Google appending keyword to local search result(s)?
-
I noticed an interesting change today in how one of my clients appears in the SERPs. Google seems to be appending a keyword to his listing title.
Client website: www.mycalgarydentist.com
Keyword: Calgary dentist
Rank: #2 or #1 lately
Title tag: Calgary Dentist | Ambiance Dental
Google+ Local listing title: Ambiance Dental
Link title in SERP: Ambiance Dental: Calgary Dentist
That last point is what's interesting, and new. As of a couple weeks ago (before I went on holidays) his link would simply show "Ambiance Dental", which makes sense because that's the title of his Google+ Local listing.
Given the above information, I can't see why his link in Google's SERP is "Ambiance Dental: Calgary Dentist" when doing a search for that keyword. When I do a search for "Calgary dentists" or other similar searches, he simply shows as "Ambiance Dental", not "Ambiance Dental: Calgary Dentists"
To test yourself, use the Google AdWords Preview Tool (https://adwords.google.com/d/AdPreview/), change locality to "Calgary, AB, Canada" and search.
I suspect this doesn't mean he's violating Google's guidelines for business listings (i.e. businesses aren't supposed to add keywords to their business title). I'm certainly curious why this is happening though.
Can anyone provide any insight? Has anyone seen anything similar?
-
Hi guys, I see this as well for a client we have in a competitive space.
It's a little difficult to understand, because it tends to apply to only particular pages of a domain (please check by using site:yourdomain.com and view all titles)
There seems to be no correlation at all.
It could be a conversion / click through test for Google.
-
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the thorough response. Just what I was looking for, and that has opened my eyes to the discussion a bit more, and helped to explain it.
As for "Calgary dentist" being the term that Google is re-writing, maybe it has to do with the extensive focus on that keyword on the home page, and in link building? It could be more evident as the site's name than "Ambiance Dental", which is the actual business. Just a thought.
I guess I'll keep my eye on this. If there's anything particularly interesting, I may post a response here as well.
PS - Canmore, awesome.
-
Quite a few people have been noticing this over the last several weeks, KC.
It was mentioned a week ago on Search Engine Roundtable and I was discussing it with another Calgary SEO who had noticed it over 3 weeks ago.
There have been a number of suggestions about when Google's doing this kind of title tag re-writing, but no sooner does someone come up with a theory, but somebody else shows proof that contradicts it. E.g. for a while it was thought the re-writing was occurring for brand searches, especially where the brand name was split off at the end of the title by a separator like a hyphen or a pipe pipe. But your example shows for a keyword search, rather than brand.
It really looks to me that Google is experimenting with this. I've seen it come and go, and it is in no way consistent at this point, which is why nobody seems to have been able to nail down a specific set of circumstances in which it occurs.
Sorry this doesn't really give you any actionable info. Just wanted you to know that others have been seeing it recently as well.
Paul
P.S. And hi from just down the highway in Canmore!
-
Thanks for the input, Dave.
I have never seen this for any of my other clients, nor any competitors in the local space. And I find it interesting that...
(a) my client's listing didn't appear this way before and...
(b) the way the link is shown doesn't actually match the title tag. In the title tag I have the keyword first. Do you still think the new link test is related to the title tag, or could it be something else?
Has anyone else seen similar behaviour with their listings, or competitors?
If it's understood WHY this might happen, I could make changes to encourage it for my other clients. And others could learn and do the same.
-
I see this all the time. Usually when a pipe "|" or a comma is used in the Title tag. I can't say I know why it's happening though.
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
-
Google Search Console "Text too small to read" Errors
What are the guidelines / best practices for clearing these errors? Google has some pretty vague documentation on how to handle this sort of error. User behavior metrics in GA are pretty much in line with desktop usage and don't show anything concerning Any input is appreciated! Thanks m3F3uOI
Technical SEO | | Digital_Reach2 -
Google displaying "Items 1-9" before the description in the Search Results
We see our pages coming up in Google with the category page/product numbers in front of our descriptions. For example: Items 1 - 24 of 86 (and than the descriptions follows). Our website is magento based. Is there a fix for this that anyone knows of? Is there method of stopping Google from adding this on to the front of our Meta Description?
Technical SEO | | DutchG0 -
Local Google vs. default Google search
Hello Moz community, I have a question: what is the difference between a local version of Google vs. the default Google in regards to search results? I have a Mexican site that I'm trying to rank in www.google.com.mx, but my rankings are actually better if I check my keywords on www.google.com The domain is a .mx site, so wouldn't it make more sense that this page would rank higher on google.com.mx instead of the default Google site, which in theory would mean a "broader" scope? Also, what determines whether a user gets automatically directed to a local Google version vs. staying on the default one? Thanks for your valuable input!
Technical SEO | | EduardoRuiz0 -
Quality Issues: My blog is blocked on Google Search Engine
Hi Webmasters, I got an email from google team. The email is included below. **Google Webmaster Tools: Quality Issues on http://abcdblogger.com/**August 8, 2012 Dear site owner or webmaster of http://abcdblogger.com/, We've detected that some of your site's pages may be using techniques that are outside Google's Webmaster Guidelines. If you have any questions about how to resolve this issue, please see ourWebmaster Help Forum for support. Sincerely, Google Search Quality Team My blog is completely blocked on Google Search engine. I removed all existing posts and reinstalled a fresh version of wordpress and wrote a good article. I redirected all broken links my homepage with a 301. After making those changes I submitted a reconsideration request to Google, But they declined it. I doubt that the reason for blocking could be due to the backlinks pointing to my domain. I think Google's Disavow Tool help me to remove low quality backlinks, But how can I sort low quality backlinks using Opensite Explorer? If possible can you create a text file with all possible low quality links, So that I could submit it using Google Disavow Tool. Thanks.
Technical SEO | | hafiskani0 -
Sitel inks suddenly vanished in google search
Hello, My site is designzzz.com if you will search in google the term : designzzz it use to return sitelinks below , but now it isn't, what could be the reason ? cheers
Technical SEO | | wickedsunny10 -
Explain this search result
Hi folks, I came across a strange search result. Search on Google Australia for "income portfolio". http://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=income+portfolio See the first result? It's a login page. How is that search result showing? And in position #1! Where is it getting its title and descriptions tags from? Does Google have a way to somehow see what is behind the login? Appreciate your thought.
Technical SEO | | scotennis0 -
Google plus
With Google search plus your world, would i see results ONLY from Google plus followers ? or from someone who is my facebook friend as well.
Technical SEO | | seoug_20050