# Title and Meta Testing Sheet

Compare accurate page-title and description options against intent, differentiation, clarity, length, truncation, duplication, and clickbait risk.

## Usage note

Use this sheet after the page's purpose and visible content are stable. Search engines may rewrite displayed titles and snippets, so no option guarantees a particular presentation or click rate. Optimize for accurate orientation and suitable visits, not curiosity that the page cannot satisfy. Keep a dated record of changes and allow enough observation time before drawing conclusions.

## How to use this template

1. Record the page's canonical URL, primary intent, audience, format, and current search presentation.
2. Draft options that accurately distinguish the page and place essential meaning early.
3. Score each option for clarity, intent fit, evidence, duplication, risk, and consistency with visible content.
4. Approve one hypothesis-driven change and record deployment, market, and confounding events.
5. Evaluate search and on-page signals together, then keep, revise, or restore with a documented rationale.

## Blank template

### Page context

- **Canonical URL:** [URL]
- **Primary reader job:** [What the page satisfies]
- **Page type:** [Tool, guide, help, research, landing, other]
- **Distinct value:** [What differentiates it]
- **Current title:** [Exact source title]
- **Current description:** [Exact metadata]
- **Market and language:** [Scope]
- **Baseline period:** [Dates]

### Candidate evaluation

- **Candidate ID:** [A, B, C]
- **Title:** [Exact option]
- **Description:** [Exact option]
- **Intent fit:** [High, moderate, low with reason]
- **Distinctiveness:** [Difference from competing site pages]
- **Accuracy check:** [Claims and visible support]
- **Likely truncation concern:** [Meaning at risk]
- **Clickbait risk:** [Curiosity gap, overpromise, urgency, or None]
- **Decision:** [Test, revise, reject]

### Test checks

- [ ] Title and description match visible page content.
- [ ] Options do not imply guarantees or affiliations.
- [ ] Essential meaning appears before optional detail.
- [ ] Site-wide duplicates and boilerplate were checked.
- [ ] One clear hypothesis and primary change are documented.
- [ ] Deployment and external events are dated.
- [ ] Search signals are interpreted with position and query mix.
- [ ] On-page task quality is reviewed alongside clicks.