Fast and easy...
For years, bloggers all over the world have been using the default colon “:” to separate their blog title from their post titles, and Google has never forgiven them for it.
You see, Google ignores characters like the colon when determining SEO keywords from the header and title area of your site HTML.
So when you put “My Great Blog: My Great Post”, Google reads it as one giant string and removes the colon from the sentence. Do you think anyone is going to search for “My Great Blog My Great Post”? Obviously not.
The solution to the colon is simple and easy to implement.
In fact, you need to implement it as soon as possible on your blog if you haven’t replaced your colon already.
Time to perform a colonoscopy on your blog! Surgically remove that colon and replace it with …
A PIPE!
Yes, our friend the pipe symbol “|” is the answer to all of our colon problems.
When Google reads a pipe in your title, description or anywhere else on your site, it stops and starts a new keyword. So if your title is “My Great Blog” and your post title is “My Great Post,” when a user clicks on the post the full title text will read as “My Great Blog | My Great Post.”
When Google reads this, it will reward you with two separate keywords, thus giving you both “My Great Blog” and “My Great Post” for Google search rankings.
Using the pipe is especially helpful when you have a blog name that won’t work well for the SEO search terms you are trying to rank highly for. Let’s say you have a site called “Hammers” and you want to score for “Screw Drivers” in a blog post about screw drivers.
If you use the pipe system, your post title will be “Hammers | Screw Drivers” and Google will not try to rank you for “Hammers Screw Drivers”, but rather for both “Hammers” and “Screw Drivers.”
See the simple yet powerful difference the pipe can make for your blog?
Marketing Takeaway from Ana
Using pipe is definitely important and advisable. I don’t think it’ll make or break your SEO rankings, but it could only help.
I use it on my blog and all the bloggers who know a thing or two about SEO use the pipe as well.
To learn more about the best and the latest in SEO in simple terms (as simple as it gets), don’t forget to pick up the free copy of me 7 Steps to Complete Search Engine Domination report.
PS Can you imagine how hard it was to get a decent image for this post? 
Article by
Chris “The Traffic Blogger” writes on the subject of generating traffic for both new and advanced site owners for the purpose of making money online. He is a self-proclaimed expert on building communities and marketing solutions for those communities.
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{ 46 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Chris, Ana
I also prefer the pipe, | instead of hyphens, because hyphens took more space in case we target many keywords..
I guess with | I can spare one more letter which might help in the SERPs.
Thanks.
Kimi´s last blog ..Jetpack Plugin WordPress Video Tutorial
I’ve seen this quite often with bloggers, and didn’t know why they were doing it until I downloaded and used your 7 Steps to Complete Search Engine Domination and it was explained to me. Then it made perfect sense!
However, people in SEO also talk about not just making their blogs search engine friendly, but also reader friendly. When is using it too often, too much for your readers?
(also, btw, I loved the title to this post, though it did make me kinda clench at first…)
Delena
Delena Silverfox´s last blog ..epc Belfast
Hey there, I would not recommend the empty space because then it is harder for people to read it. I’m not sure that you get any seo benefit from it either.
Chris the traffic blogger´s last blog ..Psychological Trick to Improve Conversions
Hey Chris,
The title and picture cracked me up!
I have been using a pipe for a while now and someone even recommended not having a space between the pipe and the text: “My Great Blog|My Great Post.” What’s your opinion?
Thanks for sharing this tip, Chris.
All the best,
Mavis
Mavis Nong´s last blog ..How to Beat the Changes to Organic Traffic Generation Rules
I’m confused as to when/where you would use this…..more to the point, who puts their blog title in their post title?
Dennis Edell@ Direct Sales Marketing´s last blog ..What Are YOUR Top 5 Social Sharing Networks
You should be using it in your blog’s default way of displaying title of blog and title of post in the tag.
Chris,
This really is a great tip. I love simple SEO.
