---
title: "Title Tag Separators 2026: Pipe 45.3%, Hyphen 26.8%"
url: https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/title-tag-separators
description: "Of 29,299 top-5 ranking title tags, 45.3% use a pipe, 26.8% a hyphen and 20.8% no separator. Google shows no separator in 62.8% of displayed titles."
lang: en
---
Data Study ยท On-Page SEO
# Title Tag Separators: Pipe 45.3%, Hyphen 26.8%
Of 29,299 top-5 ranking title tags, 45.3% use a pipe and 26.8% a spaced hyphen, while 20.8% use no separator at all.
- 29,299 ranking title tags
- PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026
Matt Suffoletto: https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/author/matt-suffoletto
Founder, PageSpeed Matters Published Oct. 19, 2026 6 min read
## Key Findings
1. Of 29,299 readable top-5 ranking title tags, **45.3%** use a pipe, **26.8%** a hyphen, 12.0% a colon and 7.4% an en dash, and 20.8% use no separator. Copy stat
2. Google's displayed titles flip the picture: **62.8%** of 50,079 top-5 results show no separator because Google rewrites or trims the title. Copy stat
3. When a title tag has a separator, Google keeps one in the displayed title only **45.0%** of the time (23,191 pages); when the tag has none, 11.9% of displayed titles gain one (6,108 pages). Copy stat
4. The #1 result uses a pipe in **48.4%** of title tags against 44.4% for positions 2 to 5 (6,285 and 23,014 pages), and its displayed title keeps a separator slightly more often (39.3% against 37.7%). Copy stat
5. Pipes dominate SaaS comparison (**60.0%**), legal (59.2%) and real estate (57.7%) titles but appear in just **30.5%** of recipe and electronics titles, where hyphens are more common. Copy stat
6. Displayed titles without a separator range from **49.4%** in SaaS comparison to **75.3%** in recipes, across 862 to 1,189 pages per vertical. Copy stat
Title tags using a pipe, by vertical (top and bottom 5)
SaaS comparisons 60%
Legal 59.2%
Real estate 57.7%
Apparel 56.8%
Insurance 56.8%
Kitchen 36.1%
Gaming 31.3%
Marketing 30.8%
Electronics 30.5%
Recipes 30.5%
Source: PageSpeed Matters. Title tags of top-5 ranking pages for 10,019 US keywords, Oct 2026.
Only the top and bottom 5 verticals are shown; the full list is in the comparison table.
In this study
## Title tag separators by vertical (top-5 ranking pages, % of title tags)
| Vertical | Title tags | Pipe | Hyphen | Colon | No separator | Displayed title with no separator |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Apparel | 921 | 56.8% | 16.0% | 6.9% | 17.9% | 66.3% |
| Auto parts | 844 | 44.8% | 20.1% | 9.1% | 28.2% | 64.5% |
| Baby | 1,044 | 45.8% | 19.1% | 15.0% | 20.5% | 60.4% |
| Beauty | 900 | 50.7% | 20.2% | 14.1% | 19.7% | 65.8% |
| Dental and medical | 1,067 | 53.6% | 19.7% | 9.7% | 20.5% | 60.0% |
| DIY | 945 | 41.3% | 23.2% | 11.2% | 26.8% | 65.9% |
| Education | 1,040 | 47.7% | 40.1% | 11.2% | 21.7% | 51.5% |
| Electronics | 834 | 30.5% | 45.8% | 14.9% | 20.3% | 67.9% |
| Finance | 960 | 45.7% | 25.9% | 12.5% | 20.8% | 62.5% |
| Fitness | 950 | 39.5% | 20.4% | 18.7% | 24.2% | 66.6% |
| Gaming | 1,117 | 31.3% | 44.0% | 11.3% | 21.1% | 50.5% |
| Gardening | 930 | 42.3% | 27.7% | 9.2% | 22.2% | 62.8% |
| Health | 1,175 | 47.7% | 26.0% | 24.3% | 15.9% | 62.1% |
| Home | 922 | 47.9% | 18.7% | 9.7% | 20.7% | 63.6% |
| Home services | 885 | 47.8% | 21.6% | 9.6% | 23.1% | 62.7% |
| Insurance | 956 | 56.8% | 23.3% | 12.1% | 16.9% | 62.8% |
| Jewelry | 1,123 | 55.8% | 16.1% | 7.3% | 15.0% | 68.8% |
| Kitchen | 848 | 36.1% | 24.9% | 12.4% | 24.4% | 61.4% |
| Legal | 1,207 | 59.2% | 19.1% | 4.7% | 18.4% | 67.4% |
| Marketing | 1,148 | 30.8% | 33.6% | 12.5% | 27.4% | 53.0% |
| Outdoor | 953 | 49.3% | 16.3% | 9.8% | 20.5% | 66.4% |
| Parenting | 583 | 38.9% | 24.9% | 23.3% | 22.0% | 58.5% |
| Pets | 992 | 38.8% | 29.3% | 17.9% | 18.6% | 60.9% |
| Real estate | 914 | 57.7% | 31.8% | 6.8% | 13.1% | 63.7% |
| Recipes | 862 | 30.5% | 46.6% | 2.8% | 20.0% | 75.3% |
| Restaurants | 741 | 38.5% | 30.9% | 7.0% | 24.4% | 50.7% |
| SaaS comparisons | 1,189 | 60.0% | 42.6% | 11.9% | 13.6% | 49.4% |
| Software | 1,246 | 39.2% | 24.6% | 15.0% | 27.1% | 63.0% |
| Supplements | 1,073 | 38.6% | 21.2% | 20.2% | 22.5% | 65.0% |
| Travel | 930 | 44.2% | 30.5% | 8.6% | 21.2% | 62.7% |
Source: PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026. A title can contain more than one separator, so rows add to more than 100%.
