How to Set Global Title and Description Templates with Variables

Overview

SureRank generates each page’s meta title and description from a template made of plain text and variables, tokens wrapped in %…%, that get swapped for real content such as the post title, site name, or current year. One global template applies across your entire site unless a specific post or term has its own custom title or description.

Where to Find It

SureRank → General → Meta Templates

There are two fields:

• Search Engine Title: default is %title% – %site_name%
• Search Engine Description: default is %content%

This page controls the sitewide default template used for posts and pages without a custom title or description.

 The homepage has its own separate defaults, editable independently at SureRank → General → Home Page → General.

Steps for the Customer

1. Go to SureRank → General → Meta Templates.
2. Click into the Search Engine Title field and type @ at any point. 

3. A variable picker opens so you can insert a dynamic variable without memorizing the syntax.
4. Repeat for the Search Engine Description field.
5. Watch the Search Engine Preview panel below the fields. It updates live to show how the title and description will look in Google search results as you type.
6. Click Save.

Available Variables

Variable names are exact and case-sensitive. For example, it’s %currentyear%, not %current_year%.

One Template, Context-Aware

The same global template is reused everywhere, but %title% and %excerpt% intelligently resolve based on where they’re used:

• On a blog post or page: %title% = post title, %excerpt% = post excerpt
• On a category or tag archive: %title% = term name, %excerpt% = term description
• On an author archive: %title% = author’s name, %excerpt% = author’s bio

Does a Post’s Own Title Override This?

Yes. If a specific post, page, or term has its own custom title or description set, that always overrides the global template for that one item. The global template only fills in items left blank.

Free vs. Pro

On Free, this one global template applies across every post type and taxonomy. Pro adds separate templates per post type and per taxonomy (for example, a distinct template just for Products versus Blog Posts) for more granular control.

Troubleshooting

Live preview shows the raw %variable% text instead of resolving it 

Check for a typo. Variable names must match exactly.

A page still shows the old title/description after you changed the template 

Check whether that specific post has its own custom title or description overriding the sitewide template.

Variables resolve to blank or incorrect values across many posts consistently 

Escalate. This can indicate a caching or data issue rather than a template mistake.