To change the website title in Google search for a WordPress site, you have to know which of three titles you are looking at, because Google shows all three in one result. The blue link is the page’s title tag, set by your SEO plugin. The site name above the URL is pulled from WebSite structured data on your home page, which Yoast and Rank Math generate from Settings, General. And the breadcrumb or URL line is the permalink. Change the wrong one and nothing happens in search, which is why so many forum threads on this end with “I changed it and Google still shows the old name”. Here is which setting controls which line, and how long Google takes to catch up.
Which title is Google showing?
| Line in the result | What it is | Controlled by |
|---|---|---|
| Site name (small text above the URL) | Google’s name for the whole site | WebSite structured data on the home page; Yoast and Rank Math build it from the Site Title in Settings, General |
| Blue link (title link) | The title of that specific page | The page’s title tag: your SEO plugin’s template or the page’s own SEO title field |
| Grey URL or breadcrumb | The page address | Permalink settings and slug; breadcrumb schema if the plugin outputs it |
| Two lines of description | The snippet | Meta description, or text Google picks from the page |
Google’s site name documentation is explicit that the site name is generated automatically from the home page’s WebSite structured data first, then og:site_name, the title tag and headings, and that Google cannot change it manually for you.
How do you change the website title in Google search for the whole site?
- Go to Settings, General and set Site Title to the exact name you want Google to use. Changing the WordPress site title covers the theme and header side of that setting.
- Check the SEO plugin passes it through. Yoast: Settings, Site basics, Website name (and Alternate website name for an acronym). Rank Math: Titles & Meta, Local SEO or Global Meta, depending on version, where the Knowledge Graph name lives.
- Open the home page, view source, and confirm the
"@type":"WebSite"block contains"name":"Your Name". Yoast outputs the WebSite block on every page and Rank Math on the home page; Google reads it from the home page. - Make sure the home page title tag also contains the name; Google cross-checks.
- In Search Console, inspect the home page URL and request indexing. Site names update after the home page is recrawled, which takes days to a few weeks.
If Google still shows the domain (yourdomain.com) instead of the name, it is usually because the name in structured data, the title tag and the header text disagree, or the site is very new. Make all three say the same thing and wait for the next crawl.
How do you change the blue link title for a page?
- One page: edit the page, open the Yoast or Rank Math box below the content, and type a new SEO title. That overrides the template for that page only.
- Every page at once: Yoast, Settings, Content types, Pages (and Posts), and edit the SEO title template; Rank Math, Titles & Meta, Posts or Pages. The default template (
%%title%% %%sep%% %%sitename%%in Yoast,%title% %sep% %sitename%in Rank Math) adds the site name after every page title. - The home page: the SEO title field on the static front page, or the Homepage tab in the plugin if the front page shows latest posts.
Where the SEO title lives in WordPress goes through both plugins screen by screen.
Why does Google show a different title from the one I set?
Because Google rewrites title links it judges unhelpful. Google’s title link guidance lists the triggers: titles that are too long, stuffed with keywords, the same across many pages, boilerplate (“Home”), or that do not match the page’s main heading. When Google rewrites, it usually uses the H1 or the site name. The fix is a title of 50 to 60 characters that describes the page and matches the H1 in meaning, which is the same rule as how many H2 tags a page should have: headings that mean what the title says.
How long does the change take to show in Google?
| Change | Typical time | Speed it up |
|---|---|---|
| Page title link | Days for a busy page, up to a few weeks for a quiet one | URL Inspection, Request indexing |
| Site name | One to several weeks; it is recalculated from the home page | Request indexing on the home page; keep name consistent everywhere |
| Description snippet | Same as the page title; Google may still choose its own text | Write a description that matches the query the page ranks for |
| Cached old title in Google | Until the next crawl | Nothing else; do not repeatedly resubmit |
Common mistakes
- Changing the theme header text only. The header is cosmetic; Google reads Settings, General and the structured data.
- Two SEO plugins. Yoast and Rank Math both active output two WebSite blocks with different names. Keep one.
- A caching plugin serving the old HTML. Clear the cache after any title change, then check the source in a private window.
- Keyword-stuffed site name. “Leeds Plumber Best Plumbing Services” as a site name gets replaced with the domain. Use the business name; put keywords in page titles.
- Expecting Google to obey. Structured data is a preference, not a command. Consistency across the home page is what earns it.
This is one of the settings I check first on any WordPress site handed to me, because a wrong site name sits on every result the site will ever get; the Squarespace version of the same fix is simpler, with one field doing all three jobs.
Frequently asked questions
For the blue link, edit the page’s SEO title in Yoast or Rank Math, or the title template for all pages. For the site name above the URL, set Site Title under Settings, General and let the SEO plugin output it as WebSite structured data on the home page. Then request indexing.
Google could not confidently pick a name. Make the Site Title in Settings, General, the home page title tag, the header text and the WebSite structured data all use the same name, then request indexing of the home page.
Page titles typically update within days of a recrawl; the site name can take one to several weeks because it is recalculated from the home page. Requesting indexing in Search Console speeds both.
Google rewrites titles it considers too long, keyword-stuffed, duplicated, or mismatched with the page heading. Write a 50 to 60 character title that describes the page and matches the H1.
Yoast SEO, Settings, Site basics: Website name and Alternate website name. Yoast outputs them as WebSite structured data on the home page, which Google uses for the site name.
Only indirectly. Google reads the home page structured data and title tag. The theme header is one more signal, so keep it consistent, but changing it alone will not change the name in results.
