Mentions if domain slightly different to brand name
-
Hi,
Just a question/discussion regarding mentions. I have read for the last few years that Google is able to give credit to websites who get mentioned without a link. Even a few months ago there was a big article on the Google update at the end of last year saying how mentions would become an even stronger signal than a link. My question is, if anyone knows, is there any evidence that Google and other search engines are able to give ranking credit to websites whose brand name is slightly different from the domain? Can the search engines figure out that it is the same thing? If not, then there must be a lot of brands missing out.
Thanks.
-
Thanks guys. That makes sense. I guess a good test is to also check and see if you dominate not only for the branded keyword but also all the common misspellings, etc. That might be harder for some brands such as bitskin and bitskins or intenso and intenseo. But i guess if you have a unique enough name and you rank for those too, then you know search engines really do understand.
-
agreed -> that could be a way to check.
BTW: I think it is also a question for "brand searches" not only brand mentions. I mean, when people search the brand + Keyword its also needed that google knows the brand -
Hi Brian,
To follow on from what Andreas has said, I think that Google certainly can figure out this kind of thing. The question then, as you point out is whether Google give credit for them. I think that if Google can figure it out, then they would give credit for that brand mention. It won't have the same effect as a solid link, but I can still see it helping in some form.
As to whether Google give credit or not, I don't have any evidence but I'd imagine it's dependant on a few things:
- If there are any other similar brand names / domains out there. So if there are a few different companies with similar names or domains, Google may not be able to figure out which one to attribute the mention to. Therefore they may not credit anyone or they may credit the wrong brand.
- The context in which the mention is given. If the mention is given in a piece of content which is the same topic as the domain, then it may be easier for Google to figure out and assign credit. If the content isn't the same topic, again it may be harder for them to attribute credit.
Ultimately, I guess the test is how the domain in question ranks for the brand name. If you rank number 1 and dominate, then it's pretty clear that Google have figured out that the two are connected. If the results are a little more mixed or you rank number 1 but not with a six pack of sub-page results, then again, Google may not know for sure.
I hope that helps!
Paddy
-
I only would guess that google can figure it out.
Google has to figure out missspelling, that a "mention"-theory could work. I mean, with my domain intenseo.de I get a lot of mentions from people wich ment intenso. I don't sell USB-Sticks, sorry. So google has to figure out whats the topic arround the mention and the brands shouldn't do the same thing. So if (and I don't believe that) google counts each and every mention (whenever in future) and handle it like a link, google has bigger tasks than brands with slidely or complete different Domain-names.
Nearly the same thing - I work in an agency named bitskin - do you know _bitskins_for CS:GO? Bitskin gets a lot (thousends) of mentions from people wich meant bitskins - not bitskin. In both cases it's just one letter...
The point is: "Google is able to" doesn't mean: "Google will treat each mention...."
If Google (will) work(s) with mentions, they will now the fine differences, they know missspelling, what people mean and wich brand is ment. If they wouldn't be sure 200% they won't count - Thats what I think.
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
-
Domain Transition: Leaving low quality content behind
We're in the initial stages of planning a domain transition / rebrand. We're considering 301'ing our low and high(er) quality content split to two different domains. One for the low quality, one for our high. Best practices normally tell you to not split your content between between multiple domains. However, what if the majority of pages on your site are thin/outdated, and attract low volume/long tail? Does it make sense to bring that low quality/volume content over the new domain, when you know you'll never have the resources (nor would it make sense to) mass improve the quality of these pages? I'm concerned the quality of these pages are affecting our overall domain authority. Some background on our site/business: Current site has 15,000+ pages. 98% of our site is a product directory of professional/enterprise business management software. While a small handful of our product pages have quality original long form content (maybe 50-100), most of the product pages are a combination of: thin, outdated, overly sales-y content provided directly from product developers, and/or catch only very low-volume/long tail organic traffic. 95% of our pages attract fewer than 20 visits/mo, 90% of our pages attract fewer than 10 visits/mo. We have a small business of about 10 employees. Most of which don't maintain our site. It's unrealistic for us to genuinely improve the quality of that many pages. Nor does it make sense to improve most of these pages, as they'll attract only very low volume keywords. Individually these low quality pages don't bring in many customers, but on aggregate they do. 70% of our organic conversions come from pages with less than 20 visits/mo. A few questions: Is this content negatively affecting our domain authority in any way? While I don't believe we've been hit with a penalty, Google knows that on average our pages aren't very helpful to many users, and I'm concerned that affects our ability to rank with pages that matter. None of the content was mass produced in any form of scraping efforts or anything nefarious like that. Would there be any negative/positive affect to offloading these low quality/volume pages to a different domain during the rebrand?
