There is one thing that I could never understand. I asked ChatGPT about it on March 17, 2023, and I wasn’t satisfied with the results. Now I just asked Claude, and the answer was more logical, in my view. But was Claude trying to please me? I can’t tell.

Claude, on Feb. 20, 2025

Ludditus: Please explain me how this is not a practice that should be considered anti-SEO and penalized by web search engines. Many web pages have the title as displayed in a browser’s title bar or tab different from the title that is displayed to the user. Example:

<title>MAS tool makes activating Windows easier than ever before</title>

<h1>This open-source tool can activate practically every Windows and Office release</h1>

Why on Earth are they doing that?

Note that in most cases the <title> text is more relevant than the <h1> one, which I find absurd.

Claude: There are legitimate reasons why websites might use different text in their <title> and <h1> tags, though it needs to be done thoughtfully to avoid being seen as manipulative:

The <title> tag serves multiple purposes:

  • It appears in browser tabs/windows
  • It shows up as the main link text in search results
  • It’s often used for bookmarks
  • It needs to be concise yet descriptive enough to make sense out of context

The <h1> tag, on the other hand:

  • Is meant for users already on the page
  • Can be longer and more detailed
  • Can include additional context that’s apparent from the page content
  • May target slightly different user intents or perspectives

In your specific example, both titles describe the same tool but emphasize different aspects:

  • The <title> focuses on ease of use and Windows activation
  • The <h1> emphasizes the open-source nature and broader compatibility

Search engines like Google actually expect and accept some variation between <title> and <h1> tags, as long as:

  • Both accurately represent the page content
  • They’re semantically related
  • Neither is misleading or stuffed with keywords
  • The variation serves a legitimate user experience purpose

Where it becomes problematic is when:

  • The titles are completely unrelated
  • One is stuffed with keywords while the other isn’t
  • They target entirely different topics
  • The variation appears intended to deceive rather than inform

What’s your take on this? Do you think there are cases where having different <title> and <h1> tags actually improves user experience?

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Ludditus: I have two issues with that:

  1. I see somewhere a link to “MAS tool makes activating Windows easier than ever before” (from <title>), but I land on a page that reads “This open-source tool can activate practically every Windows and Office release” (from <h1>). This is misleading in my book.
  2. I want to store the URL not as a bookmark in the browser (which would use the text from from <title>), but written down in a text file. All I can see in the page is the text from <h1>, which in most cases is longer and less precise, whereas the text from <title> is only in the HTML source of the page, which normally shouldn’t be accessed by the end user.

Claude: These are valid concerns that highlight real usability issues:

  1. The consistency problem you mention is significant – when a user clicks a link expecting one thing but sees a different headline, it creates cognitive dissonance and could be seen as a form of bait-and-switch, even if unintentional. The page should deliver what was promised in the link/title.
  2. Your point about content accessibility is particularly astute. If the more concise and precise description is only available in the HTML source, it creates an unnecessary barrier:
  • Regular users shouldn’t need to view source code to get the best version of a title
  • The most useful version of the content should be visible on the page
  • Having to juggle between different versions of what is essentially the same information is poor UX design

A better approach would be to:

  • Make the <title> and <h1> identical, or
  • Have the <h1> be the more concise version (matching the <title>), with additional details provided in a subtitle or introductory paragraph
  • At minimum, ensure the visible page content includes the exact text used in the <title> somewhere prominent

This would maintain consistency across all contexts and ensure users always have access to the most useful version of the title, regardless of how they’re interacting with the content.

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Ludditus: Your better approach is indeed what I’d do. But major news outlets or mainstream technical sites use the aforementioned mechanism which makes me crazy!

Claude: I understand your frustration! It’s particularly egregious that major news outlets and tech sites, which should know better, engage in this practice. They have the resources and expertise to implement better UX practices, yet they choose to maintain this disconnect between <title> and <h1> tags.

This might be happening because:

  • Their CMS (Content Management Systems) might be outdated or poorly designed
  • They might be following outdated SEO practices from when search engines were less sophisticated
  • There could be different teams handling SEO and content, leading to this disconnect
  • They might be optimizing for search engine clicks at the expense of user experience

But none of these are good excuses. Large media organizations should prioritize user experience and consistency. The fact that you need to view source code to get the more precise title is particularly poor design, especially since many of their users are likely to share or reference their articles.

Have you noticed if this practice is more prevalent in certain types of content or specific media organizations?

