Site name affect SEO?

[jefit]

Does 'Site Name' in Global Configuration/ Site Settings affect SEO? There are plenty of articles discussing the effect of domain name on SEO but I can't find anything about the effect of the 'site name'.
Thankyou

[artonweb]

Site name affect SEO indeed, but is only one point of SEO strategy.
The most important things are backlinks and fresh content.

[mandville]

you mean like promoting a keyword " blue smurfs " but hosting it on redsmurfs.com ? then yes. so to repeat the debate over various years and various formats, it doesnt hurt not to put it in, and it doesnt hurt to have the site name "blue smurfs appreciation society " on bluesmurfs.com , its all taste and if your content leader in search engines show a site description. but thats another debate for between the unicorns and the fairies.

[libraweb]

Site name doesn't affect Seo largely as said the more things that affect are website's blog and it's quality and a proper Social media marketing and ofcourse your keywords used

[jefit]

Thanks all.
My website is all about a new author who has one book for sale.
The domain name of the website contains the author's name.
Googling the author shows search results but googling the book name doesn't.
I have included the book name in menu meta titles, article meta descriptions and meta keywords.
So I was wondering if changing the site title from author name to book name would improve SEO. Based on your responses, I will.
I expect that once the new book is featured in social media and other sites (as much as the author's name currently is) then it will improve.

[sozzled]

The domain name of the website contains the author's name.

Did you submit your site to be crawled by Google? Have you created some kind of sitemap that Google can use to find pages on your website? Are you expecting Google to somehow, automagically, find references to the author's books?

So I was wondering if changing the site title from author name to book name would improve SEO. Based on your responses, I will.

What is the author writes other books? Are you going to create more websites/domains for these other books?

I expect that once the new book is featured in social media and other sites (as much as the author's name currently is) then it will improve.

I would like to know how you expect that will happen.

I think you have misunderstood the role of the Site Title. The Site Title should provide a concise description of the website. If the purpose of the website is to advertise the author then the site name (and the domain name, probably) should relate to the author. For example, if there is an author whose name is John Smith and that person has written several books then you could create a domain like

Code: Select all

www.johnsmith.com

with the Site Title="John Smith, writer of books"; then you could have content about things that relate to John Smith and not, specifically, about any one book that this person may have written.

On the other hand, if this author has written a book with the title Unicorns & Fairies then you might have a domain with the name

Code: Select all

www.unicornsandfairies.com

with the Site Title="'Unicorns & Fairies' written by John Smith". In this site you could confine the content to that book. Obviously, if John Smith has written more than one book, you would need separate websites for each of the books that this person has written (if that's what you choose to do).

I am writing a blog article for my website which will discuss, in more detail, why it's irrelevant from an SEO perspective for whatever you use in the Joomla Site Title setting. I will update this forum topic when I have finished.

@mandville's words are always full of wisdom! Thank you.

[sozzled]

... if changing the site title from author name to book name would ...

There is no "site title" setting (and I wrongly used it in my previous reply). Please re-read any reference I wrote about Site Title; the setting is Site Name

j3x_sitename.png

[maxxcampbell]

I don't think so. Because there are so many sites with different names and they are working perfectly fine without any problem.

[jefit]

The domain name of the website contains the author's name.

Did you submit your site to be crawled by Google? Have you created some kind of sitemap that Google can use to find pages on your website? Are you expecting Google to somehow, automagically, find references to the author's books?
YES, I had already submitted the site to Google. YES I had also submitted a sitemap to Google.

So I was wondering if changing the site title from author name to book name would improve SEO. Based on your responses, I will.

What is the author writes other books? Are you going to create more websites/domains for these other books?
If the author writes more books, I will return the site name to author name, because by that time, the first book name should be reflected in many articles/referrals and she will know to create articles and get referrals on the newer books in advance.

I expect that once the new book is featured in social media and other sites (as much as the author's name currently is) then it will improve.

I would like to know how you expect that will happen.
I thought that the number of referrals from other sites of good standing improved your SEO.

I think you have misunderstood the role of the Site Title. The Site Title should provide a concise description of the website. If the purpose of the website is to advertise the author then the site name (and the domain name, probably) should relate to the author. For example, if there is an author whose name is John Smith and that person has written several books then you could create a domain like

Code: Select all

www.johnsmith.com

with the Site Title="John Smith, writer of books"; then you could have content about things that relate to John Smith and not, specifically, about any one book that this person may have written.
True. Because the site name comes up in the search, I was trying to feature the book name (which is four words long). Is it wrong to change the site name after a while?

