> How to change your website's title, description, site name, icon and sitelinks in Google's results: what Google builds each from, and what you control. - Canonical: https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/how-to-change-how-your-website-appears-on-google/ --- # How to change how your website appears on Google A result in Google has five parts a site owner can influence: the title, the description, the site name, the icon and the links beneath. Google builds each of them automatically from the page, so none can be typed in directly. Changing the page changes the result, once Google has crawled the page again. Updated 6 October 2026 ## The title Google calls the headline of a result the title link. Its documentation lists the sources it draws on: the page’s ` ` element, the main visual title, heading elements, `og:title`, and the text of links that point to the page. Google replaces a title it judges unhelpful. The cases it names include half-empty titles, obsolete ones, inaccurate ones and the same boilerplate repeated on many pages. A title that is specific to the page and agrees with the page’s main heading is the one most likely to be shown as written. Our guide to [writing title tags and meta descriptions](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/how-to-write-title-tags-and-meta-descriptions/) covers the wording. ## The description Google calls the text under the title the snippet, and says snippets are “primarily created from the page content itself”. The meta description is used when Google thinks it describes the page more accurately than text taken from the page. A meta description cannot be forced into the result. Writing one for every page, in words that match what the page delivers, is what makes it the likelier choice. ## The site name The name shown above the address comes from Google’s site name system. Google says `WebSite` structured data on the home page is the most important signal for stating a preference, with a `name` and, if wanted, an `alternateName` for a shorter form. Site names apply to a whole domain or subdomain, never to a folder. Our guide to [schema markup](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/what-is-schema-markup/) explains the format. ## The icon The small image beside the site name is the favicon. Google requires a square image of at least 8 by 8 pixels and recommends one larger than 48 by 48. Our guide to a [favicon not showing in Google](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/favicon-not-showing-in-google/) lists the reasons one fails to appear. ## The links beneath The extra links to inner pages are sitelinks, and Google states that they are automated. Our guide to [getting sitelinks](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/how-to-get-sitelinks/) covers what a site can do to earn them. ## How long a change takes Nothing in a result changes until Google has crawled the page again. Google’s figure is anywhere from several days to several weeks. For one important page, the URL Inspection tool in Search Console has a button to request indexing, which asks Google to come sooner. ## Questions people ask ### How do I change my website description on Google? Write a meta description for the page that says what the page offers. Google states that snippets are primarily created from the page content, and that it uses the meta description when that describes the page more accurately. ### Why does Google show a different title from the one I wrote? Google generates title links from several sources, including the title element, the main heading and the text of links pointing to the page. A title that is half-empty, out of date, inaccurate or repeated across many pages is likely to be replaced. ### How long before Google shows the change? Google has to crawl the page again first, which it says can take from several days to several weeks. Requesting indexing in Search Console's URL Inspection tool asks for an earlier visit. ## Free competitor gap report A result is judged beside the ones around it. Name up to three competitors and we set your titles, descriptions and markup against theirs, then send you where their results say more than yours. 1. Speed and technical health, side by side 2. On-page SEO and site structure 3. The content they are found for and you are not 4. Who holds the searches that matter in your market 5. A prioritised list of what to fix first [Request your free report by email](mailto:contact@hadalmedusa.com?subject=Competitor%20gap%20report%3A%20Guide%3A%20How%20to%20change%20how%20your%20website%20appears%20on%20Google&body=Website%3A%0D%0A%0D%0AWhere%20you%20compete%20(area%2C%20country%20or%20countries)%3A%0D%0A%0D%0ACompetitors%20to%20compare%20against%20(up%20to%20three)%3A%0D%0A%0D%0AAnything%20else%20we%20should%20know%3A%0D%0A%0D%0A) - **Address** — contact@hadalmedusa.com - **Include** — your site; up to three competitors; where you compete ## More guides - [Why a competitor outranks you, and how to check](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/why-a-competitor-outranks-you/) - [What a technical SEO audit covers](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/what-a-technical-seo-audit-covers/) - [A local SEO checklist for UK businesses](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/local-seo-checklist-uk/) - [All guides](https://hadalmedusa.com/guides/) - [On-site SEO: what the service includes](https://hadalmedusa.com/services/seo/)