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How can I achieve a high search ranking for a site where the business name initials relate to an understood acronym, without the business having anything to do with the area related to the acronym, and does anyone know how Google deals with acronyms in search?

NOTE: I have already done all organic SEO, however I have hit a ceiling at say 60, where sites which do not even have the keyword are still ranking higher since they have some relevance to the acronym's field.

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    It's no different than anything else. You need to be more relevant for that search term. Use <abbr> tags when applicable and get links that use the acronym in the anchor text, etc.
    – John Conde ♦
    Commented Jan 27, 2015 at 3:21
  • yeah, that's what I thought, but the idea of out ranking an entire acronym... seems like a futile battle? I do not want to promise my client the impossible, too many others have already done that!
    – samazi
    Commented Jan 27, 2015 at 3:22
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    John hit the nail on the head. As well, search engines are simply machines and sometimes make mistakes. For a while, and it is still kind of true, my site name gets confused with products for closets such as shelving which is funny since this confusion comes from a technology company. Oh well. It does not water down my search results so I guess there is no harm. Just make sure to be clear what your site is about. In the end, your site will perform well for what it should perform well for.
    – closetnoc
    Commented Jan 27, 2015 at 3:27
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    If it is competitive than they will have to accept that they cannot rank well for that term. They can rank for more than one search phrase. They should focus on the lesser searched but easier to rank for phrases and gain traffic that way.
    – John Conde ♦
    Commented Jan 27, 2015 at 3:29
  • Great comments, I totally agree. In this case it boils down to the way they do business offline, impacting the way people find them (or don't) online.
    – samazi
    Commented Jan 27, 2015 at 4:01

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Google does not usually treat acronyms differently from other keywords. Just like ranking for other keywords you need to:

  • Use the acronym in your pages
  • Build a site that is relevant for the acronym. If there is another meaning for the acronym that may be an uphill battle. Your site will need to become popular enough that Google sees your usage as the better usage of the acronym.
  • Build your site's reputation to build links and social media credibility.
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  • Thanks, this mirrors what we have in the comments, and I think this is where the problem lies is trying to redefine an acronym in Google's eyes is probably not worth the time and effort in this particular case.
    – samazi
    Commented Feb 11, 2015 at 4:14

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