Effect of Writing Company Name in Different Ways

[gouri]

The name of the company is ABC Widgets Inc (note: this is just an example of the actual situation and there is no comma after Widgets and no dot after Inc). In the Google+ profile page (created by Google on its own) and on the company's profile page on other sites (also created by the sites on their own), the name of the company appears as ABC Widgets Inc

The company is working on building a site, and I wanted to ask how the name of the company should appear in the title tag or title element, in a paragraph in the body text, and in the address of the company (it might be after the last paragraph in the body text or in the footer)?

When the company answers the phone, it says ABC Widgets.

The reason I am asking this question is that I have heard that if the name of a company is stated in different ways on the Internet, it may have an impact on rankings. They might be seen as different companies.

I would appreciate your thoughts. Many of you, I think, may have had to build a site for a company and seen the name of the company appear in a couple of different ways on the Internet.

[edited by: brotherhood_of_LAN at 6:30 pm (utc) on Dec 3, 2013]

[adder]

how the name of the company should appear in the title tag or title element

The way the company name appears on the letterheads and bank statements. Or better yet, the way the customers know the company. If they refer to it as "ABC Widgets" then that's your brand name, right? Use it.

In many cases there's a difference between the company's actual name and the name it uses on the internet and merchandise. McDonalds is registered as "McDonald's Corporation" and it would be pretty weird and off-putting if they'd use this as their website title or print it on their packaging.

You wouldn't change your company name just because somebody has mistyped it. Just make sure you claim your Google+ page and fill in all the correct information. I'd also spend an hour or so to update the company name on the very few phone/business directories that matter (YellowPages, Switchboard or whatever else is used in your region by real people to find real businesses).

Other than that, just don't worry. Every company gets its name mistyped.

[netmeg]

Whatever effect would be minimal, if at all. Just use the proper legal name in things like the logo, the copyright, the policy and legal pages, and "ABC Widgets" everywhere else.

[gouri]

Thank you both for your responses.

adder,

Just make sure you claim your Google+ page and fill in all the correct information. I'd also spend an hour or so to update the company name on the very few phone/business directories that matter (YellowPages, Switchboard or whatever else is used in your region by real people to find real businesses).

When you say the above, do you mean that I should write ABC Widgets Inc or ABC Widgets in the company's Google+ page and some of the well-known directories?

netmeg,

Just use the proper legal name in things like the logo, the copyright, the policy and legal pages, and "ABC Widgets" everywhere else.

In the title tag, I am planning on writing ABC Widgets and in one of the paragraphs in the body text, I am thinking that I will write this also.

When I write the mailing address (it may be after the last paragraph in the body text or in the footer section), I am thinking of writing ABC Widgets Inc and I am also thinking of writing this if there is a copyright statement.

Does where I am thinking of writing ABC Widgets and ABC Widgets Inc seem good?

[lucy24]

no dot after Inc

Do you mean, here, that the string "Inc" is part of your business name, and not an abbreviation of the legal descriptor "Incorporated"?

[gouri]

Yes, I mean that it is a part of the business name.

It is not just a legal descriptor.

Does this have an impact on what should be used on the website?

[netmeg]

You're overthinking it, Gouri. I absolutely don't think it matters.

[lucy24]

It is not just a legal descriptor.

Not "just" or not at all? Somewhere, is there paperwork that says "ABC Widgets Inc, Incorporated"? Or were you incorporated from day one, so people have come to think of you as, let's say, Monsters Inc.

Honestly it shouldn't make any difference unless there's some other company with a similar name that can be confused with yours. Or if your variant forms are so significantly different that a human might legitimately think they represent different companies.

[southflorida]

Annotations and citations on other web properties "should" all be the same. Google Places/+, Yahoo/Bing local business directories, Info USA, Acxiom, Local Directories and such should all have the same name.

The website itself should probably be as the users expect to see it as mentioned by adder. The satellite properties about the company should all be the same and would/should have a link to your business website anyway.

Does it really matter, probably not, but there is something about consistency around the net about your brand.

[piatkow]

If "My Company PCL" is known as MyCo then it is fine to have MyCo as the title on the home page but somewhere on the site (in the UK at least) I need a statement that MyCo is a trading name of My Company PLC together with legally required registration and contact information.

Most major companies use this format without any problem.

[gouri]

netmeg,

You're overthinking it, Gouri. I absolutely don't think it matters.

Just wanted to make sure, netmeg. I appreciate your response.

lucy24,

Not "just" or not at all? Somewhere, is there paperwork that says "ABC Widgets Inc, Incorporated"? Or were you incorporated from day one, so people have come to think of you as, let's say, Monsters Inc.

I tried to find out and I believe that the company was registered as ABC Widgets Inc

I don't think that they have a dot after Inc. I know that most companies would have a dot after Inc but I don't think that they do.

In terms of how people think of the company, that would be ABC Widgets.

Do these things have an effect on what you think I should write on the different parts of the page?

piatkow,

If "My Company PCL" is known as MyCo then it is fine to have MyCo as the title on the home page but somewhere on the site (in the UK at least) I need a statement that MyCo is a trading name of My Company PLC together with legally required registration and contact information.

I am not sure that a statement such as the one that you mention is necessary in the US, but I am thinking that when I write the mailing address on the site, I will write ABC Widgets Inc because this is how I usually see company names written in an address. Some may use Inc. some may use Corp.

I think people might sort of be looking for this.

Do you think that this is what I should do?

[gouri]

I wanted to add a couple of things that I feel are important and may influence your responses.

The domain is abcwidgetsinc.tld and the name of the company on its Twitter account is ABC Widgets Inc (there is no dot). Do any of these things affect what you think I should write for the company name in the title tag, header, body text, address, and footer.

Also, if I write ABC Widgets Inc in some places on the site, would it be okay to write ABC Widgets Inc. instead even the company is registered ABC Widgets Inc

The reason I ask is people, I think, are used to seeing a dot after Inc

I know that some of you have said that it does not really matter what I write in the different parts of the web page because the search engines will understand what company is being referred to, but I do not want to write something in the title tag, for example, and then change it.

That's one of the reasons I am asking these questions.

I appreciate your responses.

[netmeg]

Focusing on this to this extent is really missing the plot.

[lucy24]

people, I think, are used to seeing a dot after Inc

But search engines don't pay attention to final punctuation do they? So it should make no difference. A lot of humans will probably supply a . simply because they expect one, in the same way that Harry S. Truman himself [trumanlibrary.org] used a . even though the S didn't stand for anything.