Should I include a "|" for better page title SEO results?

[JedHenning]

I have seen many sites that include the "|" in page titles and was wondering if there is some SEO value in the practice.

Example:

Product Name | Company Name

Instead of:

Product Name by Company Name

I have not seen any value in it myself other than a good way to avoid stop words.  I wanted to make sure.  Currently I have the "by" included in the page titles.

[Entrusteddev]

I always prefer the pipe for the following reasons, though I don't think it has any specific SEO value.

a) its reader friendly

b) its a natural separator

c) as Seth says below, it looks cool!

d) Whats good for SEOmoz is good for me!

[IPINGlobal54]

SEO advantage I would suggest is negligible, if any in this case - more a case of aesthetics as has been suggested, as well as character count saving.

Section pages I would go with "Section | Company Name"

Product pages I would go with "Product - Section | Company Name"

[TECHeGO]

When it comes to a web page Title Tag Google's Supper Smart Spiders pay no attention to the markup or punctuation used. So it truly comes down to the personal preference of the site owner. As for me and my OCD I prefer the Pipes cause they just look cooler!

To prove this point query the following:

allintitle:"-"

allintitle:"|"

allintitle:"/"

allintitle:""

allintitle:","

All come back with BUPKIS

[BlinkWeb]

| has my vote! More for readability than anything.

[BlinkWeb]

| has my vote! More for readability than anything.

[MarkLoud]

The pipe and hyphen as already suggested are the way to go for pure usability and space saving for your title tag. In my opinion neither has a direct SEO advantage over the other however they both have a distinct advantage over other techniques. For me keeping the keywords used in the page title to the point help without any extra "by, or, and" breaks the keyword blocks both visually and semantically for the search engines. Now don't get me wrong I don't think this makes or breaks a good SEO effort on a page but for me it's certainly a preference.

[BenRWoodard]

Sounds like it is just an issue of conserving valuable character real estate while being aesthetically pleasing to the reader.

[Srvwiz]

I think people prefer pipe symbol over hyphen..as it takes relatively less space...that's the only benefit I have seen..

[zharriet]

I use the pipe because SEOmoz uses it. Visually it indicates something different is following. I think it more professional looking than the mere dash.

[groomingguys]

I am not sure the is any technical benefit however more used as Alan and EGOL suggest to separate keywords / phrases and increase CTR

[EGOL]

I don't think that a pipe or dash or any other character adds or subtracts any SEO value.  Certainly what you type after it is more important.

If your brand is widely known and respected then adding it might help increase your clickthroughs or conversions.

If you don't have a popular brand then "free shipping"... "learn the secrets!"....  or a kickass price in the title tag will pull the visitors in.

... and if you have something that everyone wants such as "free beer" then you might want to included it in CAPS.

[AlanBleiweiss]

There's some disagreement in the industry as to whether the pipe symbol or hyphens are best - either way, one of these two would be recommended for readability purposes.  This is especially valid when you've got more than one keyword phrase.

Product Name | Alternate Product Name | Company Name