What is the downside with having too long of a title tag?

[TLSNET]

With Google placing so much relevance on title tags, it seems to help if you mention local cities within your title tag.  I'm wondering if the positive of having more keywords in a title tag outweighs the negative of having too long of one?

[jsturgeon]

Hi Mark,

In the case of title tag keywords, less is more. The most value is assigned to the first few keywords in the title. If your website is selling apples and you found a niche opportunity with the granny variety in CA, your homepage title tag should look something like:

Granny Apples CA | Your Company.com | Are your green apples safe to eat?

Note the following:

1. Keywords come first
2. Your company name (branding) comes second
3. Promotional copy comes last but still includes keywords

If you want to target cities in CA, it would make sense to make separate, unique landing pages that offer value. You can use cities and state abbreviations in those title tags.

You don't want to devalue the strength of your home page's title tag. Keep it short and to the point, focusing on your main keyword target.

Here's a great best practices guide for title tags.

Just a reminder: click-through rate is very important...keyword stuffing a title tag may "cover your bases" for more keyword targets, but it could be turning away visitors.