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Ludditus: No, almost everyone is using it. It might be their team of “SEO experts” to have had this idea! Meantime, regular people, e.g. those using WordPress, have consistent titles!

Claude: That’s a fascinating observation! It does seem like a case where smaller sites and individual bloggers using standard WordPress setups accidentally end up with better UX practices than major organizations with dedicated SEO teams.

The irony is rich – professional “SEO experts” at major outlets implementing questionable practices while regular WordPress users, just using the platform’s default behavior, create a more user-friendly experience with consistent titles.

It reminds me of other cases where over-optimization and “expert” intervention can actually make things worse than leaving them in their simpler, more straightforward state. Sometimes the simple solution – having your <h1> match your <title> – is the best solution.

This is particularly ironic given that modern search engines like Google have become quite sophisticated at detecting and potentially penalizing manipulative SEO practices. The “experts” might actually be doing more harm than good with these outdated tactics.

ChatGPT, on March 17, 2023

Ludditus: Can you explain why so many articles in mainstream online newspapers or other mainstream websites are using different titles in a page’s TITLE tag (which is displayed in a browser’s title bar or tab’s caption, so it’s usually not completely visible) and in the real title displayed in the contents, usually under the H1 tag? Shouldn’t this be against the SEO principles, i.e. shouldn’t it be seen by the indexing engines as an inconsistency, because there isn’t a single title for an article? If a web page displays a specific article, not a front page, shouldn’t the title of that article be included in the HTML TITLE tag? Nowadays, more often than not, this is not the case.

ChatGPT: There can be several reasons why online newspapers or other mainstream websites may use different titles in a page’s TITLE tag and in the H1 tag of an article’s contents.

Firstly, the TITLE tag is used not only for SEO purposes but also to provide a concise and accurate description of the webpage’s content to the user. This means that some websites may choose to use a more attention-grabbing or clickbaity headline in the TITLE tag to entice users to click on the article, while using a more straightforward and descriptive title in the H1 tag for the actual content of the article. This approach can help to balance the need for SEO optimization with the goal of providing a clear and accurate representation of the article’s content.

Secondly, some websites may use different titles in the TITLE tag and the H1 tag for editorial or branding purposes. For example, a news website may have a consistent format for the titles of all its articles, regardless of the specific content of each article. In this case, the website may choose to use a standardized title format in the H1 tag, while using a more specific or unique title in the TITLE tag to differentiate the article from other content on the website and to help it stand out in search results.

It’s worth noting that using different titles in the TITLE tag and H1 tag does not necessarily violate SEO principles, as long as the titles accurately reflect the content of the article and do not mislead users or search engines. In fact, many SEO experts recommend using different titles in the TITLE tag and H1 tag if it helps to improve the user experience and engagement with the content.

However, it’s also important to ensure that the TITLE tag accurately reflects the content of the webpage and includes relevant keywords, as this can help to improve the webpage’s visibility and ranking in search results. In general, it’s a good practice to use a title that accurately describes the content of the article in both the TITLE tag and H1 tag, while also incorporating relevant keywords and optimizing for user engagement.

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Ludditus: You said that many SEO experts recommend using different titles in the TITLE tag and H1 tag if it helps to improve the user experience and engagement with the content. How can that be? First, I believe that two different titles are creating more confusion than engagement. Secondly, the contents of the TITLE is usually displayed in the narrow tab of a browser, hence almost never seen in its entirety by the user! Let’s give you an example: under TITLE, “Bryan Singer’s Accusers Speak Out”: under H1, “‘Nobody Is Going to Believe You’”. How is that supposed to improve a user’s experience! Again, what the user would see from the TITLE might be as little as e.g. “Bryan Singer’s Acc…” because the narrowness of a browser’s tab might force a truncation. Another example: TITLE, “I Bought a Fake Canada Goose Jacket on Amazon”; H1, “I Spent $925 on a Fake Canada Goose Coat”. Now, how is this consistent with SEO principles? Would you be interested more in a book that has different titles on the dust jacket and on a title page, or in a book that has the same title in both places?

ChatGPT: You raise valid points about the potential confusion and limitations of using different titles in the TITLE tag and H1 tag, and it’s true that this approach may not always be appropriate or effective for improving the user experience.

To clarify, the recommendation to use different titles in the TITLE tag and H1 tag is not a blanket recommendation, but rather a suggestion that should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In some cases, using different titles may be useful for improving the user experience by providing a more engaging or descriptive title in the TITLE tag, while using a more straightforward title in the H1 tag for the actual content of the article. However, in other cases, using the same title in both places may be more effective for conveying a clear and consistent message to the user.

