Google truncating or altering meta title - affect rankings?

[santiago23]

I have a site that the title tag is too long and the title is simply the name of the site (I think they get it from ODP, not sure)

Anyway, the rankings for the home page have dropped quite a bit.  I'm wondering if the change that Google makes affects rankings (i.e. name of site doesn't have all the keywords).

[SoftzSolutions]

I have a site that the title tag is too long and the title is simply the name of the site (I think they get it from ODP, not sure)

Now if you believe that it is the ODP that is causing the trouble, you can add this Meta tag in the section of the pages -

However, if this has not been the case, it could be that the links that have been built are not in line with the existing title. And sometimes, Google changes the title itself if it feels that the title is not well optimized –

http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.in/2012/01/better-page-titles-in-search-results.html

https://plus.google.com/u/0/+PierreFar/posts/62V16LPwzKv

[danatanseo]

While I don't think anyone can say for sure if one specific thing like this could result in lower ranking, IMHO a truncated title is not generally going to be the culprit of rankings drop. However, I do think a truncated title can significantly lower click-thru rate on your organic listings, which could be a factor in rankings (i.e. higher click-thru rate could equal higher rankings).

I always encourage the sites that I SEO to adhere to Google's character limitations and make the most out of the organic real estate Google gives you. It's your chance to get someone to come to your site. If the title/and or description is truncated, it has less chance of being compelling, or containing the information that makes someone want to click through and visit your pages.

Hope that's helpful!

Dana