Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Branded vs Generic keywords - is Google treating their rank equaly!?
-
Several times I have noticed that website receiving sort of a rankings drop penalty for certain wrongly built on-page strategies that involves keyword stuffing, wrong keyword density(too much) etc.
The question is - how you guys think - is branded keywords receiving the same treatment from Google then generic ones?
And here is why - for one popular brand I see that they ranking for their brand keyword very high(1th) but keyword density is awful - more then 10%. So, my guess is - if this keyword density you would apply for generic keyword you will end up nowhere to be found for it!
Is that could be truth? Any experiments info about that?
thanks and regards,
Jungles
-
Jarno,
Thank you very much for reply! I'm happy that I'm not alone here

Your experience proved even more my assumption that Brand keywords are treated differently then generic once! So, it's - 2:0 at the moment! Would love to hear opposite!
Regards,
Jungles
-
Jungles,
I don't have any info about experiments on that but I do have something else. A client of mine updates their own pages using Adobe Contribute. I told him not to repeat the keyword he wanted to rank for to many times due to a penalty by Google that could occur. He didn't listen and added 5 sequences of the keywords (keyword contains 4 words). This brought the percentile of the keyword on that page above 15%. Since then.. he ranks number one for that specific keyword and no penalty what so ever.
So just assuming that a 10% density wouldn't work for generic keywords is not helpful nor is it true but personally i would no go that far. When using brand names it is a bit different. It makes it more natural sometimes. Using a brand name in each sentence for one could be considered very natural while other people might think it's spamming behavior.
I feel like it's more a flip of an coin and I wouldn't take the change. It would focus on other aspects to rank for the keyword then density.
Hope my advice might help you along a bit
kind regards
Jarno
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
-
Ranking for keywords in multiple zip codes
Hello, We are trying to rank for keywords locally. We are on the edge of four zip codes in our area and are competing with businesses in those zip codes. Should we track each keyword separately for each zip code, or just one zip code we're in?
Keyword Research | | ifixcars0 -
How can improve my keywords ranking?
My keywords are not in top in 50.So, what kind of activity we do to get in top in 50 rank?
Keyword Research | | surabhi60 -
Keywords with and without diacritics
Hi, I am trying to make my site to appear in the search results even the searched term have or have not been wrote with diacritics for example: "șarpe" or "sarpe". The language is Romanian. If I seach for "Românul cu maşină, marea victimă" or "Romanul cu masina, marea victima" the first result for both searches is the same. I don't see anything special on their html code and I am wondering how do they did it. Regards, Bogdan
Keyword Research | | RIAdig0 -
How to finalize the keywords for SEO?
Hi, I use the following method for keyword research: Create a long raw list of keywords. Use Google AdWords Keyword tool to find monthly searches. Find raw competition. Find direct competition (via allinanchor: search operator) Calculate KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index) Calculate KOI (Keyword Opportunity Index) Is there any other (better) way to execute the keyword research? Or is finalizing/selecting the keywords only on the basis of monthly searches sufficient? In short, how to select the best keywords from a long list? Thanks & Regards
Keyword Research | | IM_Learner0 -
Why does this keyword have much greater volume in Bing Keyword Research Tool than Google AdWords Keyword Planner?
I'm using the Google AdWords keyword planner and Bing Webmaster Keyword Research tool. For both, I'm trying to get accurate search volume for the exact term "advertising sales". Over the last thirty days, Bing reports a volume of 5,988. Google's average monthly search volume is 880. Given the market share Google has, I would expect a much higher volume, especially when compared to Bing. Can you offer some ideas of why this might be happening?
Keyword Research | | Kevin_P0 -
How to get search volume in Google's keyword planner
I want to know the search volume for ~1000 keywords that I discovered via ubersuggest. Yesterday I could have done this in 5 minutes, but I can't seem to get it to work in the new Google tool and would love some advice. When I either upload or copy and paste my list into the tool I can get it to give me search ideas with volume, but it has all the keywords I am uploading as 0 search volume (when I know that is not true and some of them have thousands of searches). I've tried "entering keywords to see how they perform" and also "searching for keyword ideas" (the second just because the first didn't try after my 10 tries) Any ideas about what I am doing wrong?
Keyword Research | | theLotter
Or is this a bug other people have been experiencing?0 -
How should I use keywords in a sentence?
The keywords that I target are phrases that wouldn't ever be used in a sentence... Ex: Stained Concrete Virginia My question is... Is it better to use the phrase, even though its odd? Ex: Stained Concrete Virginia is a great product Or is it better to make it a natural sentence? Ex: Stained Concrete in Virginia is a great product? Im trying to find a way to use my keyword phrases at least 4 times in the content of the pages...but it seems difficult if I have to use such an odd phrase. Thanks! Tim
Keyword Research | | Timvroom0 -
How do you optimize for compound keywords
What is the best way to handle keywords like "switchplate covers"? The key word may be seen as either a 2 or 3 word phrase, depending how you handle the compound term: "switch plate" or "switchplate" In google KW it shows different results for switch plate vs switchplate as well as using cover vs covers. I've tried using all the variations in my descriptions, titles and H2s but I think this is diluting them all. Can anyone show me best practice guidelenes or examples of good solutions to these kinds of compound key words? Thanks Handcrafter
Keyword Research | | stephenfishman0