Do you want to get the title in WordPress? Then this guide is right up your alley!
Source: Pixabay
By using the title as a clickable heading (link), you can help visitors explore the main idea of your page or post content instantly. In turn, they can easily choose the content they want to read. As a result, it improves the user experience on your website.
In another case, you may need to get the title in WordPress to customize your page layout by setting it elsewhere on the page. That might help enhance the visual appeal and organization of your website.
Yet another case is to use the title in your on-page SEO settings to guide search engines about your content, boosting visibility in search results. In short, getting the title in WordPress means retrieving the name of a specific page or post which you can then use for various purposes.
But what is it exactly?
What Is the Title in WordPress
The title tag in WordPress is an HTML element located within the <head> section of the document. This is the name of a post or page typically displayed at the top of the browser window (in the title bar). It basically tells visitors and search engine crawlers what your post or page content is about.
Now that you know what it is, let’s see the syntax and an example below to understand the concept better.
Syntax:
<title> Your Title Here </title>
Example:
Let’s take an example of Content Gorilla’s ‘About Us’ web page. Here, this title conveys perfectly what the page contains.
<title> About Us </title>
Source: Content Gorilla’s About Us Page
As you can see in the image above, the text inside the title tag is what exactly appears in the browser tab when someone visits your web page. It is also shown in search engine results providing a summary to help users understand the page’s content. That makes it important for both how your website looks and how it is found online.
In WordPress, you don’t have to worry about writing the title tag manually most of the time. When you create a post or page and give it a title, WordPress will automatically generate the title tag for you. This makes it easier to create good web pages without needing to know all the technical stuff.
To learn the clear difference between the page and post title, check out our following in-depth guides:
- WordPress page title
- WordPress post title
Title Tag vs. H1
Many people often confuse the title tag and the H1 heading. However, both of them serve different purposes.
The <title> tag, as the name suggests, sets the meta title of a webpage, which is displayed in search engine results and the browser’s title bar or tab. It mainly focuses on the webpage’s indexing and the click-through rate. On the contrary, but still complimentarily, the <h1> tag is the main heading of an article (or a webpage), indicating the content’s crux and helping with search engine optimization (SEO).
How to Get the Title in WordPress
In WordPress, you can retrieve the title of a post or page in many ways as mentioned below.
- the_title(): It displays the title directly in your template files.
- get_the_title(): It retrieves the title and stores it in a variable for further processing or conditional statements.
- $post->post_title: This syntax gets the title in WordPress for search engine optimizations or customizations within a loop.
If you’re working in the block editor, the title block can easily display the post title on the front end. Let’s see below three important methods to get a title WordPress.
Method #1: Using get_the_title() or the_title()
The get_the_title() function retrieves the title of a post or page from the database and returns it as a string. Use this method when you want to assign the title to a variable or use it for further processing. Here’s its syntax and steps to perform it:
- Open the relevant template file (e.g., single.php).
- Use <?php echo get_the_title(); ?> to display the post or page title.
- Pass a post ID as an argument to get the title of a specific post (get_the_title($post_title)).
- Save the file and check the page to see the title.
It will help you get the title of a specific post and assign it to the variable $post_title as a string. Then, it’ll print the title (stored in the $post_title variable) using the echo statement.
Method #2: Using single_post_title()
Single_post_title() is another easy way to get the post title in WordPress. Follow these steps to retrieve the title easily:
- Locate and open the template file (e.g., single.php).
- Insert <?php single_post_title(); ?> where you want the title.
- Add a prefix by passing a string (e.g., <?php single_post_title(‘Prefix: ‘); ?>).
- Save the file and check the page to ensure the title is correctly displayed.
Method #3: Using wp_title()
Another method to display the title in WordPress is using the wp_title() function. Generally, it is preferred due to its compatibility with the older WordPress themes. Here’s how it works step by step.
- Open the relevant template file (e.g., single.php).
- Use <?php wp_title(); ?> where you want the title to appear.
- Pass these arguments for customization:
- $sep: String separator (e.g., wp_title(‘|’)).
- $display: Boolean for display (default value: true).
- $seplocation: Separator location (‘left’ or ‘right’).
- Save the file and check the page to view the title.
FAQs
What should the length of the WordPress title be?
Generally, the length of a good WordPress title is under 60 characters which guarantees its maximum visibility in SERPs.
Is it possible to change the page title’s size?
Yes, you can change the size, font, length, and even style of your page title to make it well-optimized for both visitors and search engines.
Are the_title() and get_the_title() same?
Both the_title() and get_the_title() work similarly. But while the former outputs the title of the current post or page directly, the latter returns the title of a specified post as a string.
Wrap Up
Many people often confuse terms related to WordPress titles, so we clarified the concept in this article. We then shared three easy ways to get the title in WordPress and explained the use case of each method. No matter which approach you prefer, these methods offer flexible solutions to suit your specific needs.
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