[michaelbuckbee]

It's not really longer/shorter, the core issue is that people don't search for witty titles, they are usually trying to get something done.

In SEO terms the "get something done" is described as "user intent".

Imagine you have written an article describing how to change the oil in a Ford Mustang.

What title better fits user intent:

"How to change the oil on a Ford Mustang"

or

"An afternoon of tomfoolery, broken wrenches and dirty hands with an American classic"

If you are at all interested in people finding you on Google you need to have a title that's more like the former than the latter.

[bscphil]

On the one hand, that sounds like a good thing, rather than a bad thing. On the other hand, that doesn't match up with my experience at all. There's far too much nonsense out there that sounds like the latter and exists to waste your time.