The Internet Marketing Driver

Google’s April 2023 Reviews Update – Exploring its evolution from PRU to RU, a powerful tremor on 4/19, and how its “Review Radar” found larger publishers

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Google launched the first Product Reviews Update in April of 2021 and it’s been fascinating to watch the evolution of the system over time. With each successive update, you can see Google fine-tuning the system, expanding to other languages, and more. And now we have the next step in its evolution, and it was a big step. The Product Reviews Update is now just the Reviews Update, and that change has significant ramifications for publishers across the web. The update started rolling out on April 12, 2023 and took 13 days to fully roll out.

With the change to the Reviews System (notice “Product” has been dropped), the system now evaluates any content that can be considered a review or recommendation. For example, Google explains in its updated documentation that the system is “designed to evaluate articles, blog posts, pages, or similar first-party standalone content with the purpose of providing a recommendation, giving an opinion, or providing analysis.” That’s a big jump from focusing on just product reviews. And it also explains why so many sites were impacted by the April 2023 Reviews Update.

The change has been confusing for many site owners. For example, I’ve heard from many site owners about negative impact when they don’t believe their content contains reviews. The problem is that they are thinking more about product or service reviews and not about recommendations or advice. A lot of content can fall under the latter and that’s what could be evaluated with the new system.

For example, here’s a site focused on restaurant reviews (and even types of food) that I’ve been tracking since early in the rollout. I shared about this on Twitter several times and you can see major impact from the April Reviews Update. They don’t provide product reviews.

Evolving from the PRU to a broader RU – An important step in the evolution of the Reviews Update:
Beyond just expanding to any type of content that provides recommendations or opinions on something, this latest update marks an important milestone in my opinion. And it signals that the Reviews System is one step closer to being baked into Google’s core ranking algorithm.

As a reminder, Google’s John Mueller once explained that he could see the Reviews System incorporated into Google’s core ranking algorithm at some point. Here is Joh explaining that in a Search Central Office Hours video from 2021:

The reason I have always believed the Reviews System needs to be part of Google’s core ranking algorithm is because of what I’ve called “dueling machine learning systems”. I have covered that topic many times in my posts about Product Reviews Updates and broad core updates and it’s when a site is impacted one way with a major algorithm update (like a broad core update) and then in the opposite way with another major algorithm update (like a Product Reviews Update). That can be maddening for site owners and SEOs, and it really doesn’t make a lot of sense when you think about it. In other words, is the site high quality, or not?

For example, here are three sites impacted heavily by previous core updates or product reviews updates and then reverse direction with the April Reviews Update.

I know site owners are super-confused when a site experiences surges with one update and drops with another (or vice versa). Google is clearly sending mixed signals when this happens, and it underscores the importance of baking the Reviews System into Google’s core ranking algorithm. Time will tell whether that happens, but I think the latest changes with the April Reviews Update signals it’s one step closer to that happening.

Powerful Tremor on 4/19 – A really big one.
As the April Reviews Update started rolling out, I was documenting the volatility on Twitter. Although there was volatility, little did I know what was coming on 4/18 into 4/19… That’s when there was SERIOUS VOLATILITY based on Google pushing a tremor with the update.

I have covered what I call “tremors” many times in my posts about major algorithm updates and they are important to understand. Back in medieval Panda days, Google’s John Mueller explained that Google can make tweaks and adjustments during a rollout based on what they are seeing in the SERPs. And based on analyzing tremors over time, those smaller tweaks can have a big impact across the web. For example, sites reversing course based on early impact.

For the Reviews Update, there was massive volatility starting on 4/19, which was seven days into the rollout. And when I say massive, I’m not kidding. For example, here were several sites heavily impacted on that date:

But, as often happens with major algorithm updates, the devil is in the details. There seemed to be several things going on impact-wise with that tremor. For example, it looked like Google could have refreshed a site-level quality algorithm (or something similar) based on what I was seeing across a number of sites impacted. And then I also saw impact on larger publishers where Google seemed to get better at finding reviews content on those sites. i.e. Google’s “Reviews Radar” seemed to improve with the tremor. I’ll cover more about these two situations below.

Google’s site-level quality algorithms:
First, we know that Google has site-level quality algorithms that can have a big impact on sites during major algorithm updates. For example, when Google refreshes those site-level algorithms based evaluating a lot of data over time, sites can surge or drop heavily. You can often see the impact of those site-level algorithms during broad core updates, Reviews Updates, etc.