Branding | | dsbud0 -
Change Brand Spelling after 8 years
After changing my complete site, citations, etc to a certain brand spelling--capitalize the first letter, I am being asked to add another capital in the spelling. Could this affect customer usability or ranking in any way? i.e. Mozcon to MozCon Thanks.
Branding | | RoxBrock0 -
Why does our Facebook not show up when searching for our business name?
Our Facebook is titled NJ & PA Personal Injury Attorney Richard P. Console Jr., and the url is Facebook.com/myinjuryattorney, and our website is www.consoleandhollawell.com. Because of the different names, we put social schema on our site which we thought would help Google associate the two. It doesn't seem to be working as we are not showing up in the serp's when searching for "Console & Hollawell Facebook" and even "Richard Console Facebook" Could anyone give any insight as to why? Thank you!
Branding | | marketingdepartment.ch0 -
Two Domains, which one should be used on Social Media platforms?
I have a client who changed from a Branded Domain (301 redirected this domain) to a Partial Match Domain, using the city in the domain for rich keyword. I take care of their Social Media platforms (i.e., Facebook, Google+, Twitter, etc.). These social networks used the Branded Domain (with the company name in the domain) for years, now the new web designer is asking that we change Username and Domain to the new Partial Match Domain, which is very "generic" not mentioning the company name. I am reluctant to change for branding mention purposes. Does anyone have any advice?
Branding | | Artistic0 -
What is the weight of .pro domains? Will they rank?
.pro Domains have ben out there for a while but seem to as late started to be adopted. Thoughts and opinions welcome.
Branding | | bozzie3110 -
Brand Name searches: Low Click Through Rates in Google - What are your CTR in the SERPS for your Brandname?
Hello, Checking the Analytics part - Search Engine Optimization/ Queries - I found suprising results for my website: The website is no. 1 for my brand name but only has a 28% CTR on the brandname in the Google SERPS! Please see exactly what I mean here: http://screencast.com/t/GKjwliZ6GTF7 I'm looking for your experience of CTR of other websites in the same situation. Do you have similar low CTR? Some background info; The website is no1 for the brandname. Sitelinks are shown. Google Maps is shown on right. In the period are no adwords advertisments on my brand name as I know. I checked several times. I cant understand where 72% go after searching for my brandname. Thanks for sharing your experience. Best Regards Daria
Branding | | nmedia0 -
One writer, multiple brands - optimizing rel=author across several blogs
Our company has a few different brands, each with their own domain and site. These are not microsites intended to drive traffic to a main site; they all have independent e-commerce functions, full product lines, etc. Imagine we run Plumbing Widgets Inc, Kitchen Remodeling Company, and Springfield Countertops. It's not immediately obvious to surfers that one parent company operates all of these brands, and we're fine with that. Considering that it enables us to own a lot of SERP real estate for some money KWs, we're more than fine with it. We'd like to create a blog for each of these sites/brands. Here's where it gets tricky. After doing some reading, I am persuaded that using rel=author will help us with SERP CTR and possibly rankings themselves. I am going to be writing all of the blog content, at least to start. I don't think I want to rel=author myself on all of these discrete blogs, do I? And surface the fact that one person is the head writer for the blogs of all these brands? Creating blogging pseudonyms doesn't seem like a good idea, since part of the value of rel=author is genuine social engagement, and creating social personas that seem genuine is probably more trouble than it's worth. (Not to mention icky and dishonest.) Should I choose a customer service rep or manager for each brand and use their names and social identities (with their permission, obviously)? It seems like that would involve challenges of its own. I've ghostwritten for one business owner before, but this is on a larger, more complex scale. Any insights are appreciated!
Branding | | CMC-SD0 -
Should I put my "brand" in every one of my posts / pages?
I've heard different thoughts on this and wanted to see what you the seomoz group thought. I have been leaving my "brand" out of my titles so I could create longer titles (without my "brand" taking up precious space.) I've also read that adding your brand can take away from the words you want to optimize for in the title / post. I've read other places that you want your brand in every page title to "strengthen" your brand. Long story short, I'm trying to figure out if I should add my brand to the my page / post titiles, or leave them as is. Feel free to check out my site and current title template if you'd like. Thanks!
Branding | | NoahsDad0