Who Says Pipes are Bad in a Title?

1. 95

   Solarasposted 6 years ago

   I had heard pipes - this thing - | - are bad in a title. So much so that when editing an old hub, I could not save it unless I removed the pipe from the original title.
   
   Noticing that an old title on my blog had a pipe it it, but it was still getting good viewership, I did a little experiment with pipes over there last October. In a series of 6 articles, I put pipes into 2 of the titles in that series. Those two articles are now number 3-5 best performing articles out of 55.
   
   In fact, when I just performed 3 random searches for dog brushes/hardwood floor brushes etc... several articles on page 1 came up with pipes in their titles, in each search.
   
   So I am curious, from where does this wisdom regarding pipes emanate? How many other things are we blindly following because someone suggested something and it was taking as gospel?

   replyreport
   1. 88

      NateB11posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I've experienced the same thing, and I've never agreed with this notion that  you shouldn't use pipes. There is good evidence that it is actually an advantage to use pipes. This is why I take most of the advice out there, especially on these forums, with a grain of salt.

      replyreport
      1. 95

         Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Seems to me there was a time when pipes were recommended, otherwise, I 'd have never looked for them on my keyboard.  Marissa is correct; they are a mortal sin, but I can't see why.

         replyreport
         1. 88

            NateB11posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Some of the smartest writers here were thinking maybe pipes were a good idea back here https://hubpages.com/community/forum/12 … -hub-title
            
            One of the links on that threads no longer goes to the original article, but the article essentially talked about how Google judges a title according the first word as strongest, but when using pipes they essentially start all over and the new section starts just as strong. Which I don't see as wrong as long as both sections are relevant.

            replyreport
            1. 95

               Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Hi Nate:  I remember that discussion from so long ago!  That got me thinking about titles again, and I updated a couple of older hub titles that had fallen out of favor.
               
               I came across this article, where he still recommends the use of pipes.  I don't know what his street cred is, but he did come up on page 1.
               
               http://www.code7.co.uk/blog/how-to-writ … scriptions

               replyreport
               1. 88

                  NateB11posted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  Yeah, that thread was a bit of an eye opener for me, as far as how Google reads titles and how to structure a title.
                  
                  The advice overall in that article is sound. I notice he also mentioned the stronger keyword being the first one in the title. He also "brands" in the way lobobrandon has mentioned in this thread. The titles he uses as good examples might be frowned upon, I'm not sure. They bear a resemblance to lobobrandon's example of a title that would get penalized. But I'm just saying I'm not sure.

                  replyreport
                  1. 95

                     Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     Also it was interesting that Google is rearranging titles, to put the brand first.  He said it does not affect ranking, but Google is putting some kind of emphasis on brands for the buyer/searcher.  Interesting. 
                     
                     Would that put new websites at a disadvantage, if they don't have a Google approved brand?

                     replyreport
                     1. 88

                        lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                        Your domain name is your brand. It's not Google approved. Google puts it out there and the person searching decides if they think a website sounds legit or not.

                        replyreport
                  2. 88

                     lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     From experience, I would say the first two of these examples on that website are bad and the second two are fine
                     
                     Chocolate Gifts | Artisan Truffles | Gourmet Chocolate
                     Football stats | Team stats | Player stats | Soccer stats
                     Five ways to pay less tax | Tips on debt and credit
                     Upright | Handheld | Wet & Dry Vacuum Cleaners
                     
                     Because the second two are not repeating stuff. I would personally only go for the third option if I were to do something like this, but definitely NOT the second one. Football stats, soccer stats is the same thing. I'm sure it's not American football and European football (soccer) that are both presented on that page. He's keyword stuffing putting in synonyms in the title, Google is smart enough to know these are synonyms and you'd show up without this, this may, in fact, penalize you a bit.

                     replyreport
                     1. 88

                        NateB11posted 6 years agoin reply to this

                        That's interesting. It seems to me using synonyms in the body of an article is wise, because of Semantic Search but it takes on keyword stuffing if all put into a title. Makes sense.

                        replyreport
                        1. 88

                           lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                           Exactly. Other than a factor for ranking. I would personally not be inclined to click a title like that in search. I would rather click on the next one which reads coherently and makes sense to me.

