Skip to content
    Moz logo Menu open Menu close
    • Products
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Pro Home
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Home
      • STAT
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Home
      • Compare SEO Products
      • Moz Data
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis
      • Keyword Explorer
      • Link Explorer
      • Competitive Research
      • MozBar
      • More Free SEO Tools
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO
      • SEO Learning Center
      • Moz Academy
      • MozCon
      • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers
      • Agency Solutions
      • Enterprise Solutions
      • Small Business Solutions
      • The Moz Story
      • New Releases
    • Log in
    • Log out
    • Products
      • Moz Pro

        Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

      • Moz Local

        Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

      • STAT

        SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

      • Moz API

        Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

      • Compare SEO Products

        See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

      • Moz Data

        Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
      Moz Pro

      Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

      Try it free!
    • Free SEO Tools
      • Domain Analysis

        Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

      • Keyword Explorer

        Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

      • Link Explorer

        Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

      • Competitive Research

        Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

      • MozBar

        See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

      • More Free SEO Tools

        Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
      Moz Pro

      NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

      Learn more
    • Learn SEO
      • Beginner's Guide to SEO

        The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

      • SEO Learning Center

        Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

      • On-Demand Webinars

        Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

      • How-To Guides

        Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

      • Moz Academy

        Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

      • MozCon

        Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

      Access 20 years of data with flexible pricing
      Moz API

      Access 20 years of data with flexible pricing

      Find your plan
    • Blog
    • Why Moz
      • Digital Marketers

        Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

      • Small Business Solutions

        Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

      • Agency Solutions

        Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

      • Enterprise Solutions

        Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

      • The Moz Story

        Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

      • New Releases

        Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

      Surface actionable competitive intel
      New Feature

      Surface actionable competitive intel

      Learn More
    • Log in
      • Moz Pro
      • Moz Local
      • Moz Local Dashboard
      • Moz API
      • Moz API Dashboard
      • Moz Academy
    • Avatar
      • Moz Home
      • Notifications
      • Account & Billing
      • Manage Users
      • Community Profile
      • My Q&A
      • My Videos
      • Log Out

    The Moz Q&A Forum

    • Forum
    • Questions
    • Users
    • Ask the Community

    Welcome to the Q&A Forum

    Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

    1. Home
    2. SEO Tactics
    3. Keyword Research
    4. Branded vs Generic keywords - is Google treating their rank equaly!?

    Moz Q&A is closed.

    After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

    Branded vs Generic keywords - is Google treating their rank equaly!?

    Keyword Research
    2
    3
    1979
    Loading More Posts
    • Oldest to Newest
    • Newest to Oldest
    • Most Votes
    Reply
    • Reply as question
    Log in to reply
    This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
    • Jungles
      Jungles last edited by

      Several times I have noticed that website receiving sort of a rankings drop penalty for certain wrongly built on-page strategies that involves keyword stuffing, wrong keyword density(too much) etc.

      The question is - how you guys think - is branded keywords receiving the same treatment from Google then generic ones?

      And here is why - for one popular brand I see that they ranking for their brand keyword very high(1th) but keyword density is awful - more then 10%. So, my guess is - if this keyword density you would apply for generic keyword you will end up nowhere to be found for it!

      Is that could be truth? Any experiments info about that?

      thanks and regards,

      Jungles

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Jungles
        Jungles @JarnoNijzing last edited by

        Jarno,

        Thank you very much for reply! I'm happy that I'm not alone here 😉

        Your experience proved even more my assumption that Brand keywords are treated differently then generic once! So, it's -  2:0 at the moment! Would love to hear opposite!

        Regards,

        Jungles

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • JarnoNijzing
          JarnoNijzing last edited by

          Jungles,

          I don't have any info about experiments on that but I do have something else. A client of mine updates their own pages using Adobe Contribute. I told him not to repeat the keyword he wanted to rank for to many times due to a penalty by Google that could occur. He didn't listen and added 5 sequences of the keywords (keyword contains 4 words). This brought the percentile of the keyword on that page above 15%. Since then.. he ranks number one for that specific keyword and no penalty what so ever.

          So just  assuming that a 10% density wouldn't work for generic keywords is not helpful nor is it true but personally i would no go that far.  When using brand names it is a bit different. It makes it more natural sometimes. Using a brand name in each sentence for one could be considered very natural while other people might think it's spamming behavior.

          I feel like it's more a flip of an coin and I wouldn't take the change. It would focus on other aspects to rank for the keyword then density.

          Hope my advice might help you along a bit

          kind regards

          Jarno

          Jungles 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • 1 / 1
          • First post
            Last post

          Got a burning SEO question?

          Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


          Start my free trial


          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.

          • See all categories

          Related Questions

          • sararufo

            Keywords with no search volume

            Hi there! What are your thoughts on optimizing pages for keywords that have no search volume (using the Keyword Planner)? I'm not sure it should be done, since optimizing for keywords that no one searches for is kind of useless, right? Or should I do it hoping that sometime in the future the keyword will have a surge on searches? Thanks!

            Keyword Research | | sararufo
            0
          • Gavo

            Reverse rankings check

            Usually, we will have a set of keywords of which we check rankings for a designated website... however, is there a tool that  is able to find all the keywords a website is currently ranking on the top page of Google for?

            Keyword Research | | Gavo
            0
          • surabhi6

            How can improve my keywords ranking?

            My keywords are not in top in 50.So, what kind of activity we do to get in top in 50 rank?

            Keyword Research | | surabhi6
            0
          • IM_Learner

            How to finalize the keywords for SEO?

            Hi, I use the following method for keyword research: Create a long raw list of keywords. Use Google AdWords Keyword tool to find monthly searches. Find raw competition. Find direct competition (via allinanchor: search operator) Calculate KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) Calculate KOI (Keyword Opportunity Index) Is there any other (better) way to execute the keyword research? Or is finalizing/selecting the keywords only on the basis of monthly searches sufficient? In short, how to select the best keywords from a long list? Thanks & Regards

            Keyword Research | | IM_Learner
            0
          • CsmBill

            Keyword Conundrum...

            I have 3 keywords that I am targeting. Assume for the time being that they are all equally competitive. Includes local exact match monthly searches: Managed IT Services - 3600 IT Managed Services - 720 Managed IT Support - 170 They are all exactly synonymous, not to mention other keywords such as IT Managed Support, Managed IT Service, IT Managed Service, Managed IT Service Provider, etc..  My current strategy is to target the top 3 all on one page. The problem then is the title tag: Managed IT Services | IT Managed Services | Managed IT Support Pretty spammy. I could build pages for all 3, but how would I incorporate them into the website since they are all synonyms. Can I get some recommendations on how to handle this? What would you use for a title tag? How would handle separate pages with synonymous content?

            Keyword Research | | CsmBill
            0
          • IrishTimes

            Keyword Moderator List

            Hi Moz Community, I'm wondering if anyone has a comprehensive list of keyword moderators that they could share? For example: online
            buy [keyword] online
            cheap
            cheapest
            best
            top
            free
            [country name]
            [area name]
            store
            shop
            purchase etc... I always find that it's useful to run [keyword + moderator] for search volumes as it sometimes uncovers some exact match surprises that you may not have thought of. Thanks everyone! Gavin

            Keyword Research | | IrishTimes
            1
          • Resolver101

            Keywords for fabrication (welding) company??

            I've been tasked with finding the keywords for our website.  The difficulty I'm finding is receiving help from the fabrication personal to suggest keywords.  I'm not sure if its peoples imagination or if there's a general unwillingness. Can anyone make any suggestions here?  Is there a fabrication or welding keyword database I can put to them and hopefully get their brains working? Or even a way to see what keywords our competitors use?

            Keyword Research | | Resolver101
            0
          • BruLee

            Keywords + Country?

            Hey guys, Let's say that I'm doing on-site SEO for a website that sells football shirts. This website targets 5 different countries. We only have a .com domain and no other country specific domains will be added at this point. When I choose the keywords, do I opt for product name + country or only product name? football shirts france or football shirts? Some info: Countries have been added in the title of the pages. Countries appear in the footer. Thank You.

            Keyword Research | | BruLee
            0

          Get started with Moz Pro!

          Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

          Start my free trial
          Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz API
          • Moz Data
          • STAT
          • Product Updates
          Moz Solutions
          • SMB Solutions
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Digital Marketers
          Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Authority Checker
          • Link Explorer
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • Brand Authority Checker
          • Local Citation Checker
          • MozBar Extension
          • MozCast
          Resources
          • Blog
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Help Hub
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • How-to Guides
          • Moz Academy
          • API Docs
          About Moz
          • About
          • Team
          • Careers
          • Contact
          Why Moz
          • Case Studies
          • Testimonials
          Get Involved
          • Become an Affiliate
          • MozCon
          • Webinars
          • Practical Marketer Series
          • MozPod
          Connect with us

          Contact the Help team

          Join our newsletter
          Moz logo
          © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
          • Accessibility
          • Terms of Use
          • Privacy

          Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.