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.
In the Google search results, the company name (with the drop down arrow) next to the result URL is incorrect. The company being displayed here is a company we acquired many years back. How do I adjust/fix this?
-
When I search any term for my organization, we are getting good results BUT the company name, next to the results URL is of an orgnization we acquired many years back and not the name of our company. The URL is correct page JUST the company name next to this URL is incorrect on the Google search results page.
How do I go about changing so the company name next to the URL ?
-
All good stuff. I must admit I am ignorant around the Open Directory Information and how it impacts Google display Information.
I’ve put in a request with DMOZ. I’ll be adding the meta tag you suggested, and I’ll reach out to our Communications team to see if they have the ability to edit legacy company’s old Wiki page. Fingers crossed.
I’ll continue to dig through the links Patrick provided.
I’m a team of one – so really have no one to bounce ideas off of - it’s great to be able to reach out to people that have some real tangible knowledge. Thanks again and if any other ideas feel free to pass them along.
-
And I forgot to specifically say that I would definitely choose to update these if possible, rather than delete them, because they would also be strong signals for your current company name.
-
You request an update in DMOZ, explaining about the change. They are much quicker at updating an entry than at adding a new one. (I know, because I had to do an update myself.) There is also a handy meta tag you can use on your site, , which tells robots not to use Open Directory information.
For Wikipedia, if you know a friendly editor you can ask them to make the change, or else you can request an edit on the company talk page.
-
Hi there
You can take a look at Wikipedia's editing capabilities and see if you can update the company URL, as well as blurb about the company being purchased by your company.
Not sure about DMoz - but that could take some time, but I would keep it - any thoughts Linda?
-
Thank you both!
Linda, yes the 'legacy company' is still in listed in Wikipedia and DMOZ. What would the best course of action be, attempting to delete those profiles? Update them? I know both have stringent rules, why i ask.
-
^ Yes! Great idea Linda!
-
Along with Patrick's great ideas, take a look at Wikipedia and DMOZ (Open Directory Project). Is the old company listed in either of those? Sometimes signals from those sites can be very strong.
-
Hey again!
Thanks for the information - does any old company profiles still exist? If so, can you gain access to those profiles to shut them down, update, or delete them?
What could be happening is that those profile URLs could be redirecting and somehow signaling that that company name is still associated.
Or, there may be some tagging in your code on your site that is referencing the old company and somehow translating to the Knowledge Graph.
Lastly, I would check your local SEO and citations to see if listings still have references to that URL and company. You can let these services know "Hey, this is ______ now and not _____ company." You can run your business through the Moz Local Check Listing and see what they find too.
Let me know if I can be of any more service! Good luck!
-
Thanks Patrick for the response and the helpful links, much appreciated.
Really strange, as our site has been live for just over three years and gets over 150,000 visits a month. I give that context, to highlight that the site is not new and has some traction.
The company we acquired - which is appearing in the display - site was shut down over two years ago, their old domain redirects to ours now. We’ve done this with several other companies we’ve acquired as well. I'm not sure why this one is percolating to the surface and showing in our results.
I’ll read away, the information you sent and hopefully can find a nugget. Thanks again.
-
Hi there
This is a matter of connecting profiles to your site, having a well thought information architecture, and other factors for Google to attach the URL to your website. It's based on the Knowledge Graph.
I would read the following: More information about websites to help you find the right result (Google)
How to Get Search Traffic from Google’s Knowledge Graph (QuickSprout)
Link your brand page to your website (Google)
7 Ways to Make Your Google Search Result Stand Out (SEW)
Changing URLs in search results (Yoast)
Schema.org Structured Data (Moz)
Sitelinks Search Box (Google Developers)Make sure your company profiles are properly connected and related to your new website. I would read the above information as a "checklist" to make sure you have your bases covered.
Hope this all helps! Good luck!
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
-
Endless Scrolling and prev/next
Hi, We have a new website on https://www.neakriti.gr We have asked for endless scrolling between our articles, so when we get at the end of one article, the next loads. Looking at the produced html code I saw the articles contain and to other articles. When I asked the development team why this happens, I got a reply that its needed for the endless scroll of the articles. But to my understanding "prev" and "next" is only used on pagination cases, and endless scroll between articles has nothing to do pagination. Here is an example article
Branding | | ioannis.anifantakis
https://www.neakriti.gr/article/ellada-nea/1524252/fthinoporinos-o-kairos-tin-tetarti-stin-kriti-deite-analutika-tin-prognosi/ If you "view html code" on that article you will see this "next", "prev" declarations to other articles. Can anyone please let me know if the declaration of "prev" and "next" articles should stay or if I should ask the development team to remove it? Thanks0 -
Avoid Keyword in New Domain Name?
