Use a National Brands name in your content

[KevnJr]

Moz Page Optimizer - content suggestions offer national name brands as KW content to rank higher. I can easily write it into our copy but is it ethical, even with a statement like: "This is not a Fathead product" of "the same as the Fatheads seen on TV"

I say no, but curious to get my Mozzers feedback

KJr

[paupastorlopez]

In my opinion, all the keywords related to a specific search, add value to it, and the more keywords you mention related to that search, Google considers that you are covering more about that field, which is positive.

In fact, I personally use to analyze the most mentioned keywords by the sites on the first positions on SERP's in Google, usually the top 10, and try to include all those keywords in the texts of my website, or a important part of them, as long as there is a natural and logical way of mention them, this includes brand keywords.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Kevin,

Google recently put out a "Think with Google" piece talking about the rising trend in searches like "Toyota that looks like BMW", "handbag similar to Gucci", "furniture that looks like Pottery Barn", etc. Google reported a 60% rise in these types of searches over the past two years. I managed to dig up the article for you: https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/consumer-insights/shopper-research/

Basically, the implied intent here is that people are looking for a more affordable version of a desirable product. If this scenario applies to your business (you have a product that's like something better known but is more affordable or has some other distinguishing improvement), this is an interesting and legitimate angle for content dev and optimization.

*The one thing I'd want to research before embarking on this, and that Google doesn't mention in their article, is the legalities surrounding use of trademarked brands in your own publication. I've always wondered about this, actually. How can Pepsi and Coke talk about one another in ads? How about Burger King vs. McDonald's? Here's another article talking about this, exactly: https://www.smartuplegal.com/learn-center/can-i-use-a-competitors-name-in-advertising/

So, I'd research this first, and then, if there's no concern that use of a competitor's name might lead to legal trouble, consider how your brand can be compared to better known brands, and base copy/optimization on that. Hope these are thoughtful suggestions!

[tawnycase]

Hey there! Tawny from Moz's Help Team here.

Hm... that's a tricky question. I would err on the side of caution — if those brand names are present in images or content on those pages, then adding in those brand names as keywords on the page should be okay. If, on the other hand, you're just being prompted to add brand names for products that don't appear in the content, I would avoid using that brand name, as it could be considered bad practice.

I'm curious to hear what the rest of the community has to say, though!

If you've still got any product-related questions we can help with, feel free to give us a shout at help@moz.com.