Sheila Atwood@landing pages best practices´s last blog ..Button Button Who’s Got The Button
Very interesting tip Chris I’ll have to try it out for sure. How did you find out about this? Seems like “devil in the details” kind of stuff.
Robert Dempsey@Internet Marketing Strategies´s last blog ..Buffer- The Best Tweet Scheduling App There Is
Hey Robert
Interesting Tips Ana:I also apply this Pipe tips in my blog also.Ana you right when you Put | in your title so Google reader separate keywords form each others.Guys consider these tips.it very helpful in your website and blog
Facebook Application´s last blog ..Attack of the Androids- Ushering in the Age of the Android!
I believe my website already uses the pipe but I’ll have to double check. Very interesting to learn how Google treats the pipe. Thanks!
Benny´s last blog ..5 Habits You Should Tell to Suck It
No problem Benny, makes you wonder about other special characters huh?
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Hi Chris… I never use the pipe in my blog since few number of blogger use the pipe. Now i will try this..
faisal @ exercise blog´s last blog ..How Can I Become Taller FAQ Answer
Wonderful thing Ana. I never knew this, but thank God, I was using the pipe anyway. How did you find this out, may I ask?
Jane.
Jane@Blogging Tips´s last blog ..4000 In Cash Prizes- Will Ya Support Me As Crazy As You Can
Hey Jane, I discovered it talking with an SEO buddy of mine and thought it would make a good guest post for Ana’s blog.
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Oops Chris! I usually DO notice guest bloggers and address their name. What a shame that I didn’t notice you! I have addressed the comment to Ana. Accept my apologies Chris. Seems that I need some sleep
Jane.
Blogging Tips´s last blog ..4000 In Cash Prizes- Will Ya Support Me As Crazy As You Can
It’s ok Jane, go get some rest
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
My blog passed its colonoscopy but should I also perform a hyphenoscopy?
Let your body heal first!
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Ana, aloha. Thx so much for the great tip. Saw your tweet with its intriguing title just before I was ready to start writing my blog post. Had I not read your post, I would have used a colon instead of a pipe.
Ana, I so appreciate the great tips you consistently share with us.
Best wishes for a great week. Aloha. Janet
Janet @ The Natural Networker´s last blog ..Join The Revolution by Janet Callaway The Natural Networker
You’re very welcome for the tip Janet. It’s funny how we naturally gravitate towards the colon yet it does absolutely nothing but hurt our SEO!
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Wordpress uses the pipe to separate your blog post from your blog title. It doesn’t replace the : or the , or the - with a pipe. You have to do that manually if you’re taking Ana’s advice.
Not sure how good this looks in a search result though:
My Site.com|Marketing Tip|How to . . .
Well I guess it’s not too bad
Thanks Ana
Ken Nadreau´s last blog ..Who Are Marketing Newbies
Hey if you’re at the top of google, who cares right!? haha I just kidding I know exactly where you are coming from. Great point on needing to manually place it even on wordpress.
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Who knows how people see things. They may come along and see all those pipes and think “Gee|What a|strange looking post|I should click|on it”
Also my apologies for not noticing you were the author, Chris. I’m so used to thanking Ana, I just assumed
Hey! Great post Chris!!
Ken from Advanced Market Training´s last blog ..Who Are Marketing Newbies
That’s ok Ken, doesn’t bother me one bit. I am really impressed by how kind and informative the community Ana has here is.
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Chris,
WP has automatically placed the pipe in my blog automatically. I never knew that it helped with SEO or that it was called a pipe! You learn something new every day! Very clever title, too!
Thanks,
Stacy
Stacy @ Grow With Stacy´s last blog ..9 Ways to Keep Blog Readers Coming Back
Hi Chris,
Thanks for sharing this point but I already knew this thing.
Riya @ Couponseasy´s last blog ..Web CEO Promo Voucher Of 40 Discount
Hey Chris,
I definitely see the big different the pipe can make for a blog. I actually have a few sites where I used the pipe, but I didn’t know the beneficial value it had for SEO purposes. Thanks for sharing Chris, now I’m off to perform a colonoscopy on some of my other sites.
