Title tags: the headline Google shows.
The title tag is the line of blue text in a Google result. It is what a guest reads before deciding whether to click, and it is one of the strongest signals Google uses to decide what a page is about. Most park websites have it wrong on every page.
IN ONE PARAGRAPH
Every page has a title tag, written in the page's code and shown as the clickable headline in search results and on the browser tab. Google reads it as the page's subject. A park's titles should say what the page is and where the park is, in about 30 to 60 characters: "Big-Rig Sites, Snowy Peaks RV Park, Buena Vista CO." Too long and Google cuts it off. Too short, or the same on every page, or just "Home," and the page ranks for nothing. We check every page for a missing title, a title outside the length range, and a title reused on more than one page.
What a title tag is
In the page's code it looks like <title>Snowy Peaks RV Park, Buena Vista, Colorado</title>. Browsers show it on the tab. Google shows it as the headline of the result, sometimes rewritten if it thinks yours is poor. Search engines weight the words in it heavily when deciding which searches a page belongs in. It is not the big heading on the page; that is the H1, which is a separate check.
What it looks like on a park website
- Every page titled "Home" or the park's name alone, so the cabins page and the rates page are indistinguishable to Google.
- Titles the builder made up: "Welcome to our website" or "Untitled page."
- A title so long it gets cut off, usually a keyword list: "RV park camping campground RV sites cabins tent sites Buena Vista Colorado Arkansas River best."
- The town nowhere in any title, so the park ranks for its own name and nothing else.
- The same title on the English page and a duplicate page the builder created.
What a good one says
What the page is, then the park, then the town, in roughly that order, in plain words. Examples from sites we build:
- "Snowy Peaks RV Park, Buena Vista, Colorado" for the homepage.
- "Big-Rig Pull-Through Sites, Snowy Peaks RV Park, Buena Vista CO" for the big-rig page.
- "Monthly RV Sites and Rates, Willow Lake RV Park, Prescott AZ" for the monthly page.
- "Cabins near Yellowstone, Grizzly RV Park, West Yellowstone MT" for the cabins page.
Thirty to sixty characters is the range that shows in full on most results. The most important words go first, because that is what survives if it is cut.
What it costs a park
A page titled "Home" competes for nothing. A guest searching "RV park Buena Vista" sees a result headlined "Home" next to a competitor headlined "Riverside RV Park, Buena Vista, Colorado" and clicks the one that answers the question. Google notices which results get clicked. Over a season, a bad title on the homepage is the difference between the map pack and page two.
How to check your own site
- Open each page and read the browser tab. If it says "Home" or the same thing on every page, that is the problem.
- Search Google for your park's name and read the headline it shows. If Google rewrote it, your title was not good enough.
- Count the characters. Over 60 gets cut; under 30 is usually wasting the space.
What we do about it
Every page we build gets a title written by hand that says what the page is, the park, and the town. No two pages share one. We keep them in the length range and put the searchable words first. When we take over a site, rewriting the titles is usually the first change that moves rankings, often within a few weeks, because it is the cheapest signal to fix and the most often wrong.
Questions about this.
How long should a title tag be?
About 30 to 60 characters. Google shows roughly the first 60 in results and cuts the rest. Put the important words first so they survive if it is trimmed.
Should my RV park's title tag include the town?
Yes. The town is what most guests search. A title without it ranks for the park's name only, which helps guests who already know you and nobody else.
Can every page have the same title?
It can, and it is the most common park website mistake. Google cannot tell the pages apart and picks one, usually the wrong one, to show for a search. Every page needs its own title.
Is the title tag the same as the page heading?
No. The title tag is in the code and shows on the browser tab and in search results. The heading, or H1, is the large text on the page itself. They should say similar things but they are separate checks.
Want this checked on your park site?
Send us the address. We run the full check and tell you what we found, in plain words. SEO for parks starts at $250 a month.
Part of the RV park SEO guide, section: The technical check. Previous: HTTP status codes: the first thing we check. Next: Meta descriptions: the two lines under the headline.