It’s important to keep in mind that SEO principles are not the only factor to consider when creating content for a website. Ultimately, the goal should be to provide a positive and engaging user experience, while also optimizing for search engine visibility and relevance. Balancing these priorities can be challenging, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution that will work for every website or every article.

In terms of the specific examples you provided, it’s possible that using different titles in these cases may not be the most effective approach for improving the user experience or SEO performance. However, it’s also possible that the website’s editors or SEO experts have evaluated the options and determined that this approach will be most effective for their specific audience and content.

To summarize, using different titles in the TITLE tag and H1 tag is not a universal recommendation, but rather a suggestion that should be evaluated based on the specific needs and goals of the website and its audience. Ultimately, the most important consideration should be to provide a clear and engaging user experience, while also optimizing for search engine visibility and relevance.

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Ludditus: But don’t those “SEO experts” behave like in the saying, “putting the cart before the horse”? I believe that generating web contents with well-thought, relevant structure, just like people were doing when writing quality books and magazines back when the Internet didn’t exist yet, should be enough; then, a search engine’s designers should create some SEO rules able to discover the relevant structure of those web pages, not the other way round. I mean, search engines should be engineered to find the existing structure in articles written professionally, instead of having a publisher’s “SEO experts” practically “patch” the structure to “hack” whatever rules they believe to be used by a search engine! As a matter of fact, those “SEO rules” are mostly assumptions, as search engine makers don’t make their algorithms public! Wouldn’t it be much better to use the trusted and tried old principles used in publishing before the Internet, and have the Internet adapt to them? I believe that most “SEO experts” are not trying to actually improve the structure of a web page, but to trick the indexing bots of search engines!

ChatGPT: You make a valid point about the importance of creating well-structured, high-quality content that is designed to meet the needs and interests of the audience. In an ideal world, search engines would be able to easily identify and rank content based on its relevance, accuracy, and quality, without the need for publishers to engage in complex and often confusing SEO strategies.

However, the reality is that search engines are complex algorithms that rely on a wide range of signals and factors to determine the relevance and quality of content. These signals include both on-page factors such as keyword usage, content structure, and HTML markup, as well as off-page factors such as backlinks, social signals, and user engagement.

While it’s true that many SEO experts focus on optimizing these signals in order to improve search engine rankings, this is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, many SEO best practices are designed to help publishers create content that is more engaging, informative, and user-friendly, which in turn can lead to higher levels of user engagement and improved search engine performance.

At the same time, it’s important to recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to SEO, and that different websites and audiences may require different strategies and techniques in order to achieve optimal results. Ultimately, the key to success with SEO is to focus on creating high-quality content that is designed to meet the needs and interests of the target audience, while also following best practices for on-page optimization and user engagement.

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Ludditus: Your answer, while decent, seems more of a boilerplate, if not a collection of marketing blabber for a SEO course! User engagement should have nothing to do with the correct indexing by a search engine; a search engine should be able to recognize a structure (headings, tags, descriptions for images, etc.) and to show me that page as a result for the keywords or ideas I am looking for, regardless of useless “engagement” tools such as connecting to social networks and other crap. Actually, contemporary content that’s full of ads and of various interruptions should be considered of a lower quality than an article resembling those from a scientific journal, which only has on-topic information, not distractions.

ChatGPT: You make a valid point that user engagement should not be the sole focus of SEO, and that search engines should be able to recognize the structure of a page and its content without relying on engagement metrics.

It’s true that search engines use a wide range of factors to determine the relevance and quality of content, including factors such as keyword usage, content structure, and HTML markup. However, it’s also true that user engagement can play a role in search engine rankings, as search engines aim to provide the most relevant and useful results for their users.

While it’s certainly possible for a well-structured, high-quality article to rank well in search engines without relying on engagement tools such as social networking, it’s also true that user engagement can be a useful metric for publishers to gauge the success and impact of their content. By measuring metrics such as time on page, bounce rate, and social shares, publishers can gain insights into how their content is resonating with their audience, and make adjustments to their content and marketing strategies accordingly.

Ultimately, the key to success with SEO is to focus on creating high-quality, relevant content that is designed to meet the needs and interests of your audience, while also following best practices for on-page optimization and user engagement. While engagement metrics may not be the only factor in search engine rankings, they can still play a useful role in helping publishers to measure and improve the impact of their content.