How to Fix Duplicate Title Tags

Duplicate title tags happen when two or more pages on your website use exactly the same <title>. It's one of the most common issues in a technical SEO audit, and one of the easiest to fix once you know where it comes from.

What is a title tag?

The title tag is the line of HTML that names a page:

<title>Handmade Oak Dining Tables | Smith & Co</title>

Visitors rarely see it on the page itself, but it matters in two places:

• Search results. Google usually shows your title as the blue clickable headline.
• Browser tabs and bookmarks. It's how people tell your tabs apart.

Because it's such a strong signal of what a page is about, every page that you want to appear in search should have its own.

Why duplicate title tags are a problem

When several pages share a title, search engines have to guess which one is the best answer for a search. That causes a few problems:

1. Your pages compete with each other. Instead of one strong page ranking, two weaker ones split the attention.
2. Google may rewrite your titles. If titles don't describe the page well, Google often replaces them with text it picks from the page.
3. Fewer clicks. Three results called "Products | Smith & Co" give people no reason to choose one over another.

Duplicate titles are also a clue to a bigger issue: sometimes the pages themselves are duplicates.

How to find duplicate title tags

Run an audit of your site and look for Page Titles: Duplicate in the issues list. FormedEasy groups the pages that share each title, so you can see the whole set at once. You can run a free audit here.

Only indexable pages count. If one of the pages is already marked noindex or points its canonical at another page, it won't be flagged.

Common causes, and how to fix each one

1. A template that sets one title for every page

Website themes and page builders sometimes use the site name as the title for every page, or a fixed title for a whole section such as the blog.

Fix: set the title per page. In WordPress, an SEO plugin lets you write a title for each page or set a pattern like %title% | Site name. In a custom site, build the title from the page's own data.

2. Pagination and filtered pages

Category pages often have page 2, page 3 and filtered versions like ?colour=blue that all keep the main category title.

Fix: add the page number or filter to the title, for example "Oak Tables – Page 2 | Smith & Co". If the filtered pages shouldn't be in search at all, point their canonical tag at the main category page.

3. Real duplicate pages

The same page can often be reached at several addresses: with and without www, with a trailing slash, or with tracking parameters.

Fix: pick one address and send the others to it with a 301 redirect, or use a canonical tag to say which version is the original.

4. Similar products or locations

Shops with near-identical products and businesses with a page per town often end up with titles like "Plumber | Smith Plumbing" on every location page.

Fix: put what makes each page different in its title, such as "Emergency Plumber in Leeds | Smith Plumbing".

How to write a good title

• Make it unique to the page.
• Lead with the topic, then add your brand at the end.
• Keep it to about 50–60 characters so it isn't cut off in search results.
• Write for people. Describe what they'll find on the page, rather than repeating keywords.

Google's own guidance on writing title links covers this in more detail.

Check your fix

After updating your titles, run the audit again. The Page Titles: Duplicate issue should disappear from the list, and your score should go up.