Does sharing same Business Name affect Google ranking?
-
Hey guys, We have been working for a client who is offering graphic design work almost 2 months. It is a new business and let's say the business name is ABC Graphic Design. So far all the pages are indexed, we built natural links through local directories, blog postings on relevant niche blogs and social media. We optimised the content and meta tags like we always do.
However, none of the target keywords appear on the first 10 pages. This is quite odd considering we had a client who was doing the same business and we managed to show some progress in the first 2 months. We did some research and noticed that there are 2 ABC design websites with similar domain names and offering same services. They have nothing to do with my client and they are located in overseas. When i search ABC Graphic Design, the results show other companies instead of my client.
My question is whether having a similar business name would affect the ranking. Obviously the other 2 websites have longer history and better ranking. Any suggestions?
-
Understood - if you're ranking on the second and third pages, it may just be because it's a brand new baby website and needs to accrue more links and authority.
-
We just managed to setup and verify Google My Business Profile few days ago so fingers crossed for now. We have also submitted the business to multiple local directories such as yellowpage and yelp.
Regarding to those target keywords, we have been scratching our head for a while.We crawl the on page issues almost everyday. No major issues with just couple of pages missing meta description (client updates his site quite often so we need to fix it every time.) The DA and PA are increasing as well but still nothing show up.
-
The branded keywords is appearing but on the 3rd page. Actually the site is based in Australia and the other 2 overseas companies are based in Singapore and USA (Florida). I am not able to use Moz Local tool since it is for US zip code only. Thank you for the advice!
-
Thank you for the advice. It is a wordpress and we have double checked the meta robots and the setting in Wordpress back office. The are all follow. All pages are indexed by Google.
-
Having a similar name to another business might affect your ability to rank for the business name and other branded terms, especially if Google is having trouble figuring out that it's a separate business and not in some way affiliated with the other business(es) of the same name. To combat this, you should make sure you're building out your Google My Business profile, building up location signals, and branding your business well.
That said, there's no reason why having the same name as another business would keep your site from ranking for any keywords, especially for keywords you're targeting that the other ABC Graphic Design companies aren't. It shouldn't be affecting your non-brand terms at all. If you're not ranking for any of them, I suspect something else is the reason.
-
After you have checked out any possible WP issues suggested by Tymen, also look into Moz Local and check to see how many of the local ranking strong signal sites you have connected to your client. This will hopefully give your clients site an added boost by having additional confirmed NAP data to organically connect with their site.
Is the site appearing from branded keywords?
-
Hi Owen,
Is the site in Wordpress? I once had the same problem with a site and the reason was that on the backend in WP there is a box that says "block search engines" and that was on. Needless to say this was the reason for not ranking at all. Once turned off it took about a week before the first results to show up and definitely locally you should be able to outrank the overseas ABC's.
Good luck with all!
Tymen
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
-
Local SEO: Is an equivalent of "practitioner listings" allowed for tradesmen, such as plumbers - in GMB (Google My Business)
I note practitioner listings are in place for certain professionals, so you can list your business address and then your individual name - one under a "practice listing" - the other under a "practitioner listing". As detailed here: https://whitespark.ca/blog/best-practices-for-practitioner-listings-on-google-my-business-gmb/ But can a self-employed tradesman do the same - for example a carpenter may have their workshop and be available for onsite work, so can they list their "carpentry business/brand name" and then their "personal name" they are also known by? Even if it is the same address.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | LukeRow0 -
Did Google Ignore My Links?
Hello, I'm a little new to SEO, but I recently was featured (around 2 yrs ago) on some MAJOR tech blogs. For some reason however, my links aren't getting picked up for over 2 years - not even in MOZ, or other link checker services. - By now I should have had amazing boost from this natural building, but not sure what happened? This was completely white hat and natural links. The links were after the article was created though, would this effect things? - Please let me know if you have any advice! - Maybe I need to ping these some how or something? - Are these worthless? Thanks so much for your help! Here's some samples of the links that were naturally given to http://VaultFeed.com http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2013/09/13/microsoft-posts-cringe-worthy-windows-phone-video-ads-mocking-apple/ http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/15/4733176/microsoft-says-pulled-iphone-parody-ads-were-off-the-mark http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/09/16/microsoft_mocks_apple_in_vids_it_quickly_pulls/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2420710/Microsoft-forced-delete-cringe-worthy-spoof-videos-mocking-new-range-iPhones.html And a LOT more... Not sure if these links will never be valid, or maybe I'm doing something completely wrong? - Is there any way for Google to recognize these now, and then they'll be seen by MOZ and other sites too? I've done a LOT of searching and there's no definitive advice I've seen for links that were added after the URL was first indexed by Google.
