Mofo vs. Mangler, Round 2

Mangler: 1, Mofo: 0

Okay so my previous bout with The Mangler was basically a loss. Here’s what we were trying to achieve:

HTML title: 200 pipes + keyword
SERP title: Some Alternative Title That Does *NOT* Contain the Unique Phrase

…and here’s what happened instead:

HTML title: 200 pipes + keyword
SERP title: keyword – SEO Mofo

In other words, we wanted Google to throw away our HTML title and generate something completely different–something that does *NOT* include our unique phrase–but instead, Google merely threw away the pipe characters and displayed our unique phrase by itself. This gives us some basic insight into how The Mangler mangles, but it’s not the answer we’re looking for.

I’m going to update the title content to something trickier and try again. First, I’m heading over to Google’s help page for a refresher on what it considers to be characteristics of a crappy title…

Okay, according to Google, if you want to minimize your chances of being visited by The Mangler, your title content should follow these basic guidelines:

• Make sure every page on your site has a title specified in the <title> tag.
• Avoid vague descriptors like “Home”.
• Avoid unnecessarily long or verbose titles.
• Avoid keyword stuffing.
• Avoid repeated or boilerplate titles.
• Brand your titles concisely.

New HTML title

With those guidelines in mind, here is how I’ve structured my title for Round 2:

“If Google changes your SERP title, does the original title content still count?”

+ (100 pipes)

+ (the first half of the Gettysburg Address)

+ keyword

+ (the second half of the Gettysburg Address)

+ (100 pipes)

+ (ten occurrences of “- SEO Mofo – Home”)

+ (100 pipes)

Let’s get it on!

Okay, Mangler, touch gloves and let’s dance…