We are looking to rebrand our domain name. Our existing domain is www.nyc-officespace-leader.com. We own www.metro-manhattan.com and were hoping to use this domain. The company name is Metro Manhattan Office Space, Inc. Is the fact that the new domain contains "Manhattan" a negative? I know that the fact that it has a hyphen is weak. Manhattan is part of such keywords as "Manhattan office space". Regarding the company name, is the fact that it contains the target phrase "Manhattan office space" bad? Our company name may sound like exact match anchor text and I am not sure what to do about this if anything. I would really prefer to keep our name but it is necessary to change it to improve SEO we will do so. Would it be better to change to a new name like "Integrity Real Estate" which does not contain target phrases or keywords ("real estate" is not a major target phrase as it is to generic) ? Or how something like www.mmos.com for the domain and leave the company name alone? How would I go about finding a company that would assist is in creating an SEO friendly domain name and perhaps a new corporate name if necessary? Thanks, Alan
Branding | | Kingalan10 -
Is there Schema Markup for "brand name"?
Hi Mozzers, I've been trying desperately for months to get my domain to rank #1 for its brand name in Google. This is made hard by the fact that the brand name is also a combination of two keywords, one of them being "Hire". I've actioned everything I can think of, setting up and maintaining social networks (including g+), adding the site to lots of high quality business directories, internal and external linking. I even asked right here. The site continuously rises in the ranks until it hits top of page 2 and then starts falling again. When searching [Brand name] +[Town of HQ] we get the open graph info displayed, and the g+ pin, but still only rank 3rd! My Question: Is there a schema.org markup for brand names? and would it make any difference adding this? I feel like I'm clutching at straws now... Oh were in the UK if that helps. I'd also be happy to share the domain via PM if anyone is willing to help!
Branding | | Silkstream0 -
Spam in search engine results for company brand name
Hi, I'm having a strange problem with a certain comapny. When you Google their brand name the first 8 results or so are related - their site, Google+ page, Twitter etc. The rest of the results are completely unrelated to the site and much of it is in another language and looks really spammy. According to the site owner until recently the first 50-60 results were related - mostly local results, press releases, and franchise companies listing his business. They don't have a great link profile but that shouldn't have them dropping out of the results, especially since they're still ranking in the top 1-8 positions. Here's the strangest part: the company name is Libertana. All the spammy results are not so much spammy, they're related to the syllable "na". Examples: Ivanyukite-Na Mineral Data įt$koka!na's sounds on SoundCloud - Hear the world's sounds Bosiniya na Herizegovina - Wikipedia What on earth is going on? Why would they rank for the last syllable of their name?
Branding | | storemachine0 -
Do Dashes in Domain names hurt SEO ranking?
I have found conflicting reports online whether or not dashes in domain names hurt/help ranking. Example yourbrandonline.com vs your-brand-online.com? I found Rand's write up on how to select a domain and he suggests staying away from hyphens but mainly because its hard to remember or people my enter it in wrong. Here's his comment. "Reject Hyphens and Numbers
Branding | | JoshKimber
Both hyphens and numbers make it hard to give your domain name verbally and falls down on being easy to remember or type. I'd suggest not using spelled-out or roman numerals in domains, as both can be confusing and mistaken for the other." Aside from people possibly struggling to get there directly because of the domain name, are they OK to use? Or, are domains with hyphens considered spammy? Thanks in advance.1 -
There was a really awesome Brand Video at Mozcon last year
It was a female brand i believe. Does anyone remember which it was or have a link? Gracias!
Branding | | VistageSEO1 -
How to get Google to link external review sites in Google Places
Hi, I have several company profiles in Google Places and Google Sites, I also have the same profiles for those companies in review sites like Yelp! and so on. I have seen that other sites have links on the bottom where Google points to those external review sites, but that doesn't happen for me yet, is there a way to tell Google that I have profiles on other review sites so they can link them or is it Google whenever they find them that will link them? Here's an example: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=14126341780178539960&hl=en At the bottom you'll see that it says: Reviews from around the web Now this is one of mine: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=12168877126282825032&hl=en Now how do I get that line at the bottom provided that I know there are reviews out there in other sites? Is there something I can do? Or is it all about Google doing it whenever they see fit? Thank you!
Branding | | tass0