In addition, we know Google can always decouple algorithms from broad core updates and run them separately (which could also be site-level quality algorithms depending on what Google is looking to achieve). And that can also have a big impact on sites, and outside of major algorithm updates because they are run separately. We saw that happen a few weeks after the September 2022 broad core update rolled out when some of the largest news publishers surged back in visibility after dropping heavily with the broad core update. There was clearly something off with that update that needed to be rectified. It took a few weeks, but Google did fix the issue.

Here are some tweets of mine where I covered what was happening:

And here is a super-interesting example of what I’m referring to with the April Reviews Update tremor and site-level quality algorithms (or something broader that impacted sites). It’s a site that went through a terrible migration in the fall of 2022 and lost a majority of its search visibility. The site owner reached out to me after the site tanked and it’s been a very bumpy ride for them since the initial drop. Based on analyzing the situation, I have always felt like the site would need a major algorithm update to roll out, which could bring a quality reevaluation. And maybe that quality reevaluation could help turn things around.

Well, that’s exactly what happened with the 4/19 tremor. The site is up 135% since then. Note, they don’t focus on reviews, although the niche has been impacted by previous Product Reviews Updates.

Here is GSC data:

And here is search visibility via arhefs:

Google’s ‘Reviews Radar’ improves for larger publishers:
Regarding Google getting better at finding reviews on larger publishers, a number of larger publishers were impacted heavily when the update first started rolling out. I’m referring to large sites with a lot of content (mostly not reviews content, but they do have reviews and recommendations content mixed in). And then with the 4/19 tremor, there was some type of correction pushed that reversed some of the impact on larger publishers. But then other larger publishers saw their first impact from the update.

When this was going on, my inbox lit up with emails from larger publishers, I received a number of messages across social media about that, and I saw it across some publishers I’ve helped in the past. Based on digging into the situation, it really looked like Google was evaluating and impacting reviews mixed into larger sites more with the April Reviews Update than previous updates (and then tweaking something related to this with the 4/19 tremor).

For example, when running a delta report to identify queries and landing pages that dropped at that time, while also filtering by content type, there were lower-quality reviews content that dropped heavily. I saw this across a number of publishers.

For example, here are some drops when filtering by reviews content:

And here are several larger publishers that reversed on 4/19 after initially being impacted when the update started rolling out:

And here are some reversals now that we are further out time-wise:

So in my opinion, I think this updated involved Google’s “Reviews Radar” possibly getting better at finding and evaluating reviews content across larger sites that contain a wide mix of content. And then there was some type of adjustment with the 4/19 tremor that reversed some of the impact (for certain publishers). I don’t work for Google, and obviously I can’t say for sure, but the 4/19 tremor sure looked like a mix of a site-level quality algorithm being refreshed (or something similar), and then this enhanced “Reviews Radar” for larger publishers.

A reminder that DURING AN UPDATE IS NOT the time to start improving lower-quality reviews content:
What I covered above is a good example of why site owners should continually be analyzing what I call “quality indexing”. That’s making sure your indexable content is high quality, insightful, etc., and making sure any lower-quality or thin content is not indexable. If you don’t, you can be in a situation where that baggage comes back to bite you during major algorithm updates. And if that happens, you have to start addressing those lower-quality areas over time (and hope you can bounce back during subsequent updates).

For the Reviews Update, any type of content providing reviews and recommendations should provide unique, insightful, and helpful information. In addition, if you are reviewing something, then proving you have first-hand experience with the products, services, etc., is extremely important. Remember, there’s double E-A-T now (E-E-A-T) with an extra E for Experience. Google has plenty of documentation about publishing great reviews content, and you can read my previous posts about Product Reviews Updates where I cover the anatomy of excellent reviews content.

As I cover in my posts about previous PRUs, aim to become the Wirecutter for your niche. It’s not easy to do, but that’s the level of quality and thoroughness you should be aiming for.

