---
title: "SearchPilot: adding 'The Best' to title tags lifted traffic 10%"
url: https://seomadman.com/studies/the-best-title-tag-ab-test-searchpilot
section: studies
published: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-09-26T00:00:00.000Z
author: Adam Hafez
topics: ["SERP features"]
---

# SearchPilot: adding 'The Best' to title tags lifted traffic 10%

## The short answer

Adding "The Best" to the start of title tags lifted organic traffic 10% in a SearchPilot split test on an editorial site. SearchPilot estimated the change was worth about 11,000 extra organic sessions a month across the site section, and says Google kept showing the new titles in results. Test dates and confidence interval are not published.

## Key takeaways

- SearchPilot's split test found that adding "The Best" to the start of an editorial site's title tags produced a 10% uplift in organic traffic.
- SearchPilot estimated that deploying the new titles across the tested site section would add about 11,000 organic sessions per month.
- The test ran after Google began rewriting most title tags in results, yet SearchPilot reports Google still displayed the variant titles.
- SearchPilot cannot say whether the gain came from a higher click-through rate or from ranking for a different set of queries.
- The published case study does not state the test dates, the number of pages tested or the exact confidence interval.

"The Best" is one of the most common phrases in listicle titles, and whether it actually earns
clicks is usually argued from instinct. SearchPilot, an SEO A/B-testing company, put it to a
controlled test on a client's editorial site and published the result. Everything reported below
comes from SearchPilot's own case study, written by Daniel Haugen and dated March 23, 2023; this
piece is a write-up of their test, not a test we ran.

## What did SearchPilot change in the title tags?

The hypothesis was simple: add the phrase "The Best" to the beginning of each title tag in one
section of the site, and the variant pages would earn a better click-through rate and more organic
traffic. SearchPilot split comparable pages into a control group, which kept the original titles,
and a variant group, which got the new ones. Because both groups ran at the same time on the same
site, seasonality, algorithm updates and sitewide changes affect both equally, so the difference
between them isolates the title change.

The case study shows the control and variant titles only as a screenshot and does not name the
client, the page count or the test dates. We are not reconstructing those details.

## How much did organic traffic change?

The variant pages gained a statistically significant 10% uplift in organic traffic against the
forecast built from the control group. SearchPilot estimated that deploying the new titles across
the whole site section would add roughly 11,000 organic sessions per month. Both numbers are
SearchPilot's; the case study does not publish the confidence interval behind the result or the
baseline traffic the 10% is measured against.

## Why did the new title win?

SearchPilot is candid that it does not know which of two levers moved. A new title can raise
click-through rate on the rankings a page already holds, the way a promotional offer in a title
tends to. It can also add words that make the page rank for a different set of queries. Organic
traffic captures the net outcome of both, which is why SearchPilot measures it instead of CTR
alone, and why the 10% cannot be split between clicks and rankings.

One detail matters more than it first appears. The test ran after Google began rewriting most
title tags in search results, which could have made the experiment meaningless. SearchPilot
reports that Google respected the change and displayed the variant titles. Google's own title link
documentation lists the title element first among the sources it uses, and says it may generate a
different title link when it detects an issue such as a half-empty, obsolete, inaccurate or
boilerplate title. A title that reads naturally and matches the page avoids those triggers.

## How do you test a title change on your own site?

Most sites cannot run a controlled split test, but the first two steps cost nothing. Preview the
rewritten title in the [SERP snippet preview](/tools/serp-snippet-preview) to confirm the added
words do not push the key phrase past the point where the result is truncated. Then run the whole
template through the [bulk title and meta checker](/tools/bulk-title-meta-checker) to catch titles
that the prefix makes too long or turns into duplicates across pages.

After that, change one template at a time and compare its Search Console clicks against a similar
template you left alone over the same weeks. That is a weaker design than SearchPilot's, but it
keeps seasonality from being mistaken for a title effect, which a simple before-and-after read
cannot do.

## Why we care

Title and meta description tooling is what brings most readers to this site, and most advice on
titles is opinion. This case gives one measured, controlled result: a two-word prefix moved organic
traffic by 10% on a real editorial site. It is still one template on one site, with the pages,
dates and confidence interval undisclosed, so the honest reading is narrow. "The Best" can work
when it describes what the page actually is, and a title change is worth testing rather than
assuming, because Google showed the new titles as written here.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should every title tag start with "The Best"?

No. SearchPilot tested one page template on one editorial site, where "The Best" plausibly matched what searchers were looking for. The result supports testing the phrase on similar pages, not adding it everywhere, and a claim of "best" on a page that is not a ranked or reviewed list can mislead readers.

### Did the gain come from more clicks or better rankings?

SearchPilot says it does not know. A title change can raise click-through rate on the same rankings, or change which queries the page ranks for. The test measured organic traffic, which captures the net effect of both, so the 10% figure cannot be split between the two.

### Does Google rewriting titles make title tests pointless?

Not in this case. SearchPilot ran the test after Google began rewriting most title tags in search results and reports that Google still showed the variant titles. Google's own documentation lists the title element first among its sources and rewrites mainly when it detects an issue with the title, so a clean, accurate title still matters.

## Sources

1. [Can incorporating 'the best' into your title tag improve organic traffic?](https://www.searchpilot.com/resources/case-studies/the-best-title-tag-experiment) - SearchPilot (primary)
2. [Influencing your title links in search results](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/title-link) - Google Search Central