
Empty title set later by JS. If the title is blank in the initial HTML, crawlers may index the empty version.

How do I set the title in Next.js, WordPress, or Astro?

Next.js (App Router)

export const metadata = {
  title: 'Fix render-blocking resources: a practical guide',
};

Use a title template in the root layout for the brand suffix: title: { template: '%s · Lighthouse MD' }.

Next.js (Pages Router)

import Head from 'next/head';
<Head><title>Fix render-blocking resources: a practical guide</title></Head>

WordPress

Yoast SEO or Rank Math set per-post titles with templating tokens. Avoid theme-hardcoded titles that override them.

Astro

---
const title = 'Fix render-blocking resources: a practical guide';
---
<title>{title}</title>

How do I verify the title tag?

Re-run Lighthouse: the audit should pass.
View source and confirm a unique, non-empty <title> in the initial HTML.
Search Console → URL Inspection → "Test live URL" to see Google's rendered title.
Use a SERP simulator to check truncation on mobile and desktop.

Related audits

Document does not have a meta description, the snippet under the title
Document does not have a valid rel=canonical, avoid duplicate-title dilution
Heading elements not in sequentially-descending order, the on-page <h1> should echo the title

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