A quick note about product review sites with wild volatility over time… And I mean wild.
I’ll end this post with a word of caution if you focus heavily on reviews content. Know that there has been crazy volatility over time for some review sites. I have covered this on Twitter a number of times, but I’ll provide two examples below. These are sites that continually surge or drop heavily over time (and both during and outside official Reviews Updates). I cannot explain what’s going on here, but Google clearly has had some issues with the Reviews system. No site owner should have to go through what these sites owners have gone through. This is also why you don’t want to be in the gray area with Google’s algorithms. Get out of the gray and into the clear. That’s the safest way to go in my opinion. Check out the madness below:

Summary – Google’s Reviews System Continues To Evolve. Evolve with it.
With the April Reviews Update, Google is now evaluating all types of reviews and recommendations content (beyond just product reviews). In my opinion, this marks an important step for Google’s Reviews system and could signal it’s one step closer to being baked into Google’s core ranking algorithm. Time will tell if that happens, and when, but I do think that’s inevitable. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see how the next Reviews update impacts publishers across the web, including the larger publishers I mentioned in this post. As usual, I’ll be covering what I’m seeing across Twitter so make sure to follow me there to see those updates.

GG

Google’s Video Thumbnail Apocalypse Is Causing A Huge Drop In Video Snippets In The Search Results (But Traffic Could Remain Stable)

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Google video thumbnail apocalypse.

On April 13, Google announced a change to how video thumbnails would be presented in the search results. Until now, a listing could receive a video thumbnail even when that video content was not the main content on the page. Although that was a nice benefit for the sites receiving the video thumbnail, it was often confusing for users. For example, they might click through looking for a video, but the video might be way down the page (and might just be supporting content, and not cover the core point of the page).

Therefore, Google decided to remove video thumbnails for pages where the video is not the main content. And they weren’t kidding. I am now seeing massive drops in video thumbnails across a number of sites starting on 4/13. I’m not referring to small drops here and there. I mean near-complete drops in the number of video thumbnails being presented for those sites.

And I’m not saying this is a bug, or wrong. The video content for those pages isn’t the main content, so the system is working as intended.

Here are three examples of what I’m seeing. Again, huge drops in GSC for clicks from pages that used to receive video thumbnails. Note, this doesn’t mean traffic is down… more on that soon:

Video snippets dropping heavily in Google Search Console.
An example of video snippets dropping heavily in Google Search Console.
Another example of video snippets dropping heavily in Google Search Console (GSC).

Important: A drop in video snippets doesn’t mean a drop in traffic:
Now, just because a video thumbnail is removed doesn’t mean traffic will drop. Sure, video thumbnails can definitely impact click through rate from the SERPs, but rankings aren’t impacted at all with this change. It’s just about the SERP treatment. Traffic for these sites has remained stable, although I still need to dig into the CTR data to see what the impact is there.

Of course, that’s tricky since some of the content I’m reviewing is news-oriented (where CTR will be much higher at certain times than others). Anyway, I’ll post more about the impact to CTR and clicks after digging in more.

Also, Google is sometimes replacing the video thumbnails with image thumbnails. When that happens, CTR could even go up… There is still special SERP treatment with the image being displayed, but it doesn’t have the play arrow overlaid on the image thumbnail. Again, I’ll need to dig into the data to see if there are any significant changes in CTR based on these changes.

Here is an example of two listings in the SERPs that used to have video thumbnails that now have image thumbnails. For this example, I wouldn’t expect CTR to change much. The SERP treatment is still strong:

An example of search listings losing video thumbnails, but they were replaced by image thumbnails.

Video thumbnails in Top Stories, spared or overlooked?
I also wanted to mention that Top Stories seems to be treated differently based on this change from Google. I am still seeing video thumbnails show up in Top Stories when the video is NOT the main content on the page. So this is either by design, or it was overlooked by Google when implementing the video thumbnail changes. Time will tell if the video thumbnails remain. I’ll post an update if anything changes on that front.

For example, here are video thumbnails showing up when the video isn’t the main content:

Top Stories in Google still showing video thumbnails for pages where the video isn't the main content.

And here is the page that ranked with a video thumbnail. You can see the video is not the main content:

An example of a page where the video isn't the main content, but it is receiving video thumbnails in Top Stories.

Summary – Check your stats based on the video thumbnail apocalypse (but don’t freak out).
SERP features and rich snippets can definitely impact click through rate from the search results, so big changes like removing video thumbnails can cause issues for some sites. I wanted to document the huge drops I’m seeing in video thumbnails in the SERPs to make sure site owners and SEOs knew this is happening (so they could check their stats to analyze the impact). And remember, this might not impact clicks at all… especially if video thumbnails are replaced by image thumbnails. I’ll continue to analyze the situation and will post updates here. Stay tuned.

GG

Unraveling SERP Features – How to track and analyze urls ranking within Top Stories, People Also Ask, Image Packs, Short Videos, Recipe Packs, and more using Semrush’s New SERP Features reporting

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Semrush SERP features upgrade.

