Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Use of '&' in meta title
-
Hi, I know that use of '&' would be helpful to save space and also add more keyword variation to the title tag. But just want to make sure if it matters if I use '&' in most of my title tags? And also is it common to use more than & in one title?
Would the following title be different in Google's perspective regardless of the title length? I am thinking they are all targeting the keywords 'fruit cake' and 'fruit bread', but the first one is the best.
buy fruit cake & bread
buy fruit cake & fruit bread
buy fruit cake and fruit bread
Thanks in advance.
-
Hi Linda,
Thanks for your answer
Just wish to confirm if the first option "buy fruit cake & bread" will capture the keywords "fruit cake" and "fruit bread" as I wish to save the space for more other information in title tag.
I guess it is a balance we have to make, to be more clear or to be more concise.
Thanks for all the other answers.
-
Google uses titles as an important step in determining whether a website answers "searchers intent" - should google display that page on the SERP.
The composition of a title is far more complex than the obvious. The title has a strong SEO focus but also it has to be optimised for clickability. So there are trade-offs. An example is we have changed titles - a few words around and seen a 6 times uplift in CTR. So optimising for the customer is integral.
So the first thing to do is determine keywords - then trade off with click ability. I am not sure I would start with the word buy. A standard method is
Most Important keyword | Second most important Keyword | Brand.
Should be a nexus between the two keywords. Also the title can only be 512 pixels long before it truncates. Hence the title has limited space and two competing components clickability & SEO. Big decisions.
To answer your question, from the information at hand on the and v &. It is semantics but i agree with Linda the latter is more attractive and secondly it uses less pixels.
Let me know if need any more information.
-
Hi Russell,
I use '&' and 'and' both but in different scenario. e.g
If keyword is 'artificial plants & trees' (having significant search volume) then I will use 'artificial plants & trees' not 'artificial plants and trees' and If keyword is 'artificial plants and trees' then I will use 'artificial plants and trees' not 'artificial plants & trees'.
So first you should check keyword is with 'and' or '&' and use in title according to that. If you are using 'and' or '&' like separator then it would be better to use pipe(|) or dash (-).
Hope this helps.
Thanks
-
The first one is more ambiguous. Is it fruit cake and bread of some type, or is it fruit cake and fruit bread [the ampersand generally being a joiner]?
If you do the searches, you will see they are all somewhat similar, with the second two being obviously more related. [collinstreet.com is going to wonder about the strange impressions data in their Adwords campaign...]
An ampersand and the word "and" are mostly the same in Google & there are some who feel that a special character in a title can attract more attention & so is a good thing.
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
-
How to generate an automatic title and meta description for lots of pages
Hi, I'm working on a big website that will have new pages every month. I would like to find a plug-in or something free to generate automatic title and meta description for futur new pages. Thanks you for your help!
On-Page Optimization | | Maely0 -
Page Title versus H1 title
What's the difference between the Page Title and the H1 title? It seems like both summarize the page. Is it a wasted opportunity to make them the same? Should they be similar but slightly different?
On-Page Optimization | | amybethmegjo1 -
Colons in title tag?
Does Google view the colon as a keyword separator like it does with the pipe (|) character? Currently, our site automatically constructs the title tag based on the page name given by the user. Long ago, we started using the colon character to visually separate the brand & model of the product from the size, and as a result, all of our title tags have been constructed this way. This was done more to make it easier to read for humans than for search engines. My question is - should I consider getting rid of the colon from our title tags? To give more info, our website sells tires. So, for any given model of tire, there might be 25-100 different individual sizes. The tags are constructed as follows: (brand)(model) : (size). Here's an example from our site: GENERAL ALTIMAX ARCTIC : 225/45R17 91Q The brand is General Tire, the model is the Altimax Arctic and the size is 225/45R17 91Q Since this entire string really constitutes the full product name, should I remove the colon so that Google views it that way? Or, since I have used a colon instead of a pipe, will Google simply ignore it and treat the entire string as one keyword phrase?
On-Page Optimization | | kcourtem0 -
Page Title in Local SEO Title Tags?
Hi All, Still working on my title tag usage for local SEO, and I was hoping for some more feedback. My question is this: In Local SEO titles, I'm using location + keyword combinations, unique on each page. However, since each page has a specific title for the client, I figure I should be placing that at the front. My thought here was that this helps with the overall usability to the reader of the website. Ex. Contact Us page for Pizza shop Contact Us | Springfield IN Gourmet Pizza | Moe's Italian Pizza Anyone have thoughts on this one? Thank you!
On-Page Optimization | | kbaltzell0 -
Missing meta descriptions on indexed pages, portfolio, tags, author and archive pages. I am using SEO all in one, any advice?
I am having a few problems that I can't seem to work out.....I am fairly new to this and can't seem to work out the following: Any help would be greatly appreciated 🙂 1. I am missing alot of meta description tags. I have installed "All in One SEO" but there seems to be no options to add meta descriptions in portfolio posts. I have also written meta descriptions for 'tags' and whilst I can see them in WP they don't seem to be activated. 2. The blog has pages indexed by WP- called Part 2 (/page/2), Part 3 (/page/3) etc. How do I solve this issue of meta descriptions and indexed pages? 3. There is also a page for myself, the author, that has multiple indexes for all the blog posts I have written, and I can't edit these archives to add meta descriptions. This also applies to the month archives for the blog. 4. Also, SEOmoz tells me that I have too many links on my blog page (also indexed) and their consequent tags. This also applies to the author pages (myself ). How do I fix this? Thanks for your help 🙂 Regards Nadia
On-Page Optimization | | PHDAustralia680 -
Can I use the first sentence of my page content as a meta description tag as well?
I just want to copy my content on the page and use the first or as well the second sentence of the content self for my meta description tag. Is that OK? Or should the Meta description tag be different?
On-Page Optimization | | paulinap19830 -
Title tag for category page
I'd like to know your views on the best approach for title tags for category pages for ecommerce sites. 3 examples A) Category name | Free delivery on $50 purchase | Brand name B) Discover best "category name" on brand name C) Category Name | 1st Keyword, 2nd keyword | Brand name Thanks!
On-Page Optimization | | walidalsaqqaf0 -
Are Amazon meta tags efficient?
We are probably all familiar with general and Google guidelines for writing title and description tags. But Amazon. com often create another structure where they put in a) amazon.com, b) product name or description and c) the Amazon category the product is featured in, like this: | Amazon.com: Mac Motion Chairs Model 2-Piece Recliner with Matching Ottoman Mocha Microfiber with Walnut Frame: Home & Garden Is this a well developed description tag? |
On-Page Optimization | | KnutDSvendsen
|0