Should you optimize your website
for your company name?

This is a great SEO question that people ask me about at least once a week.

And like the answer to many other questions about website strategy, the answer is:

“It depends.”

But what does it depend on?

Here’s my take on using your company name as a search phrase.

Generally, you want to optimize (or SEO) your website for keywords and phrases that people are typing into Google and Bing’s search boxes, not company names.

Usually, the right keywords will be for products, services, or specific questions about a problem the searcher has.

Then, if your web pages are optimized properly for those words, those pages will be displayed in the search results page.

For most businesses, those words usually aren’t your company name. Think about it… web searchers usually don’t know your company name… yet.

That’s why most people search on words
that relate to their problem

But… (there always seems to be a but)… there are two exceptions to this.

First exception… If your company name includes the keywords people are searching for in the actual business name – then yes, by all means – optimize it by including it in your title tag, headlines, subheads, and body copy.

Here’s a quick example: People searching Google for “seacoast nh coin dealer”.

Who comes up at the top of the search engine results page, but Seacoast Coin & Jewelry? The home page is optimized for those keywords, and his company name just happens to fit like a glove.

The second exception is this:

If your business has been around since the cavemen times, and has built a solid brand and reputation. People already know about your business, what it does, and what you do. In this case, they’ll search on the business name, and maybe a town or zip code. And you want to be found when they look for your name.

The brand recognition is already huge, and people just want to find specific information on your website – because they already know about you and know who you are.

And if you don’t optimize at least some of your pages for your company name, these particular people will give up looking for you.

This is particularly important for businesses in smaller towns and cities.

What I’m saying is: Unless your company name contains keywords you want to be found for, or is already well known with a long-standing reputation…

Optimize your website and web pages with the keywords and phrases you want searchers to find you with.

Talk to me – What are your thoughts?

If you want help with your marketing strategy, writing effective sales copy, have any comments, or have a marketing project you’d like help with, e-mail me or call me at 603-686-5140

If you need help with website design, writing SEO optimized web copy, e-mail marketing, or other online marketing strategies, I can help!

To your marketing success!

Merrill Clark
Website and Marketing Copywriter

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