I didn't know that marking a Good Answer would mark the thread as Answered.

Still looking for responses; hope the 'Answered' tag doesn't cause too many people to pass the topic over.

Yes, the code isn't posted here 'as-is'.

I appreciate the quick response and the explination. I will wait for some other voices to chime in with their thoughts but I suspect they will mirror yours (although I am very interested in conflicting opinions if they are out there).

Tabbing seems to have scrunched the code, maybe this is easier to read

<div id='<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">navBoxContainer</a>' class="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">textClass</a>">

<div id="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">boxTitle</a>" onclick="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">location.href='bla</a>h.example.com">

<div class="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">boxTitleContent</a>" title="<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Text Here</a>"><a href<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Text Here</a>"><a ="blah.exam.cpleom">Text Herea>div>

Hope that helps.

I have been seeing conflicting opinions about how Google would treat links using 'onclick'.

For the example provided below: Would Google follow this link and pass the appropriate linking metrics(it is internal and points to a deeper level in our visnav)?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=

<div id='<a class="attribute-value">navBoxContainer</a>' class="<a class="attribute-value">textClass</a>">

<div id="<a class="attribute-value">boxTitle</a>" onclick="<a class="attribute-value">location.href='bla</a>h.example.com">

<div class="<a class="attribute-value">boxTitleContent</a>" title="<a class="attribute-value">Text Here</a>"><a href<a class="attribute-value">Text Here</a>"><a ="blah.exam.cpleom">Text Herea>div>
```

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=

An simple yes/no would be alright, but any detail/explination you could provide would be helpful and very much appreciated.

Thank you all for your time and responses.

I think it would depend on how well the site(s) is ranking already. If it is ranking well and you are only filling in the extra characters (that is how I am reading it), then I can't see it hurting the sites SERP rankings.

However, if you are removing terms from the title to add the number, then I think you may see a dip in the results.

My bottom line: It seems to me that you are simply adding the number and not replacing anything with it. If that is the case, I really can't see it hurting the results. You shouldn't act on your clients site with just my opinion though; hopefully some others will populate this thread with some additional insight.

I am going to have to disagree, sort of, with Horizon on the usefulness of the number within the title tag -with some reservations of course:

If the client is a local service business (I am only assuming it is based on the description of the client as a 'carpet cleaner') then I can see some usefulness to filling the space you haven't already used with a phone number. I see what Horizon is saying about using that valuable real estate to help draw visitors into the site, but at the same time I would assume that a converting lead is most important to the client so I am inclined to say that your best option is to test them both.

I know, sort of a lackluster answer.

The only reason I am not fully supporting the answer supplied by Horizon (it is a good answer regardless) is that I am not positive about how someone searching for a service, like the one supplied by your client, would like to come across and contact a vendor. Traditionally it was the phone book, word of mouth and hoping for a good result, but with all the local business sites populating the web now, I find myself taking the quality of the site as an indication of the quality of the business. However, if I was needing a carpet cleaned in a hurry I might be inclined to call the number listed in the SERPs if the rest of the blurb made it clear that they were in my area and did, in fact, clean carpets.

If it was up to me I would make a note of how the site is currently performing in terms of bringing in organic traffic/converting leads, and then I would test the other two options over a period of time. When benchmarking the current performance I would establish a set of key performance metrics to track throughout (the most important being how many converting leads are generated). Maybe test with the phone number and then test with some additional information and no number. I would wait, and use the data available to me, to find a historically stable period of time in which the testing can be as controlled as possible. Remember: if you are testing the phone number at the end you should be sure that the rest of the title supplies enough information for the potential customer to feel comfortable contacting your client.

So after all of that typing I am still where I started:

Is it better to have a small sell line or a phone number?

Is supplying a number in the SERPs when the competition does not a good way to gain a little bit of ground over them?

Are those ten or so characters enough to include anything substantial besides the phone number?

Is the possible decrease in organic traffic worth the possible increase in the 'oh my god, the cat just knocked over an entire bottle of wine and the inlaws are visiting this weekend!' busniess that may or may not be created by offering a phone number in the SERPs?

Is the rest of the title descriptive enough to convince someone searching for your clients service is what they need and that they should skip clicking through to the site in favor of calling the number?

I would be interested in reading what some of the other users have to say. I am sure there are differing opinions and a few hundred minds are better than one.

Without knowing the existing site architecture it is a little difficult to give a specific answer, but my two cents:

Are the 'like products' on the same page? For instance are...

Motorcycle pants R2000, Motorcycle jacket R2000, and Motorcycle kit R2000 on Page A

...and...

Motorcycle pants R4000, Motorcycle jacket R4000, and Motorcycle kit R4000 on Page B

...that is the image I am getting from your description.

Would it work with your site architecture to have a guide page for each category and then link to the product pages from there? The pants guide could talk about how amazing your motorcycle pants are, the relevant specs and about how wonderful your butt would look in a pair. The link could land on a product page that is a collection of all the pants you offer, it could be a link to the R2000 'set' page (where you sell all the products under one page), it could theoretically land on whatever you think is most user-friendly and would increase your ROI.

