If I want to update the title of a page on my website would that negatively impact SEO?

[meredithrice]

I want to update a few page titles on my website. Some are duplicate titles, and some titles are just too long. Will my website be negatively impacted at all if I update these?

I read somewhere that once you have created a page you need to stick to the title you have given it. So I am not sure if I should leave these pages be and make note of utilizing better SEO practices for the future or if I can go back and edit them.

Any insight is much appreciated!

[Charles-O]

Hi Meredith

Updating and optimizing title pages and meta description is a big part of on-site SEO so do not worry about tweaking them a little bit.

As a general rule, If you have confidence that a title is truncated on the SERPs because of its character limit, or that it doesn't convey efficiently the topic you are addressing in your page, you really should change it. Of course, be mindful of putting your keywords without appearing too spammy.

If I were you, I would look up the keyword I'm trying to rank for, see what's ranking and write a title that expresses what the page is about while keeping the user intent in mind.

I'd suggest you extract your titles (moz or screaming frog) so that you can easily revert back if you see your ranking/sessions drop after changing them.

Hope this helps!

PS: Don't be afraid to try out things - that's how you'll know if certain changes can or won't impact results.

[brooksmanley]

I agree with Charles-Oliver, I would definitely document where these pages currently rank, and then assess after making your changes.

As long as you're not removing the keyword / key phrase you're ranking for from the title, or dramatically changing the intent, you probably don't have anything to worry about!