17 replies to this topic

[kevs]

I really would prefer having company name come first, but I feel, looking at competition that the best search term leading off (3-5) words at beginning, and the company after -- on whole will gain better search results. But then, do you think clients wont click as much on result if see the company name at end of the sentence? what is the trade off?

[jehochman]

You have to test. I don't think there is a general rule. My own preference is always to put the company name first for branding and easy identification. But that's just me.

[Jill]

Either way seems to work fine. There doesn't seem to be any magic in having the keywords before the company name as far as rankings go.

[Connie]

Not sure there is a right or wrong answer to your question. Personally I never use my company name in the "Title". I realize a lot of companies do. I just don't see the benefit.

[qwerty]

I'm of the opinion that branding is a big part of the effort of marketing a site. The question is how important you want to make it. If your titles are relatively long, then putting your company name at the end is going to hurt your branding efforts, because it won't be seen on the SERP -- at least not on a Google SERP.

But assuming you provide a valuable product/service and want customers and potential customers to remember you, it's important that you get your name out there in a way that will help in that effort. After all, if they remember you, they're going to either bookmark your site, type in your URL, or search on your company name, and that's optimal.

In general, I like to put the company name at the start of the title on pages that are about your company: the home page, about us, contact, etc. For pages that are more about products or services, I push the keywords a bit more.

[kevs]

Ok, thanks.

Well my homepage has most links coming in so it's the king for sure.

Now, I've got five keywords, and then my full name.

So it comes up... Brown shoes great Leather Austin -- Joe Blow Shoes -- great shoes all around.

It comes up on searches like this:
Brown shoes great Leather Austin -- Joe Blow S

Now Jill, I'm surprised you say that are you sure? I think, a few SEO's have said there is heavy weight for the first few words, if someone is searching for Brown shoes.

And Brown shoes is the killer search term for my business. And a lot of top competitors start also with Brown shoes. Some do ok with Name first, ... Jim Wright Shoes -- Brown Shoes in Austin.... but most seem to put the shoes first in title.

And, I think, (it's been a year now), that when I put Brown Shoes at beginning my ranking did better for brown shoes.. still.......

I WOULD LOVE, to get the same ranking for Brown Shoes and have it come after my great name, Joe Blow, ie

Joe Blow Shoes -- Brown Shoes...
Looks so much better, as Q states,

So I was happy you said it does not matter, but I'm scared a bit.

[qwerty]

I think, a few SEO's have said there is heavy weight for the first few words, if someone is searching for Brown shoes.

As far as I know, it hasn't been properly tested and proven. I did a test a few years back that at least seemed to indicate that words after the tenth in the title aren't given as much weight as earlier ones. I tend to believe , based in part on that, that words closer to the beginning are treated as more important, but I don't have any proof of that.

[kevs]

Interesting Q, has anyone else tested?

[Jill]

I think, a few SEO's have said there is heavy weight for the first few words, if someone is searching for Brown shoes.

I don't personally care what other SEOs say.

but most seem to put the shoes first in title.

Then do it and see. I don't really like to do what the others are doing either because I feel that the engines don't want more of the same, but want different stuff.

So I was happy you said it does not matter, but I'm scared a bit.

What are you scaredd of? It's not like anything you do has to be permanent. Don't be afraid to try different things. Do it one way on one page and another way on another page. Actually do it the different ways on lots of pages and see if you can make a discernable difference.

My guess is you'll find that all the pages do just about the same, regardless.

[kevs]

thanks Jill. Yeah, I'm leaning toward going with Companay first as does look so much better. But can't really test with other pages in sense that homepage has so much linking points.

[Scottie]

Try is both ways and see if it has any effect on the rankings or more importantly, the amount of traffic you get.

The title is shown in the SERP's- it's what people searching for what you do actually see. It may be that the company name gets more click throughs... or it may be that your descriptive phrase gets more clicks. All you can do is try it and see.

[qwerty]

And it may be that it will change over time, as the recognition of the brand grows.

[Lakshmi Narsimhan]

Thanks qwerty, for that good idea as in descriminating pages such as home, contactus, aboutus etc., with products and services pages having a tradeoff between company name and the rest of the keywords.

I usually follow it a bit differently by using only the keywords even in home, contactus, aboutus etc., and found no difference off-late. In fact, I keep changing the titles every now and then and have a slight difference in ranks.

This time I will follow your method of using the company name too in home, contactus, aboutus etc., and see.

[Jill]

But can't really test with other pages in sense that homepage has so much linking points.

Huh?

Of course you can test. Test 2 (or more) different inner pages.

[kevs]

thanks Jill! and rest