How do you make your post title precede your blog's title in search results?

Try using something like:

<title><?php global $page, $paged;
wp_title( '|', true, 'right' );
bloginfo( 'name' );
$site_description = get_bloginfo( 'description', 'display' );
if ( $site_description && ( is_home() || is_front_page() ) ) echo " | $site_description";
?></title>

in header.php

Esmi, thanks.

If I use your code above, should I delete the code below (which is in my header.php right now):

<!-- code to control titles in search engine results START -->
<?php if (is_single() || is_page() || is_archive()) { wp_title('',true); } else { bloginfo('description'); } ?> — <?php bloginfo('name'); ?>
<!-- code to control titles in search engine results END-->

Yes but please keep a backup copy of header.php in case there’s a syntax error in the code that I posted.

esmi, I swapped my old code with the new code you provided.

I then did a Google search and I see that my blog title still precedes my post title.

Does this mean that the new code doesn’t work? Or does it take some time for Google to index with the new code? Thanks.

It could take anything up to 90 days for Google to re-index all of your posts.

Esmi, I’ll write a follow-up post later to let you know if this code changes the way Google displays my posts. Thanks.

I found the solution!

Install the WordPress plugin “All in One SEO Pack.”

The plugin’s default format for post titles is:

"%post_title% | %blog_title%"

You don’t have to change any of the plugin’s settings or edit any code.

You will see the SERP changes in a day or so.