Should you put your site name in your title tag? Google’s John Mueller said it really shouldn’t be an SEO decision. John Mueller seems to be a fan of having a site name in the title, despite this site not doing that for our article pages.
This came up on Mastodon where John said, “I would not assume that a rewritten version is better (for SEO or for users), and I’d recommend keeping your site name in there — because it makes it easier to confirm a site name that we show above the title.” “Also, it’s a well-known pattern, so I wouldn’t change it just for Google,” he added.
So I am not sure if John is talking in specifics or generalities. Like, if you have always had your site name in your title tag, then it doesn’t make sense to remove it. But if you haven’t, liked this site, then no need to add it?
So let me bring in other stories we’ve written on the topic, so you can see more on this topic.
Google has said just because Google may change your title to something else that does not mean it is a quality issue with your site. In fact, Google also said don’t blindly change your title tags to what Google lists in the search results. Also, Google is okay with site names in title tags.
So in short, do what you think is best for your site. If you think having your site name at the end of your title tag is what you and your users want, then do it. If not, then don’t. It doesn’t really matter for SEO purposes.
Forum discussion at Mastodon.