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | DByers0 -
Google Flux in Rankings Or Something More Serious
Hi all, Two weeks ago i noticed that one of our pages which normally ranks in the top 5 of search results dropped out of the top 50 results. I checked to make sure there were no Google penalties and checked to make sure the page was crawlable. Everything seemed fine and after a few hours our page went back into the number one position. I assumed it was a Google Flux. This number one ranking lasted about a week, today I see my page has dropped out of the top 50 yet again and hasn't come back up. again there are no penalties and there doesn't seem to be issues with the page. I'm hoping it comes back up to the top by tomorrow. What could be causing such a big dip multiple times?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | znotes0 -
No Google Ranking..yet
I have een working on my site for soem time. Trying to take the right steps to achieve good ranking in the long run and present the information we need to showcase to prospective clients. After several months I still see no ranking at all and I'm wondering if its becasue the front page is using a design similar to a one page website design? If anyone can provide some insight I would appreciate it. Even the smallest nudge i nthe right direction. We are also developing some new content for a blog and expanded written content for our services page. http://thatworksdesign.com
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Bvrettski0 -
Homepage not ranking for main keyword, all other pages ranking slightly for their own keyword phrases.
Dear Mozzers, We have an ecommerce website (www.pashmina-boutique.com), we want to rank the homepage for the keyword "pashmina". Problem is, we are nowhere to be found, not even in the top 100 search results of Google. It is indexed, we have no crawl errors, except that we had some problems with our hosting (503's), the crawler of Google bumped in a few of those. And we are fixing it. Our other pages, e.g. (http://www.pashmina-boutique.com/15-white-pashminas) ranks for "white pashminas" 24th and "white cashmere pashminas" 23rd. We have done no linkbuilding, in Majestic, you can check that. We have been offline for a long time (over 6 months) and about 3 weeks ago, we did a redesign (SEO). We relaunched, everything is looking fine except the homepage isn't ranking for the main keyword. Could you guys check it out? Is it over-optimization? It can't be Penguin, Panda would be a surprise too. Or do we still have to wait for the monthly Panda data-refresh? We are currently busy with this issue, once this is solved - that the homepage is ranking - we will start linkbuilding. Mr.1000
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Mr.10000 -
Does putting a Google custom search box on make Google think my users are bouncing?
I added a Google custom search box to my pages, that's doing an advanced Google search. A lot of people are using it. So users are coming to my site from a Google search, and then often performing another Google search on my site. Should I be worried that Google may interpret the resultant user behavior as a bounce or pogo-stick? Or will the fact that the second search occurred on my site, using custom search, and with advanced parameters signal to Google that this is not a dissatisfied user returning to Google? Thanks
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | GilReich0 -
Google Places Question: Two Businesses, Same Address
I am working with a client who runs a personal training business. He shares a fitness studio with another personal trainer to minimise costs. My issue is that the other guy has 'taken' the Google Places listing address as his business, rather than my client's. The gym itself is not a business, it is simply a shared workspace by two personal trainers - in the same way as a shared office space might be the address of several businesses. This presents a bit of a problem with Google Places verification. Is it best to: 'Alter' the address slightly so it appears to be a separate premises (e.g. 51 Something Street --> 51A Something Street) then use that address in all my citations Leave the address itself the same, but rely on the fact that there are separate domains, phone numbers and business names Any thoughts on this?
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Pretty-Klicks1 -
Shall I fix "most Common Errors" for a website that ranked top 3 on Google (difficult KW)?
How can SEOmoz "most Common Errors*" under "Crawl Diagnostics" advice can be right for a good site organic? Site is well ranked top 3 on Google (difficult KW). If I go ahead and fix these errors, I might hurt my SEO , no? like: Too Many On-Page Links 302 (Temporary Redirect) Title Element Too Long (> 70 Characters) Missing Meta Description Tag
Intermediate & Advanced SEO | | Elchanan0