Google’s search engine result pages are filled with an amazing combination of features to present many different types of content. From images to video to news to recipes, there’s no shortage of interesting features at your fingertips. And for site owners and SEOs, we want to track all of them, and at a granular level.

Although Google Search Console (GSC) provides a wealth of information, it can fall short when it comes to SERP feature data. Two important examples of that include the lack of tracking of Top Stories and Featured Snippets in GSC. They are two incredibly important search features that unfortunately do not have their own filtering options in GSC. And beyond just filtering of a specific feature, there are many search features that contain a carousel or list of urls, which would be incredible to unravel for analysis purposes.

But that’s where third-party tools come in handy. Their ability to track SERP features across many sites provides site owners and SEOs powerful information about how their content, and competitors’ content, are ranking in the search results (and across both desktop and mobile). That’s why I was super-excited to see the latest update from our friends at Semrush. They rolled out upgraded SERP features functionality that takes tracking the SERPs to a new level.

In this post, I’ll walk you through unraveling SERP feature rankings to reveal the urls and content ranking within them. We’ll pull apart People Also Ask (PAA), Top Stories, Video Packs, Image Packs, Recipe packs, and more. By the end, I’m confident you will be eager to analyze your own site (and your competitors).

Semrush now tracks a whopping 38 features, up from 24:
First, with the upgrade, Semrush now tracks a whopping 38 SERP features. That’s up from 24 previously tracked. Some of the new additions include powerful features like Top Stories, Short Videos, Twitter Carousels, Recipes, Popular Products, Web Stories, and more.

I just wanted to point this out since it underscores how dynamic the Google search results have become. Here is a quick visual from Semrush showing the SERP features tracked now:

Semrush tracks 38 SERP features

Understanding which SERP features are accessible per tab in Semrush:
Based on the SERP features addition, there seems to be some confusion about where to find the various SERP features within each tab in the Positions reporting (Organic versus SERP features). To help site owners and SEOs understand where to find each feature, Semrush published a helpful visual that breaks out each feature by tab.

The features highlighted in yellow can be found under the SERP features tab, the features highlighted in purple can be found under the Organic tab, and the features highlighted in green can be found under both tabs.

A SERP Features test drive – Traversing the reporting in Semrush:
I think the best way to show you the new SERP features reporting is to walk you through some examples. Let’s fire up Semrush and analyze espn.com and some specific queries.

In the overview tab of the Organic Research reporting, you can scroll down the main dashboard and you’ll see a new report titled “SERP Features Trend”. This is a global snapshot of the domain you are analyzing from a SERP feature standpoint.

You will see a stacked bar chart with trending by SERP feature. This can be done by day or month, depending on the date selection you have active. For example, the reporting launched on April 6, so you will see the SERP features the domain ranks for in the stacked bar chart (based on the number of keywords per feature). You can select or deselect specific SERP features, which are then reflected in the bar chart below. This enables you to view the changes for each SERP feature over time.

Here is the stacked bar chart for all SERP features for espn.com:

SERP features trending in Semrush

For example, espn.com ranks in People Also Ask for 108K+ queries:

A breakdown of SERP features ranking for a domain in Semrush

Moving to the Positions report – A new tab for SERP Features:
Next, you can select the Positions report to view all queries the site ranks for and their associated data. But you’ll notice two new tabs, Organic and SERP Features. If you click the SERP Features tab, you will filter the queries by keywords that rank in specific SERP features. That’s an awesome way to dig into SERP feature data.

The new SERP features tab in the positions report in Semrush

For each query, you will see icons for the SERP feature it ranks within. For example, below you can see queries that rank in People Also Ask (PAA), Top Stories, Video packs, Short Videos, and more. And remember, you can view this for both mobile and desktop (separately).

SERP features in the Positions reporting in Semrush

If you want to see the screenshot for the query where the site ranks in a SERP feature, click the SERP snapshot icon on the right side of the report. Boom, you can see what was captured.

The SERP snapshot icon in Semrush for viewing a captured search engine result page

If you click a specific SERP feature icon, then the Positions reporting will be filtered by just that feature. It’s yet another way to slice and dice SERP feature data. You can see below that the reporting is filtered by queries where espn.com ranks in Top Stories.

