Industry News & Trends

By Michael Murray, VP-Search Engine Marketing

For years, I've been dismayed by online marketers who insist that a company name and/or a brand attribute must be in the page title of a website.

I understand their concern. If a page appears among the search engine ranking results (SERPs, as they say), you want to be known for that eye-catching blue link the search engines display.

I think that's great - if you're on the top 10. What if you're #98? Who cares what's in your title zone?

My point has been to play with the title - tinker, if you will - until you get a top spot. At that point, then worry about whether the company name belongs at the beginning, at the end or is abbreviated in some fashion.

If you start a title with a company name AND keywords, you may NEVER know how you would rank without the company name.

Over time, I've heard debates about whether the most important keyword should appear first or second. Try both. It's not that hard. Time it with the next cache (when the engines index the page). Make a change and see what happens. Don't overfill the titles either - a couple search terms should do the trick. If you use more, you may be pushing it.

The bottom line is that title tags mean less when a website is large, has been around a long time and has exceptional inbound links. You can get away with a "weaker" title when you're strong in a couple of those areas. By "weaker" I mean it's OK to include the company name from the start - maybe the end of the title space would be a good way to begin. If you can't rank high for an established website, then maybe remove the company name and see what happens.

Ultimately, I think you want the company name to appear - it can inspire some confidence even if it's not a household name.

Like I said, for less popular websites, if you don't try a title without the company name you'll never know how well you could have ranked and what traffic you could have attracted.

Test and measure. It's the real name of this game.