John´s last blog ..How To Stop Scars From Mole Removal Treatment From Developing
Great news John! Very happy to hear it. I was amazed at how much better my blogs performed on google within a month of doing this.
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Thanks, Chris. I have seen this recommendation before and never understood why. Now I know!
Ana, your image is one that can be truly appreciated by a middle-aged male like me!
david@biofuels´s last blog ..Cleantech and Dirty Laundry
Hi Chris, nice meeting you here. Do you know how Bing, Yahoo! and the rest treat the pipe? LOL it’s funny just typing that question.
Ileane´s last blog ..CommentLuv Secrets Leaked
Nice to meet you as well Ileane. To be honest I am not sure how they treat the pipe, however, I have noticed that increased popularity in google’s rankings usually means a similar effect on other search engines. The vast majority of my traffic comes from google, so I mostly just focus on that.
If you happen to find anything out please feel free to let me know!
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Hypens (-) are fine too.
My Great Blog - My Great Post
I’ve been using them with no problems and I know plenty of other webmasters that do too.
Either | or - is fine.
Now that I notice it, doesn’t Wordpress put a pipe there by default? At least mine does, I am not sure if it’s some plugin (like the All-in-one SEO I installed) or it’s default behavior.
However, it’s a very nice tip for non-WP blogs.
Also, nice image :p
GabrieIe Maidecchi@Esimple Studios´s last blog ..Get Ready to Fight- Commenting Platforms Face-Off POLL
Yes, recently I have noticed that most wordpress sites appear to have this by default. I like to use it within titles as well, so understanding why it works will allow you to incorporate it into other aspects of your blog SEO.
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
I have never cared such mistakes but now I am taught a lesson from this post and hopefully obey this.
Good luck and share how it goes over the course of the next month with us.
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
You totally made me laugh, with coffee in my mouth so it went up my nose with your blog title here! Too Funny Ana..although I’m feeling the nose burn now.
I’ll have to go back and do a colonoscopy on my blog posts. I’ve been using the pipe for a while, but not in the beginning, I’m sure!
How fun!
Heather
Heather C Stephens @ Business Blog Marketing Forum´s last blog ..Lean Mean Email List Building Machine You Already Own but are Not Using
Ana…Why do you have colons in this post?
Heather C Stephens @ Business Blog Marketing Forum´s last blog ..Lean Mean Email List Building Machine You Already Own but are Not Using
Funny that, Heather! I also checked Ana’s title as I was reading
Mavis Nong´s last blog ..How to Beat the Changes to Organic Traffic Generation Rules
Ok…obviously the coffee up the nose affected my brain….Great post CHRIS! I’m sorry for not addressing my comments to you!
Heather C Stephens @ Business Blog Marketing Forum´s last blog ..Lean Mean Email List Building Machine You Already Own but are Not Using
Thanks for the comment Heather, I actually made this title up based on having my own done a month prior haha.
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Great… I will try pipe system for my blog
I’m loving the post title Chris. LOL This is a great idea. I’m going to check into a website colonoscopy now on my sites
Ben´s last blog ..Forum Marketing Pisses Me Off!
Haha sounds like a plan
Let me know how it goes!
(snaps a glove onto right hand)
Chris “The Traffic Blogger”´s last blog ..Be an Irresistible Opportunity
Hi Chris… I like discovering little nuggets like this. I’ve never used the pipe before.
BTW, what do you think about using the hyphen as a separator?
Dahlia
Dahlia Valentine´s last blog ..86 Resources That’ll Help You Become a Profitable Amazon Affiliate
Nuggets are always fun, especially when you can immediately put them to use like this one. With regards to the hyphen as a separator, I would not recommend it. Google appears to disregard quite a bit of extra characters such as the colon. Since google recommends the pipe I would stay stick with that.
Hyphens or underscores in a web url are fine and will be treated as spaces by google.