                           replyreport
      2. 87

         Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         I remember them being the recommended option at one time, with lots of SEO gurus advising us to use them.
         https://moz.com/community/q/title-tag-u … e-or-colon
         
         
         At some point, I remember Paul (or somebody) saying that Google didn't like pipes any more - perhaps they had been overused.

         replyreport
2. 93

   jansharesposted 6 years ago

   That's interesting, Solaras. I remember that happening maybe a year and a half, 2 years ago. I took all my pipes out but can't recall the reason. Can't find a forum either.

   replyreport
   1. 92

      Rochelle Frankposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I remember once that it was said we could not use dashes in titles (which I had done a few times but that pipes were OK. I went through and substituted pipes for dashes-- and at that time I had never heard of pipes.
      Then recently while editing, as happened to Solaras, I needed to delete the pipes to publish.

      replyreport
3. 87

   Marisa Wrightposted 6 years ago

   This always happens.    Something starts out as a guideline ("we've observed that titles without pipes do better") and eventually gets exaggerated until it's a mortal sin.
   
   It's exactly the same as Amazon capsules.   The advice that they must be relevant to the context and include some info about the product has morphed into, "the product must be directly related to the main subject and you must have personal experience of it".
   
   Pipes are slightly frowned on by Google.   If an article is otherwise good enough, then having pipes in the title isn't going to stop it ranking.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      agvulpesposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Unfortunately whether you like them or not , you can't save the Hub if you have a Pipe in the title!   I would prefer to have the option to use or not use

      replyreport
   2. 83

      Venkatachari Mposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      True, here on HP, they are not allowed anymore. I had to remove them in some of my articles while editing recently, as HP did not feature after the editing. In one case, the HP team themselves cropped it and sent me the message about tweaking it.

      replyreport
4. 92

   Rochelle Frankposted 6 years ago

   That's true. I couldn't publish until I removed a pipe.
   Speaking of that, if I wrote a hub about plumbing, could I use pipes? :-)

   replyreport
5. 92

   Kenna McHughposted 6 years ago

   LOL! You'll need pipes but water isn't necessary.

   replyreport
6. 88

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   This is the problem when people follow advice blindly. It is important to read the entire article of the guy who points such stuff out. It is possible that the Google algorithm changes and what it may like tomorrow is what it hates today. But that is not the case with pipes.
   
   What was frowned upon was the fact that people were separating keywords in their titles using pipes such as: Dog care tips | Puppy care | Looking after a dog
   
   This title above ^ is still going to get you penalized.
   
   The reason HP does not allow pipes is because they have by default the niche site name following your title. For instance my hub: Watering Tomatoes: When & How - 5 Pro Tips | Dengarden
   
   It would look bad on search if it were: Watering Tomatoes: When & How | 5 Pro Tips | Dengarden
   
   And some people here would use pipes to put in keywords. Like the bad dog example above. HP is right in not allowing pipes because, they by default use one in every title. Go ahead and use them on your blog where you see fit, I use them on my website in the same way HP uses them. Branding is important to me, that's why I use my brand name at the end of each title. If branding is not important you don't need to mention the site name. Take away Dengarden from the title and you could use one more pipe wiithout it looking spammy.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      agvulpesposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Lobrandon what I have found is that if I have a pipe in a title and do an edit on the Hub regardless of whether we want one or not the Hub tool will not allow us to 'Done Editing' I am getting this warning:
      Please fix these errors before continuing:
          Title may not contain the pipe character.

      replyreport
      1. 88

         lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         This is what I just said. It's logical that HP does not allow you to do this.

         replyreport
   2. 95

      Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Brandon. That makes perfect sense.

      replyreport
   3. 93

      jansharesposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the explanation, Brandon.

      replyreport
   4. 95

      incomeguruposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      @brandon, thank you for taking time to explain everything that we need to know about why the use of pipes was discouraged. It shows that you're very knowledgeable and well-informed when it comes to SEO.

      replyreport
7. 88

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   Glad to help Solaras and Janshares.

   replyreport