Pipe or Dash on SEO Title Tag? Pixels vs Aesthetics vs User Preference
By: Dileep Thekkethil | Updated On: November 17, 2023
Table of Contents
Quick Summary
The choice between a pipe or a dash as separators involves considerations of pixel efficiency, user perception, and aesthetics. Thus, it’s important to keep the user at the center of these decisions, continually testing and tailoring according to their preferences.
- SEO experts have expressed their options for and against using dash and pipe on title tag.
- From a user viewpoint, the pipe suggests a pause or break, whereas a dash implies a continuation of an idea.
- An experiment by SplitSignal, an SEO split-testing software provider, replaced pipes with dashes in product page titles. The change led to a 9% increase in click-through rates over 21 days, suggesting users prefer dashes.
- SEO is as much an art as it is a science, with decisions, such as the use of a pipe or dash, being influenced by pixel efficiency, user perception, and aesthetics.
- It’s important to keep the user at the center of these decisions and to continuously test and adapt according to user preferences.
I recently came across a Twitter chat about whether websites should use a pipe or dash symbol on the title tag.
In fact, till then, I thought this was just a matter of aesthetics however, only when I went deep into the lively conversations that were happening that I found that there are a few things that are beyond just the aesthetics that make people decide to choose between these two symbols.
The Twitter discussion was triggered by a post from Bill Hartzer, who is one of the most revered SEO experts with over 20k followers back in 2020. Bill has been practising SEO since 1996 and is a speaker, blogger and CEO of Hartzer Consulting.
Should I use a | or a – in the title tag?
— Bill Hartzer (@bhartzer) August 19, 2020
Joe Hall, who is an SEO consultant and also an active participant in SEO-related conversations on Twitter, responded to Bill’s tweet saying that he preferred the pipe instead of the dash but didn’t think it holds any additional SEO value except being a personal choice.
However, Bill replied to Joe with an answer that blew my perception about one of the most subtle aspects of SEO that is often overlooked – the pixels.
| saves pixels though, @joehall
— Bill Hartzer (@bhartzer) August 19, 2020
Bill is 100% spot on as we know Google looks at the pixel density of a character when deciding whether to truncate it on the search results or not. So, again this brings back the discussion about the character limit of meta titles and descriptions, which I have covered in detail in this blog.
In fact, this is the same thought shared by Ethan Lazuk (@EthanLazuk), who was of the opinion that replacing dashes with pipes can save pixel space, allowing for more characters in a title tag. Consequently, more words from the website title can be displayed in Google’s search results.
Now we know for certain that when using a “|” symbol instead of”-” it saves a few pixels, but the title and description are not written to save pixels or to make it look better in the search results but to give information to the users.
Looking at the pipe and dash symbols from a user perspective, the “|” suggests an end or a pause or a break, whereas the “-” symbol denotes a continuation of an idea.
In that case, the pipe symbol can be used to separate different entities in a title, for example:
SEO Service Provider | Illinois | Stan Ventures
In the case of a dash, it can be used to showcase a continuation of the main idea. For example:
iPhone 15 Pro Ultra – 512 GB Variant – Gold
With all that said, what made me even more interested in this topic is the research done by SEO split-testing software provider SplitSignal.
In fact, long back in 2009 at the time when Matt Cuts was the official face of Google for webmasters, he had suggested doing a split test to identify if a dash symbol is better than pipe.
During their experiment, they replaced pipes with dashes in product page titles to test the effect on organic performance.
They ran the split test for 21 days and the results would make you replace the pipe symbol from the titles right away and replace it with a dash.
The product pages for which the pipe was replaced with a dash saw a 9% increase in click through rate. However, the change of character didn’t bring in a ranking change or increase in the total impression.
Despite any SERP improvements, the mere change of a symbol helped in increased click-through rate, which suggests that users prefer a dash instead of pipe.
This experiment stands as testimony that SEO is a field that requires constant adaptability based on evaluation, analysis, and customization. Such a minor adjustment, like changing a pipe or a dash, can impact overall search performance, making a compelling case for detailed testing and analysis.
In conclusion, the pipe versus dash debate illustrates that SEO is as much an art as it is a science. The choice between a pipe or a dash in a title tag boils down to pixel efficiency, user perception, and aesthetics, emphasizing the need for strategic, user-centric SEO decisions.
Whether one leans towards pixel optimization, semiotic clarity, or aesthetic appeal, the key is to keep the user at the heart of these choices, testing and tailoring to their preferences.
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