Company Name - Vs - Keywords

In the title

[xcandyman]

I have heard quite a lot of people say you should only put your company name in your title tag if your a well known company and know people search for your by name. Their reason behind this because the title tag is a very significant factor in your search engine promotion efforts and you should only use words in the title that people will search for not waste space with your company name that no-one will search.

I am very much behind brand name building and I think it is imperitive that you put your company name in the title tag because of this.

What is everyone elses opinion on this subject?

Steve

[Imaster]

I would rather use the company name in the title for a brand building purpose, but at the same time I would also look if it provides any related keywords on which the whole business is based.

[Toasted]

I always put the company name in the title... but at the end, so something like:

Kw1 Kw2 - Company

Seems to be the best compromise to me.

[delart]

One of the ways to be more visible in SE is: put your main keywords in the title tag! It's VERY important!

[Imaster]

One of the ways to be more visible in SE is: put your main keywords in the title tag! It's VERY important!

Agreed! After all drawing more visitors to the site is important which only keywords can accomplish. Remember there is pretty very less chance that a user will do a search using your company name.

[hdcinc]

Ditto what Toaster said .. place keyword phrase(s) first and then company name. Usually I try not to exceed 64 charcters in title tag so don't try to stuff to many keyword in title. You can add different keywords to sub pages but always include company name as well, not only for branding but also is one is searching by company name, your page will be identified.

Just don't repeat company name in meta descrition tag as it takes up character space and is unneccesary if already listed in title.

If you only place company name and no keywords, then you are missing the representation of keywords in most important element of SEO.

[anallawalla]

I prefer:

keyword phrase, keyword phrase, city - companyname

on the the entry page and many variations (which may omit the companyname) in inner page titles.

[nakulgoyal]

Well as everybody here says, it's a fact that a keyword is always more important then the company name.

Brand Building is important but not important enough to loose business.

People would search for XYZ Company or SEO Company when XYZ Company is involved in SEO.

It really matters.

[TheWhippinpost]

Your brand will be built by repeated high exposure and good user experience. Therefore, one needs high exposure on the SE's first, backed up with the other requisites 2nd.

High exposure + good experience = Brand recognition

[percentages]

It all depends on your company, how unique the name is, and the type of product you are selling. There are no hard and fast rules that will work for everyone.

Most of my clients are small/medium sized businesses (less than 200 people). Most of their company names are unique and can be found without including them in the Title tag of the home page. I usually put them in the Title tag of the "Contact Us" page which is enough 99.5% of the time for them to rank #1 on a search by company name.

I prefer to keep the home page title tag for primary keywords generating visitors looking for the products but not the brand name. If those looking for the brand find the contact page first it is actually advantageous. By showing all the contact info initially the SE visitor knows they are on the site they desired and then navigate to the products.

[guddu]

I prefer using keywords in all pages and company name in the contact us page. This give you benefit of both - keyword searching and brand name establishment. I also use the company name in the "meta description".

Also use it in the copywrite info down in every page and in Introduction, while in home page, about us, our services terms & conditions etc. along with corporate office in contact us page.

You may also use it while specifying email address contacts in different pages with links for email address, instead of displaying the whole email address.

This way you can accomplish brand name while promoting for keywords.

[edited by: guddu at 7:25 am (utc) on Aug. 5, 2003]

[cfx211]

Ask this question in a forum other than search engine promotion and I am sure you would hear a different answer. I think using brand name is a better idea for your domain. It might take longer and you might have to work harder, but if you are in it for the long haul then you have to establish a brand and identity.

What would have happened to amazon if it was called books? I doubt the first rename would have been books-cds, and then the second rename, books-cds-dvds.

[TheWhippinpost]

What would have happened to amazon if it was called books? I doubt the first rename would have been books-cds, and then the second rename, books-cds-dvds.

That's not exactly an equal comparison, unless you have a global conglomerate PR consultancy spending your millions!

And yes, ask in another forum other than an SEO one and you do get a different response - The problem is that some business owners can have an inflated perception of how well known their business/brand actually is amongst the shoal of other fish in the sea. It's an all too common mistake that they (and webmasters) make when launching onto the web.

[cfx211]

A brand name and identity can be developed without millions or consultants. It just requires some creativity, and a willingness to think outside keyword1-keyword2.

[TheWhippinpost]

A brand name and identity can be developed without millions or consultants. It just requires some creativity, and a willingness to think outside keyword1-keyword2.

Yes it can, but in the meantime, whilst one builds that brand without the help of mass media and PR consultancies, get out ya keywords, until at least your brand is the keyword ;¬)