If your brand name is the same as your URL should you include it in your homepage title tag?
-
I have always felt that having your brand name in every title tag though-out your website when your URL is your brand name is a waste. The space your brand name takes up could be used for more valuable non-branded keywords. If your brand name is unique, the URL (and content optimized with your brand name) should be enough to have you rank #1 across the board in search results. Though I beleive this I still think it is valuable placing your brand name in the back of your homepage title tag.
Example: Full Service Advertising Agency | Your Brand Name
Any thoughts why you should or shouldn't do this?
Isn't this useful for branded purposes? Doe this help click-though rate? Don't you want your visitors to know our brand at first glance of search results?
Another argument I had for doing it was if it weren't important, than why does every search site do this?
Thanks for the help!
-
There is no guarantee Google will do this. The advice is work on Brand, but you can't guarantee they will change anything.
-Andy
-
Wouldn't it be logical then that if Google is doing it.... you don't have to?
-
Recently it seems Google has started tweaking page titles with one apparent intention: to promote branding.
That article makes a really strong point. It seems that google does like the brand in the title tag. They are doing it to a lot of my title tags and I have to say I don't really like it.
I think that this makes the point that google "knows" who is a brand without reading it in their title tag.. but google wants the brand in the title tag badly enough that they are willing to overwrite the carefully crafted marketing message in my title tag to get it there.
In some cases, google might improve the message, but if they are using a one-size-fits all algo they are not going to improve things every time. If google thinks that I deserve my brand in the title I am flattered, but I'd rather bet on my marketing message than on how their algo will slap a brand name over it in the SERPs.
-
This is a subject where you are going to get a lot of disagreement and I think that the guy who insists on having HisBigAssCompany on the front end of the title tag will argue a lot louder and longer than I do.
Amen to that
I don't agree at all with having brands at the front - not needed, but when Google appends it with this, there isn't a lot you can do, sadly. If you see a Brand: <title></strong>, then you know Google have been doing their thing.</p> <p>-Andy</p></title>
-
I have always felt that having your brand name in every title tag though-out your website when your URL is your brand name is a waste.
I agree.
The space your brand name takes up could be used for more valuable non-branded keywords. If your brand name is unique,
I agree.
If your brand name is unique, the URL (and content optimized with your brand name) should be enough to have you rank #1 across the board in search results.
If it doesn't you are in some type of trouble with Google... or you really have a weak site.
Though I beleive this I still think it is valuable placing your brand name in the back of your homepage title tag.
Here's what I think... with a few example title tags...
<tltle>MyBigAssCompany: Golden Widgets - Over 500 Varieties (these guys think that their ass weighs a ton... their company name is more important than their message)</tltle>
<tltle>Golden Widgets - Over 500 Varieties | MyBigAssCompany (OK... at least they are not stinking up the message with their brand name)</tltle>
<tltle>Golden Widgets - Over 500 Varieties (BAM! This nails it in my opinion. Short. Sweet. Really, people don't give a damn about MyBigAssCompany... and if they think that the company is really important they are going to see my URL in the SERPs, right below the title)</tltle>
If my company had enormous recognition then I might use the name in the title tag... but I would rather add "free shipping" or some other value proposition than add my brand name to the title.
This is a subject where you are going to get a lot of disagreement and I think that the guy who insists on having HisBigAssCompany on the front end of the title tag will argue a lot louder and longer than I do.
-
Hi,
Brand is very important to Google now, and you need to shout about it as much as you can and it can help with a number of factors, especially now Google has said that Brands will gain dominances in the SERPs for related searches.
Rather than turn this into a huge thread, have a read of this article, which looks at many aspects of what Google is doing to branding now:
http://socialmediatoday.com/georgestevens48/1317336/google-rewriting-page-titles-time-brand
-Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Is my destination url affecting QS?
Hello, I'm running a PPC campaing targeting "Storenvy App" using the ads below and the following DESTINATION LINK: http://www.yotpo.com/landing_page?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=s-storenvy&redirect=http://lp.yotpo.com/storenvy-app.html As you can see there is a 301 redirect from http://www.yotpo.com/landing_page?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=s-storenvy TO http://lp.yotpo.com/storenvy-app.html How this will affect QS? Thanks in advance for all your answers! AdDzQi0.jpg
Conversion Rate Optimization | | JustinButlion0 -
Does the word next to domain gives more relevancy to the page of it's URL?
Whether putting a (category or brand) word next to domain is better than on the end of an URL? (i.e. domain.com/sony/tvs or domain.com/tv/sony) Which one would get higher result on SERP "tv" or "sony" in both cases? Or maybe they both serves the same?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | komeksimas0 -
Pricing - Include Shipping and Handling?
A few questions: From a conversion standpoint, is it better to include S&H costs into the listed price or not? Example: I have a product with an MSRP of $9.99, but we sell directly from our site at "$11.99 with free shipping". Would it be better to list it at "$9.99 + $2.00 S&H"? Or maybe not even include the S&H cost? Any insight is much appreciated. Should price be directly on the homepage? A user must go to our products page to find the price, but I'm thinking maybe it's best to be explicit on the homepage. However, as I am not well versed in all facets of CRO, I'm open to suggestions. Thanks in advance for any help.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | b40040400 -
Page URL - Hyphens or Underscores?
What's better for SEO and why? (any references would be greatly appreciated) For the purpose of a URL of a page is it better to use: Hyphens Underscores Would hyphens or underscores be better for Google Adwords?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | HMCOE0 -
Non-branded search before branded search in Google Analytics
A lot of organic search phrases contain branded terms. Does Google Analytics provide a possibility to track wheteher the first interactor with the website is due to a non-branded search term? Example: On monday someone search for 'online shoes' and on thursday this visitor search for 'shoestore.com'. Ist it possible in the Thursday report in Google Analytics to see that this visitor has first arrived on the site with the search term 'online shoes'? The same question can be asked for direct/none traffic. is it possible to see whether these visits ca be attributed to an organic search term?
Conversion Rate Optimization | | xicero0 -
For the hotel website, should i make homepage banner/slideshow in flash or javascript
Hello Sir, We have build hotel website and enabled google analytics on that. When we were going through the report of google analytics it shows that 69% have java and other 31% visitor has no java. We have designed Slideshow/banner on home page which shows different pictures of hotel which is in javascript. My question is as per google analytics report 31% have no java, that means they are not able to see that slideshow/banner of hotel pictures? is this the reason for 23% bounce rate on our website? Please help on this because I have spend nights on seo and tried lot of goal conversion techniques with different landing pages. I will heartily appreciate you response. Thanks, Bandro.
Conversion Rate Optimization | | Bandro0 -
Page Title Tags - SEO vs CRO ?
Hi everyone, Thanks to what seems to be a recent(ish) algo change in Google, some of our more targeted deeper pages are ranking for search terms where before only our homepage would rank. This is of course great however I am a little worried that some of the page titles of our internal pages are a little short, for example our main departments (we are an ecommerce store) are titles 'Department Name | Liberty Games' so for example 'Pool Tables | Liberty Games'. I have heard varying reports on what to do with the title tag, I have heard to keep the most relevant keywords to the left of the tag, which we have done, I have also heard that shorter is better. I am just a bit concerned that our tags are looking a little stumpy in the serps alongside other results which are longer (although admittedly a bit keyword stuffed). So (eventually) my question is, will short titles harm my click-through rate ? but are shorter titles better for SEO ? If longer is better are there any recommendations about what I could add to these titles that could potentially help click-throughs and natural rankings ? Many thanks, Stuart
Conversion Rate Optimization | | stukerr1