On the other hand, if this author has written a book with the title Unicorns & Fairies then you might have a domain with the name

Code: Select all

www.unicornsandfairies.com

with the Site Title="'Unicorns & Fairies' written by John Smith". In this site you could confine the content to that book. Obviously, if John Smith has written more than one book, you would need separate websites for each of the books that this person has written (if that's what you choose to do).

I am writing a blog article for my website which will discuss, in more detail, why it's irrelevant from an SEO perspective for whatever you use in the Joomla Site Title setting. I will update this forum topic when I have finished.

@mandville's words are always full of wisdom! Thank you.

In short, you advise that the site name is irrelevant to SEO. This answers my question. Thankyou for taking the time to advise.

[sozzled]

I have finished my article. If you search for "unicorns and fairies debates" in Google, you will find it.

[jefit]

Googling "unicorns and fairies debates" didn't find it but "unicorns and fairies debates +seo" did.
There were some interesting insights into caching and using page speed sites on your other blog articles.
Thanks for the info.

[sozzled]

Thanks. I've been toying with the idea writing other "debates" style articles with the purpose of dispelling other urban myths especially from the perspective of what people read and write here, in this forum, about SEO. For instance:

• Does the choice of domain name have any impact on SEO? (Well, yes, it has about a 0.5% effect overall.)
• Does the "number of referrals" from other websites have any impact on a website's SEO? (Well, not really: the "referrals" may drive some customer traffic to the desired destination—that's the whole point of a referral—but, from an SEO perspective, they improve the SEO of the referring website (not the target site!)
• Is there a difference between Joomla, Drupal, Wordpress or LEGO® as far as SEO is concerned? (Believe me when I say this, this question always causes massive casualties among unicorns and fairies!)
• Can you believe everything you read in this forum? (Absolutely! Why would there be any reason to doubt it?)

[mandville]

(Believe me when I say this, this question always causes massive casualties among unicorns and fairies!)

im tempted to side with the firvulag myself...

[Maulikshah]

According to EMD update, Site name doesn't matter. but as my personal opinion, it helps a little bit in ranking.

[sozzled]

According to EMD update ...

Is the EMD update trusted by unicorns or by fairies ... or is it just another TLA?

[LoWi76]

There are many debates about this topic, but I don't think it affects. You do not need to over-optimised the name of your websites. There are so many websites in the same branches that it would be hard for them all to optimised their domain name. Look at Zalando, they are doing great regarding SEO, although their name is not optimised

[Maulikshah]

According to EMD update ...

Is the EMD update trusted by unicorns or by fairies ... or is it just another TLA?

No, it's not a TLA. It's "Exact Match Domain" update that confirmed by various search experts on searchengineland, searchenginejournal etc.

[sozzled]

"Various experts"? Like whom? What specific sources are you quoting from? Unicornland or fairyland, perhaps? Just another endless debate that will never end, I think.

[mandville]

No, it's not a TLA. It's "Exact Match Domain" update that confirmed by various search experts on searchengineland, searchenginejournal etc.

i think your experts have left primary /first / kindergarden by now..

October 15, 2012
Your Guide to Google’s EMD Algorithm Update

by Jayson DeMers who hasnt aged a bit in his picture in 6 years

and from your other "experts"

The EMD, or Exact Match Domain update, was a 2012 Google algorithm update that targeted exactly what it is named: exact match domain names

so ... lets all run around checking out search engines via altavista, ask and big411 via WAP pages.
if you want to play around with ancient technology ,silver hats and techniques go ahead. if you want to ramp up to number one on any of the major search engines then send sufficient quantity of local currency to their ceo.
im still rooting for the firvulag.

[Maulikshah]

No, it's not a TLA. It's "Exact Match Domain" update that confirmed by various search experts on searchengineland, searchenginejournal etc.

i think your experts have left primary /first / kindergarden by now..

Sorry, I am not getting you.

[sozzled]

I understand that you do not get the hint. The point that we're making, the point that you're "not getting", is that the information you're basing your opinion upon is outdated, debunked as myth, irrelevant to SEO in general (and Joomla in particular) and, basically, you're flogging a dead horse. I hope that's clear enough for you.

If you have a different opinion, why not write a 2000-word essay, research your facts, provide references to up-to-date research on the subject, post in on your own website, and maybe someone will pay it serious attention. In the meantime, our point of view remains unchanged and it's the opposite of yours.