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After I read this question and answer about SEO and title, I want to ask if it is necessary to put the company name or the domain name into the title.

On the start page I think it is necessary, like Stack Exchange is doing it

www.stackoverflow => Stack Overflow
webmasters.stackexchange.com => Webmasters Stack Exchange

But what about other pages on this site?

I see that this structure is used on this site, and across the StackExchange network

<something> - Webmasters Stack Exchange.

Does this have any relevance for SEO?

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Only regard to branding. Otherwise, it does not matter. For example, if you are trying to brand the website, meaning you want the domain name to be recognizable as a brand, then yes. Put it in. Otherwise there is no real value that I can see.

Branding a website is to connect the website name to perceived value. For example stackexchange.com has a reputation for excellent answers to questions. This really only happens on sites that offer outstanding perceived value. Otherwise, if the site is moderate or light in perceived value, then branding may never stick and you have spent valuable space on branding that never happens. In this case, there is little to no value given either by users or search engines and the space used could have been better used to drive keywords.

In of itself, placing the domain name in the title tag, description meta-tag does not seem to drive traffic without a strong brand.

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  • That means as long as my brand is not well known for something good, I shouldn't take it into title tag, so that rest of information in title tag has larger relevance? And when my brand growths stronger, than I should put it in? – Jurik Mar 4 '14 at 17:15
  • Yes. Sorta. You can put it in at any time of course. It certainly does not hurt. I discovered that the advice of inserting the domain name into the title or description was faulty because there was no (from a research science perspective) correlation between branding and search results other than anecdotal in nominal cases. With strong brands, it helped somewhat in that it announced the brand and those who know and trust the brand were more likely to click the link. I found better value in utilizing the space for conventional SEO efforts when the brand name carried no or limited value. – closetnoc Mar 4 '14 at 17:31
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You should also consider bookmarking and tabs

Imagine if webmasters.stackexchange.com just had the title Webmasters. You go to bookmark it and would quickly forget what it is. From a User Experience point of few that's a problem. Or imagine if every /about.html was titled "About Us." Talk about a nightmare!

So, are there any reasons to put the the brand in the title tag?

Yes.

Will it do much to help SEO?

No.

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  • Good points. However, most titles these days are fairly robust. But still good points that I did not even think of. I guess at least for some pages; home, about, contact, etc. it is always a good idea. A very good consideration! Thanks. – closetnoc Mar 5 '14 at 1:54
  • I think most titles are robust because of the brand name. Right now here's titles I've got open from pages deep within websites once company name is removed: Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S4, Samsung Galaxy S4, and Samsung Galaxy S4 | Galaxy S4 Specs & Reviews. Do you know by title what sites these are? – Ryan Mar 5 '14 at 9:51
  • You are assuming a strong brand - Samsung. Of course it would have the brand name in it. It follows exactly what I said in my answer. Robust titles are an effect of being a more SEO aware population and the need to no longer use short titles but compelling titles, descriptions, etc. Go to any personal blog or site and you will see what I mean. – closetnoc Mar 5 '14 at 16:13
  • My point wasn't about brand. It had nothing to do with brand. It was that none of those pages are "about" or "contact" or "home" and still need a good title - or "robust title" as you like to say. Brand has nothing to do with comprehension in this case. – Ryan Mar 10 '14 at 16:09
  • Okay. I guess I missed your point. I was assuming putting the site name in the title was about branding the site. Site names help in that people who like your site will likely click that link. But it can work against you too. I found little advantage in including a site name in the title except for a strong brand identity with the site. I found generally speaking, keywords weigh more. Once the site begins to perform well, then perhaps add the site name at that point. – closetnoc Mar 10 '14 at 16:46

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