# Title tag

> The title tag is the HTML `<title>` element that names a page. Browsers show it in the tab and search engines usually use it as the clickable headline of a result.

- **Check ID:** S1
- **Area:** [SEO](https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo)
- **Tool:** [SEO + Security + Performance](https://be1st.ai/tools/ssp-audit)
- **Page:** https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo/title-tag

## Why it matters

Without a title tag, search engines cannot properly display your page in results. Google uses the title tag as the primary signal for understanding page content and displaying it in SERPs.

## In practice

Amazon.com uses precise title tags for every product, e.g. '`<title>iPhone 15 Pro Max - Apple Smartphone | Amazon.com</title>`'. Pages without a title tag can lose up to 30% of organic traffic.

## How be1st checks it

Checks for the presence of an HTML `<title>` tag on the page. The title tag is one of the most important on-page SEO factors, displayed in search results as the main link heading.

[SEO + Security + Performance](https://be1st.ai/tools/ssp-audit), SEO tab.

Every check ends as: Pass, Warning, Fail.

## Sources

- [HTML `<title>` Element](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/HTML/Reference/Elements/title) (MDN Web Docs)
- [SEO Starter Guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide) (Google Search Central)

## Related terms

- [Title length](https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo/title-length): Title length is the number of characters in a page's title tag. A short title wastes space in search results, a long one gets cut off with an ellipsis.
- [H1 heading](https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo/h1-heading): The H1 is the main heading of a page, the `<h1>` element. It tells readers and search engines what the page is about, so each page should have exactly one.
- [Heading hierarchy](https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo/heading-hierarchy): Heading hierarchy is the order of headings from H1 to H6. A correct outline nests them by level without skipping any, like the chapters and sections of a book.
- [Canonical URL](https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo/canonical-url): A canonical URL is the preferred address of a page, set with `<link rel='canonical'>`. It tells search engines which version to index when the same content has several URLs.
- [Viewport meta tag](https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo/viewport-meta-tag): The viewport meta tag tells mobile browsers how wide to lay out a page and how to scale it. Without it, a phone shows a shrunken desktop page.
- [Robots meta tag](https://be1st.ai/glossary/seo/robots-meta-tag): The robots meta tag gives search engines instructions for one page, such as noindex (keep it out of results) or nofollow (do not follow its links).