Lead with what the page is about
The clickable headline in a search result is its title link. The SEO title you enter in your website editor is one source Google can use to create it, and it also appears in the browser tab. This may be a separate field from the large heading visitors see on the page itself. Before editing, check which of those two things you are changing.
Consider a fictional business called Maple Grove Tutoring. “Programs | Maple Grove Tutoring” says little about a particular program. “Reading tutoring for grades 3–5 | Maple Grove Tutoring” tells parents what the page covers and who it is for. Give each page a title that reflects its own content. Repeating the same phrase across every page, or listing several variations of a keyword, makes the title harder to read.
Before
Programs | Maple Grove Tutoring
After
Reading tutoring for grades 3–5 | Maple Grove Tutoring
Read more: Google Search Central · Title links
Describe what a visitor will find
The short text beneath a search title is the snippet. Your meta description is a suggested summary of the page. Give a reader useful details: who a service is for, what is included or what they can find out next. “The best education for your child” leaves more questions unanswered than a specific explanation of the reading program.
For Maple Grove Tutoring, the description below would fit a page that actually covers those grades, small-group activities and enrollment details. Compare your draft with the page before publishing it. If the details are missing from the page, add the relevant information or change the description. Google can also select text from the page itself, and the snippet can differ depending on the search query.
Before
Welcome to Maple Grove Tutoring.
After
Reading tutoring for grades 3–5, with small-group practice in reading comprehension. See what each session covers and how to get started.
Read more: Google Search Central · Snippets
Check the published page first
If you use WordPress with Yoast SEO, edit the relevant page and open Search appearance in the Yoast SEO panel. Find SEO title and Meta description, enter your new wording and update the page. Other website editors often keep these fields under page settings or SEO. Make sure you are editing this page, rather than changing the default title for the entire website.
Open the published page in a new tab and check its tab title. To check the description, view the page source and search for name="description". If the old wording remains, check whether the update was published and whether a cache needs clearing. Once the page is correct, Google still needs to crawl and process it again. Its displayed title may differ from your chosen wording.
Read more: Yoast · Search appearance preview · Google Search Central · Title links