How do I change the page title and description Google shows?

Where Google gets them

Google usually shows the page's <title> and meta description. In Joomla, a single article page uses the article title; a list page (blog, category) uses the menu item title. You can override both per page.

For a menu page

1. Open the menu item.
2. Page Display tab: enter a Browser Page Title.
3. Metadata tab: enter a Meta Description (about 150 characters that make people want to click).
4. Save.

For an article

1. Open the article, Publishing tab: fill in Meta Description.
2. Joomla uses, in order: the article's description, the menu item's, then the site-wide one.

Site-wide

• Global Configuration → Site → Site Meta Description: a default for pages without their own.
• Global Configuration → Site → SEO → Site Name in Page Titles: add your site name before or after every title.

Good to know

• Google rewrites titles and descriptions it finds unhelpful; clear, specific text gets used more often.