Altering Directory Name affect SEO?

[Michael]

Hello All,

We work with a client who currently submits their local directory information through us. About a month ago the requested that we update their Name (example: Exxon and now they want Exxon gas and car experts) When this gets sent through the directory submission and the data aggregators, will it affect their ranking or SEO in any way? Or will it just slowly update their name across the listing ecosystem?

Please let me know if this makes sense or I need to be more detailed!

-Michael

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Michael,

You are with UBL correct, so you mean they submitting the changed name to UBL?

The answer kinda depends on the real world situation.

1) If they actually officially rebranded, that's one thing and they should update citations.

2) It's possible they did not rebrand, but are simply adding keywords to their name because Google changed the guideline and now allows that. HOWEVER Google would not allow the example you used. Google now allows a SINGLE descriptor to be added. So a single KW or a city - not both and not a string of keywords.

So if they are changing the name in their feed to match the name they changed their Places listing to, they did it wrong and are in violation.

3) If on the other hand the name in Places is still Exxon and they are changing feed name to "Exxon gas and car experts" then once that new name propagates out, it could cause duplicate problems for them on Google.

Does any of those fit or do you know the real reason for the name change and do you know what name is actually on their Place page?

 

[Michael]

Thank you for your quick response Linda!

This would be most relevant to #1.

The submission name was short handed to just "Exxon" and now they want to use their full brand name "Exxon gas and car experts". Now with the citations, will it gradually update them or create duplicates because of this name alteration/addition?

On a side note. Should they go through their website as well and update their full name throughout the content or would "Exxon" still suffice for Organic and Keyword density reasons?

-Michael

 

[Linda Buquet]

As far as citations go, the team there at UBL would be able to tell you better than I since I don't really specialize in citations. But I think it varies based on each directory and the way they handle things.

They could have Exxon in the content a lot but full NAP matching the name in dash should at least be in the footer and on contact us page - preferably marked up in Schema.

 

[Michael]

Linda,

Thank you for breaking that down, that makes sense now. If you don't mind, could you outline your specialties so I know what questions to ask so I don't waste your time!

Thanks again!

-Michael

 

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Michael,

You can ask any question here because we have lots of members that have lots of knowledge especially on citations. In fact Darren from Whitespark is one of our Top Contributors and he's the expert in citations - but we have many others that are pros at citations too, it's just not my main focus.

My strength is primarily Google+ Local optimization, troubleshooting and best practices and on-site SEO, but again we have folks that can help on all topics. Trust me when I say just to stay up on all the G+L quirks and changes takes all the brain I have left on most days.