## Summary
Pipe, hyphen, colon or nothing at all? Picking a title tag separator is a small call that every site makes, and most advice on it is habit. We looked at what the pages that already rank on page one actually use, and what Google then shows in its results.
Of 29,299 top-5 ranking title tags, 45.3% use a pipe and 26.8% a spaced hyphen, while 20.8% use no separator at all. But the titles searchers see look very different: Google's displayed titles show no separator for 62.8% of top-5 results.
## 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 title tags that were still readable on a second check later that month form the base for this study. We then compared them with the titles Google displayed for 50,079 top-5 results for the same searches.
We counted four separators: the pipe, the spaced hyphen, the colon and the en dash. Hyphen here means a hyphen with a space on each side, so hyphenated words do not count. A title can contain more than one separator, so the shares add to more than 100%. Each vertical has between 583 and 1,246 title tags.
## Pipes are the most common separator
The pipe is the default choice on page one. 45.3% of the 29,299 ranking title tags use one, well ahead of the spaced hyphen at 26.8%. Colons appear in 12.0% of title tags and en dashes in 7.4%.
That leaves 20.8% of title tags with no separator at all, roughly one in five. These are likely single-phrase titles with no brand or subtopic split off, such as a plain product or article name.
45.3%
Share of 29,299 top-5 ranking title tags that use a pipe as a separator.
## Google drops the separator from most displayed titles
The title tag is only half the story. In Google's displayed titles the picture flips: 62.8% of 50,079 top-5 results show no separator at all, because Google rewrites or trims the title.
When a title tag has a separator, Google keeps one in the displayed title only 45.0% of the time, across 23,191 pages. It also works the other way: when the title tag has no separator, 11.9% of displayed titles gain one, across 6,108 pages.
Google documents that it builds title links from several sources on the page, not only the title tag, so the separator a site picks is often not what searchers see.
## The top result leans slightly more on pipes
The #1 result uses a pipe in 48.4% of title tags, against 44.4% for positions 2 to 5, across 6,285 and 23,014 pages. Its displayed title also keeps a separator slightly more often, 39.3% against 37.7%.
Both gaps are small. They describe what top results tend to do, not a ranking effect: there is nothing in this data to suggest a pipe helps a page rank.
## Separator choice varies by vertical
Pipes dominate some verticals. They appear in 60.0% of SaaS comparison title tags, 59.2% of legal titles and 57.7% of real estate titles. At the other end, just 30.5% of recipe and electronics titles use a pipe, and hyphens are more common there: 46.6% of recipe title tags and 45.8% of electronics title tags use a spaced hyphen.
Displayed titles vary just as much. The share shown with no separator ranges from 49.4% of 1,189 SaaS comparison pages to 75.3% of 862 recipe pages. Recipe results lose their separator most often, likely because Google trims a trailing site name from many of them.
## What this means for your site
There is no winning separator in this data. A pipe is the most common choice and a spaced hyphen is the next most common, and both are fine. Pick one, use it the same way across the site, and keep the important words before it.
Write titles that still work if Google cuts everything after the separator, since Google drops the separator from more than half of the titles that have one. Put the topic and the main search term first, keep the brand short at the end, and avoid stacking several separators in one title. Then check how your key pages actually appear in Google, not just what your title tag says.
## 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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Source: Title Tag Separators: Pipe 45.3%, Hyphen 26.8% - PageSpeed Matters
## Frequently asked questions
### What is the most common title tag separator?
The pipe. Of 29,299 top-5 ranking title tags, 45.3% use a pipe, 26.8% a spaced hyphen, 12.0% a colon and 7.4% an en dash, while 20.8% use no separator.
### Should I use a pipe or a hyphen in my title tag?
Either is fine. Both are common on page one, and nothing in our data suggests one ranks better. The #1 result uses a pipe in 48.4% of title tags against 44.4% for positions 2 to 5, a small gap.
### Does Google keep the separator in title tags?
Often not. When a title tag has a separator, Google keeps one in the displayed title only 45.0% of the time, and 62.8% of all displayed top-5 titles show no separator.
Title tags are one of the quickest on-page wins, and writing them to survive Google's rewrites keeps the words that matter in front of searchers. Need help with this? See our on-page SEO services (https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/services/on-page-seo).
Share
How we measured
## Methodology & Source
Data source
Google top-5 ranking pages for 10,019 US keywords
Collection date
October 2026
Sample
29,299 ranking title tags
Release
PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026
49,855 top-5 ranking pages checked; 29,299 title tags readable on a second check in October 2026. Separators detected in real title tags and compared with Google's displayed titles for the same searches (50,079 top-5 results). Hyphen means a spaced hyphen. A title can contain more than one separator, so the shares add to more than 100%.
Using this data?
## Cite this study
Link back to the study when you cite it.
APA
Matt Suffoletto. (2026). Title Tag Separators: Pipe 45.3%, Hyphen 26.8%. PageSpeed Matters. https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/title-tag-separators
Plain link
Title Tag Separators: Pipe 45.3%, Hyphen 26.8% - PageSpeed Matters - https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/title-tag-separators
## Related studies
- On-Page SEO Title Tag Branding 2026: 73.8% Put the Brand Last: https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/title-tag-branding-statistics
- On-Page SEO Homepage Title Rewrites: Sites Kept 88.3% of Organic Traffic: https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/homepage-title-rewrites
- On-Page SEO Years in Title Tags: Only 4.1% of Top Results Say 2026: https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/years-in-title-tags
- On-Page SEO Numbers in Title Tags 2026: 19.3% of Top 5 Results: https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/numbers-in-title-tags
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