Classic Debate: Does a Company Name Belong in the Title Tag?

Should a company or web site name be in the title tags? Right now there are probably internet geeks pounding Mountain Dew late into the night debating this question. Luckily, I am here to offer a sound solution to this troubling dilemma. However, first I want to quickly go over the reasons for and against and I’ll give my two cents.

Reasons to NOT Place a Company Name in the Title Tag:

1. Search engines will typically only display 65-70 characters of a title, so the title is precious real estate.
2. Not everyone is interested in seeing your brand name – especially brand disloyal consumers. This applies to consumers of commodities and bargain hunters.
3. Search engines (theoretically) will rank your site higher if more generic terms are in the title instead of your company name. For example, if ACME Co. sells all types of Mexican beer and they want to rank high for “Mexican beer,” then a title like “ACME Co – Mexican Beer” might not rank as well as “Mexican Beer, Lager, Stout, Ale, and IPA.” I say this is theoretical because we don’t know if Google actively scores a brand name into their algorithm.
4. Nobody likes a pretentious company (I’m kidding of course). Don’t count this one.

Reasons TO Place a Company Name in the Title Tag:

1. Excellent branding tool. All those “Googlers” are seeing your brand name whenever they search. Increased exposure tends to lead to increased credibility. I suppose I need to work on my site’s credibility then before I post this huh?…..eh screw it.
2. Search engines (theoretically) prefer reputable brands in the title tag as opposed to generic terms. Who really knows what they like better? I’m not sure if they’re that smart yet.
3. It’s fun to toot your own horn and tell everyone you are there and proud of it (Again with the sarcasm, I have a problem).

The score is 4 to 3 in favor of not placing a company name in the title tag. So that’s the winner right? Wrong!

A company’s name should be in the title tag, but so should important keywords. Here is an example. I’m going to pick on Bank of America because they got bailed out and I’m bitter. Bank of America’s largest business line comprises of global consumer and small business banking. So they want to rank high for terms like “online checking,” “online banking,” and “online savings,” etc. A search for “online checking” ranks them at #5 which is good, but they could do better.

The results might be different if their title tag said something like:

“Bank of America | America’s Online Checking and Savings Bank.”

The idea is to work the important keywords into the title along with your company name. The brand name catches the searcher’s eye and establishes credibility. The additional keywords explain a benefit and target the searcher’s query. Notice the sites ranked above Bank of America have more instances of the keywords “online” and “checking” in their listing. This alone may not be enough to boost rankings, but it will definitely get you closer. The key is to constantly test different things and stay with what works.

Placement of Company Name in Title

In my opinion, the company name should be placed in the beginning of the title if it is a reputable name and at the end if you are still ramping up your name. The first thing searchers tend to look at is obviously the beginning of the title and so you want to catch their eye. However, if they see a name they are not familiar with, they may skip your site because your brand name doesn’t carry weight with them….yet. On the other hand, if you’re Bank of America you want searchers to see your name because chances are searchers trust it more than a small name company. This is definitely the case with online banking. Trust is especially important when the searcher’s intent is transactional.

In Conclusion

It’s very important to establish your brand even when you’re not a big name. How do you think the big names got to be big names? The answer is branding and delivering unique, quality services. That is exactly what you are doing when you place your company name in your title tag. You also want to be sure to place relevant, descriptive keywords along with your brand name. Weather you place your brand name in the beginning or end of the title is really up to. I believe it should be in the beginning for big names and at the end for smaller ones. Either way, you’re getting yourself out there. Now go make a brand of yourself.