Should I include a "|" for better page title SEO results?
-
I have seen many sites that include the "|" in page titles and was wondering if there is some SEO value in the practice.
Example:
Product Name | Company Name
Instead of:
Product Name by Company Name
I have not seen any value in it myself other than a good way to avoid stop words. I wanted to make sure. Currently I have the "by" included in the page titles.
-
I always prefer the pipe for the following reasons, though I don't think it has any specific SEO value.
a) its reader friendly
b) its a natural separator
c) as Seth says below, it looks cool!
d) Whats good for SEOmoz is good for me!
-
SEO advantage I would suggest is negligible, if any in this case - more a case of aesthetics as has been suggested, as well as character count saving.
Section pages I would go with "Section | Company Name"
Product pages I would go with "Product - Section | Company Name"
-
When it comes to a web page Title Tag Google's Supper Smart Spiders pay no attention to the markup or punctuation used. So it truly comes down to the personal preference of the site owner. As for me and my OCD I prefer the Pipes cause they just look cooler!
To prove this point query the following:
allintitle:"-"
allintitle:"|"
allintitle:"/"
allintitle:""
allintitle:","
All come back with BUPKIS
-
| has my vote! More for readability than anything.
-
| has my vote! More for readability than anything.
-
The pipe and hyphen as already suggested are the way to go for pure usability and space saving for your title tag. In my opinion neither has a direct SEO advantage over the other however they both have a distinct advantage over other techniques. For me keeping the keywords used in the page title to the point help without any extra "by, or, and" breaks the keyword blocks both visually and semantically for the search engines. Now don't get me wrong I don't think this makes or breaks a good SEO effort on a page but for me it's certainly a preference.
-
Sounds like it is just an issue of conserving valuable character real estate while being aesthetically pleasing to the reader.
-
I think people prefer pipe symbol over hyphen..as it takes relatively less space...that's the only benefit I have seen..
-
I use the pipe because SEOmoz uses it. Visually it indicates something different is following. I think it more professional looking than the mere dash.
-
I am not sure the is any technical benefit however more used as Alan and EGOL suggest to separate keywords / phrases and increase CTR
-
I don't think that a pipe or dash or any other character adds or subtracts any SEO value. Certainly what you type after it is more important.
If your brand is widely known and respected then adding it might help increase your clickthroughs or conversions.
If you don't have a popular brand then "free shipping"... "learn the secrets!".... or a kickass price in the title tag will pull the visitors in.
... and if you have something that everyone wants such as "free beer" then you might want to included it in CAPS.
-
There's some disagreement in the industry as to whether the pipe symbol or hyphens are best - either way, one of these two would be recommended for readability purposes. This is especially valid when you've got more than one keyword phrase.
Product Name | Alternate Product Name | Company Name
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Does Google avoid indexing pages that include registered trademark signs?
I am suspecting that Google often hesitates to index pages that have registered trademarks on them that are marked with a ®. For example EGOL® used in the title tag or in the tag at the top of the page. Registered trademarks are everywhere and most retail product pages contain at least one of them. However, most people use the registered trademark names as text in their writing without adding the registered trademark sign of ®. Have you experienced a problem getting such pages indexed or have you read any articles about how Google treats registered trademarks?
On-Page Optimization | | EGOL0 -
Communities Served on Page for SEO
Hi, We have an urgent care facility outside of our hospital located in an other location and we would like to increase the organic seo for the highest traffic surrounding towns. I have toyed with the following ideas but would like to know what everyone thinks is best. 1.) Just included "proudly serving patients in Area 1, Area 2, Area 3, Area 4" on the bottom of the page. 2.) Create a page that says areas served... then each page would have a non-duplicated and original content for that area. 3.) build a microsite for the urgent care site and optimize with content from option 2 above and just add option one to our main website.
On-Page Optimization | | sphcs0 -
"Issue: Duplicate Page Content " in Crawl Diagnostics - but these pages are noindex
Saw an issue back in 2011 about this and I'm experiencing the same issue. http://moz.com/community/q/issue-duplicate-page-content-in-crawl-diagnostics-but-these-pages-are-noindex We have pages that are meta-tagged as no-everything for bots but are being reported as duplicate. Any suggestions on how to exclude them from the Moz bot?
On-Page Optimization | | Deb_VHB0 -
How to fix Duplicate Page Title
I have so many Duplicate Page Title issue on my website. www.soobumimphotography.com Though I had to use NAME + Area + Photographer on every title page so ended up something like this San Antonio Sports Photographer | Soobumim Photography : San Antonio Wedding Photographers | Soobumim Photography http://www.soobumimphotography.com/chicago-cubs-at-houston-astros-mlb-soobumim-photography/ What's the best way to fix this problem? Should I delete them? Redirect? - to be honest, I don't know how. I am using Yoast plugin
On-Page Optimization | | BistosAmerica0 -
If I want to rank well on one keyword would it be better to optimize multiple pages on the website for the keyword or should I only optimize one page for that keyword?
If I want to rank well on one keyword would it be better to optimize multiple pages on the website for the keyword or should I only optimize one page for that keyword?
On-Page Optimization | | CustomOnlineMarketing0 -
Optimizing E-Commerce Category Pages For SEO
Hey, Does anyone have any tips for optimizing e-commerce category pages? Looking to add content to each category page but not sure where to put the content i.e. above the footer? Above the search results? In the left hand nav bar? Have a landing page which they click through to see search results? If anyone has any good examples or tips it would be much appreciated. cheers David
On-Page Optimization | | DavidLenehan0 -
How? Title in Google differs than actual title tag
Just curious on how sites do this? If you search for a video (perhaps Green Lantern Trailer), you'll see the YouTube results in Google/Bing listed as YouTube - Green Lantern Trailer but when you go to the page, the actual title tag displayed is Green Lantern Trailer - YouTube I've seen other sites do this too. I'm just curious what they are doing (I don't see any other title tags in the html)? I thought your title tag is what is displayed in SERP? Thanks,
On-Page Optimization | | NicB10 -
The Better Title to Use?
Hello Mozers- I am targeting the keywords "liposuction scottsdale", "liposuction phoenix", "liposuction mesa", "liposuction arizona". Out of the following two Titles below, one would you consider the better one? And Why? I am leaning towards the second example. If you have any more ideas that would be great. 1). Tummy Tuck Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa, Arizona 2).Tummy Tuck Scottsdale | Tummy Tuck Phoenix, Mesa, Arizona. Thanks!!
On-Page Optimization | | Red_Spot_Interactive0