Brand position in title tags by vertical (top-5 ranking pages)
| Vertical | Titles | Brand last (% of separated titles) | Brand first (% of separated titles) | Uses separator (% of titles) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apparel | 921 | 82.3% | 3.6% | 78.4% |
| Auto parts | 844 | 70.8% | 9.4% | 66.5% |
| Baby | 1,044 | 76.9% | 5.8% | 73.0% |
| Beauty | 900 | 84.4% | 2.9% | 73.9% |
| Dental and medical | 1,067 | 66.4% | 5.9% | 74.2% |
| DIY | 945 | 59.9% | 4.8% | 68.6% |
| Education | 1,040 | 73.7% | 5.5% | 72.1% |
| Electronics | 834 | 76.1% | 3.0% | 75.9% |
| Finance | 960 | 74.9% | 6.5% | 73.4% |
| Fitness | 950 | 79.4% | 2.6% | 65.9% |
| Gaming | 1,117 | 74.9% | 11.6% | 75.1% |
| Gardening | 930 | 65.0% | 9.3% | 73.1% |
| Health | 1,175 | 68.5% | 0.7% | 71.6% |
| Home | 922 | 79.0% | 1.2% | 73.4% |
| Home services | 885 | 65.1% | 5.2% | 71.5% |
| Insurance | 956 | 79.3% | 7.8% | 78.7% |
| Jewelry | 1,123 | 82.6% | 2.5% | 82.5% |
| Kitchen | 848 | 76.4% | 6.6% | 69.5% |
| Legal | 1,207 | 53.5% | 4.6% | 79.5% |
| Marketing | 1,148 | 66.4% | 10.6% | 67.3% |
| Outdoor | 953 | 75.7% | 3.7% | 73.9% |
| Parenting | 583 | 79.1% | 2.1% | 66.6% |
| Pets | 992 | 75.2% | 3.4% | 73.1% |
| Real estate | 914 | 87.5% | 2.9% | 82.5% |
| Recipes | 862 | 83.3% | 4.4% | 78.3% |
| Restaurants | 741 | 63.7% | 20.0% | 72.1% |
| SaaS comparisons | 1,189 | 75.8% | 0.4% | 82.1% |
| Software | 1,246 | 77.7% | 6.2% | 64.8% |
| Supplements | 1,073 | 76.4% | 3.1% | 66.1% |
| Travel | 930 | 68.8% | 7.5% | 74.5% |
Source: PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026. Brand matched to the domain name.
Summary
Should the brand name go at the start of a title tag or the end? It is one of the most common small decisions in on-page SEO, and most advice on it is opinion. We looked at what the pages that already rank actually do.
We read the real title tags of top-5 ranking pages for 10,019 US keywords across 30 verticals. Among the 21,499 titles that use a separator, 73.8% end with the brand name and only 5.3% lead with it. Brand-last is the clear norm, from the #1 result down to #5, and in every one of the 30 verticals we measured.
What we measured
We looked at 49,855 top-5 ranking pages for 10,019 US keywords in October 2026 and could read a title tag on 29,776 of them. The 29,299 titles that were still readable on a second check later that month form the base for this study.
A title counts as using a separator when it contains a pipe, hyphen, en dash or em dash between parts. We then checked whether the part before the first separator or after the last one matches the site's brand, using the domain name as the brand. Each vertical has between 583 and 1,246 titles. Because the brand is matched to the domain name, brands that differ from the domain are undercounted.
Brand-last is the norm
73.4% of the 29,299 ranking titles use a separator, so splitting a title into a page topic and a brand is standard practice on page one.
Among those 21,499 separated titles, 73.8% end with the brand name and just 5.3% lead with it. The rest use separators for other purposes, such as splitting a topic and a subtopic, or carry a brand that does not match the domain. Counted across all titles, with or without a separator, 54.2% end in the brand.
The pattern holds at the very top. The #1 result ends its title with the brand 74.5% of the time, against 73.6% for positions 2 to 5. Pages at #1 do lead with the brand a little more often, 7.1% of 4,766 separated titles against 4.8% of 16,733 for positions 2 to 5, which fits the idea that a well-known brand can earn the click on its own name.
73.8%
Share of top-5 ranking title tags with a separator that end with the brand name. Only 5.3% lead with it.
Real estate puts the brand last most, legal least
Brand-last titles are most common in real estate, at 87.5% of separated titles, followed by beauty (84.4%), recipes (83.3%), jewelry (82.6%) and apparel (82.3%). They are least common in legal (53.5%), DIY (59.9%), restaurants (63.7%), gardening (65.0%) and home services (65.1%).
Restaurants stand out for a different reason. They have the highest brand-first rate in the study, at 20.0% of separated titles, far ahead of gaming (11.6%) and marketing (10.6%). For a restaurant, the name is often what the searcher typed, so putting it first matches the query. At the other end, health (0.7%) and SaaS comparison pages (0.4%) almost never lead with the brand.
Separator use itself ranges from 64.8% of titles in software to 82.5% in jewelry and real estate. Even at the low end, nearly two in three ranking titles split the topic from the brand.
En dash titles end with the brand most often
Pipes are the most common separator in the set, with 13,246 titles, followed by hyphens with 7,856 and en dashes with 2,179. The choice tracks brand position a little: titles using an en dash end with the brand 81.3% of the time, against 74.2% for pipes and 73.9% for hyphens.
Nothing in this data suggests one separator ranks better than another, and Google may rewrite a title in its results whichever one you use. The practical choice is a separator that reads cleanly and stays consistent across the site.
What this means for your titles
For most pages, put the topic first and the brand last. That is what 73.8% of separated page-one titles do, and it keeps the words that match the search at the front of the title, where they are least likely to be cut off on a phone.
Lead with the brand where the brand is the reason for the click: your homepage, branded product lines, or a local business that people search for by name. Keep the brand short, use one separator style across the site, and write titles so they still make sense if the brand gets truncated.
Sources
- Google Search Central, influencing title links in Google Search: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/title-link
- PageSpeed Matters analysis of Google top-5 results for 10,019 US keywords, October 2026
Embed this research
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/title-tag-branding-statistics">Title Tag Branding 2026: 73.8% Put the Brand Last - PageSpeed Matters</a></p>
Frequently asked questions
Should the brand name go at the start or end of a title tag?
Most ranking pages put it at the end. Among 21,499 top-5 ranking titles that use a separator, 73.8% end with the brand and only 5.3% lead with it. Leading with the brand makes most sense when the brand is what people search for, such as a homepage or a restaurant.
What is the most common title tag separator?
The pipe. In our sample of top-5 ranking titles, 13,246 used a pipe, 7,856 a hyphen and 2,179 an en dash. This data does not show one separator ranking better than another, so pick one that reads cleanly and use it consistently.
Does putting the brand first help rank #1?
Not on this evidence. The #1 result ends its title with the brand 74.5% of the time, against 73.6% for positions 2 to 5. #1 pages lead with the brand slightly more often (7.1% against 4.8%), which fits well-known brands earning clicks on their name.
Title tags are one of the quickest on-page wins, and a consistent pattern across templates is easy to roll out once it is set. Need help with this? See our on-page SEO services.