Ideally, and in my humble opinion, you would optimize your first page -however you choose to lay out the internal linking- for SEO and to show in relevant SERPs. Give some great original content; make that page have personality/establish your brand and brand persona (fun, serious, edgy, whatever); and something people would feel good about sharing with their buddies on facebook. Your awesome page on pants, for example, could be the canonical page and some appropriate usage of the 'rel=canonical' element could ensure that, if your user lands on the buy page (the one where all the size selections, etc... take place), that the linking metrics find their way to the page you want to rank, and have optimized for ranking, while the user happily shops and buys. This should avoid eating your own tail when it comes to talking about pants on subsequent pages -let's be honest, you can't sell pants without talking about pants.

I hope that this was clear and offered some sort of insight, but please take it only as a consideration which should be examined critically and with other options in mind. I am sure there are some other great ideas to be put forth and I would love to see some others post their thoughts!

Without knowing the existing site architecture it is a little difficult to give a specific answer, but my two cents:

Are the 'like products' on the same page? For instance are...

Motorcycle pants R2000, Motorcycle jacket R2000, and Motorcycle kit R2000 on Page A

...and...

Motorcycle pants R4000, Motorcycle jacket R4000, and Motorcycle kit R4000 on Page B

...that is the image I am getting from your description.

Would it work with your site architecture to have a guide page for each category and then link to the product pages from there? The pants guide could talk about how amazing your motorcycle pants are, the relevant specs and about how wonderful your butt would look in a pair. The link could land on a product page that is a collection of all the pants you offer, it could be a link to the R2000 'set' page (where you sell all the products under one page), it could theoretically land on whatever you think is most user-friendly and would increase your ROI.

Ideally, and in my humble opinion, you would optimize your first page -however you choose to lay out the internal linking- for SEO and to show in relevant SERPs. Give some great original content; make that page have personality/establish your brand and brand persona (fun, serious, edgy, whatever); and something people would feel good about sharing with their buddies on facebook. Your awesome page on pants, for example, could be the canonical page and some appropriate usage of the 'rel=canonical' element could ensure that, if your user lands on the buy page (the one where all the size selections, etc... take place), that the linking metrics find their way to the page you want to rank, and have optimized for ranking, while the user happily shops and buys. This should avoid eating your own tail when it comes to talking about pants on subsequent pages -let's be honest, you can't sell pants without talking about pants.

I hope that this was clear and offered some sort of insight, but please take it only as a consideration which should be examined critically and with other options in mind. I am sure there are some other great ideas to be put forth and I would love to see some others post their thoughts!

I am going to have to disagree, sort of, with Horizon on the usefulness of the number within the title tag -with some reservations of course:

If the client is a local service business (I am only assuming it is based on the description of the client as a 'carpet cleaner') then I can see some usefulness to filling the space you haven't already used with a phone number. I see what Horizon is saying about using that valuable real estate to help draw visitors into the site, but at the same time I would assume that a converting lead is most important to the client so I am inclined to say that your best option is to test them both.

I know, sort of a lackluster answer.

The only reason I am not fully supporting the answer supplied by Horizon (it is a good answer regardless) is that I am not positive about how someone searching for a service, like the one supplied by your client, would like to come across and contact a vendor. Traditionally it was the phone book, word of mouth and hoping for a good result, but with all the local business sites populating the web now, I find myself taking the quality of the site as an indication of the quality of the business. However, if I was needing a carpet cleaned in a hurry I might be inclined to call the number listed in the SERPs if the rest of the blurb made it clear that they were in my area and did, in fact, clean carpets.

If it was up to me I would make a note of how the site is currently performing in terms of bringing in organic traffic/converting leads, and then I would test the other two options over a period of time. When benchmarking the current performance I would establish a set of key performance metrics to track throughout (the most important being how many converting leads are generated). Maybe test with the phone number and then test with some additional information and no number. I would wait, and use the data available to me, to find a historically stable period of time in which the testing can be as controlled as possible. Remember: if you are testing the phone number at the end you should be sure that the rest of the title supplies enough information for the potential customer to feel comfortable contacting your client.

So after all of that typing I am still where I started:

Is it better to have a small sell line or a phone number?

Is supplying a number in the SERPs when the competition does not a good way to gain a little bit of ground over them?

Are those ten or so characters enough to include anything substantial besides the phone number?

Is the possible decrease in organic traffic worth the possible increase in the 'oh my god, the cat just knocked over an entire bottle of wine and the inlaws are visiting this weekend!' busniess that may or may not be created by offering a phone number in the SERPs?

Is the rest of the title descriptive enough to convince someone searching for your clients service is what they need and that they should skip clicking through to the site in favor of calling the number?

I would be interested in reading what some of the other users have to say. I am sure there are differing opinions and a few hundred minds are better than one.