Filtering the Positions reporting by a specific SERP feature

Jumping to the Keyword Overview reporting and unraveling urls ranking within each feature:
This is probably my favorite new feature. Not only can you see that a site ranks within a specific SERP feature for a query, but you can reveal all of the urls that rank within that feature. For example, you might see a query where the site ranks in Top Stories, but wouldn’t it be great to see all of the urls ranking in that Top Stories module? You can do that now via Semrush via the Keyword Overview report.

For example, I clicked the query “New York Yankees” in the Positions reporting, which opens the Keyword Overview report. You can scroll down to the SERP Analysis module to see the urls ranking in the top 100 listings for that query. You will notice some new SERP features in the list ranking in the top ten. For example, you will see a Twitter carousel, Top Stories, and a Knowledge Panel for this query.

The Keyword Overview report in Semrush with SERP features listed.

That’s cool, but that’s not all you can do here. You can actually click the arrow icon next to each feature to reveal the urls ranking within the feature! Yes, you can unravel SERP features to quickly view which urls and content are ranking there. That’s awesome.

Unraveling SERP features in the Keyword Overview reporting in Semrush to reveal urls ranking within each feature

And here I’m unraveling the Twitter carousel to view the tweets and PAA to see the urls ranking in the default PAA for the query:

Viewing the urls ranking in a Twitter carousel and People Also Ask (PAA) in the Keyword Overview report in Semrush

As another example, I entered “Yankee Stadium” in the tool and checked the top ten. And wow, check out all of the SERP features ranking.

There’s a Twitter carousel, Knowledge Panel, Image pack, urls with FAQ snippets, and more. And again, you can unravel some of those SERP features to see the urls ranking within them.

The Keyword Overview report for the query Yankee Stadium revealing all of the SERP features ranking for the query

And if I switch to mobile, you can see a Short Videos feature in the list. Click the arrow to reveal the urls of each video ranking in the feature. Again, it’s awesome to be able to quickly do this via Semrush.

Viewing the urls ranking in the Short Videos feature in the Keyword Overview report in Semrush

Here is what the Short Videos feature looks like (typically containing four short videos). With Semrush, you can now see each of the videos ranking within the feature:

The Short Videos SERP feature in Google

A note about image packs:
One issue I have with the new functionality is that urls ranking in image packs aren’t collapsed behind the arrow like other SERP features are. Each image is listed separately versus being in one SERP feature that you can expand. I would much rather know that an image is contained in the pack and view them all together. Right now, you might see six images taking up the top ten, but in reality, they are part of one SERP feature. I’ll send that feedback to Semrush to see what they think.

For example, these urls are in one SERP feature, but listed separately:

Image packs ranking in the Keyword Overview report in Semrush

Here is what an image pack looks like for the query in the mobile SERPs:

An image pack in the Google mobile search results.

Exporting SERP Features
It’s important to note that you can also export the SERP features data per query. For example, exporting the Keyword Overview report for “New York Yankees” provides the urls ranking within each SERP feature. Below, you can see the urls ranking in Top Stories, the Knowledge Panel, and PAA.

Exporting SERP features in Semrush

Another example of unraveling SERP Features – Recipes
As another quick example, let’s unravel a recipes carousel to reveal the urls and content ranking in the feature. I entered epicurious.com in the Organic Research reporting, clicked the SERP features tab in the Positions reporting, and then clicked the query “stout cake recipe”, which I saw ranked in a recipes carousel.

Viewing recipe SERP feature data in Semrush

In the Keyword Overview report for the query, I can see a recipes carousel ranks first in the SERP. Clicking the arrow icon reveals the four recipes ranking there, including one url from epicurious.com.

Viewing urls ranking in a Recipes carousel in the Keyword Overview report in Semrush

Quickly checking the SERP snapshot or a live SERP yields the carousel and epicurious.com ranking in the feature. Again, it’s powerful to be able to view this data via a third-party tool (for any site and query):

A recipes carouse in the Google search results.

Summary – Identifying and Unraveling 38 SERP features via Semrush
I hope this post helped you learn more about the new SERP features functionality in Semrush. Again, the search results are filled with powerful features, so it’s important to understand when your content is ranking within those features. And now with Semrush, you can easily view the urls ranking within each feature (and across the competition). I recommend checking out the new SERP features reporting soon. I think you’ll dig it. Have fun.

GG

How to compare hourly sessions in Google Analytics 4 to track the impact from major Google algorithm updates (like broad core updates)

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Hourly tracking in Google Analytics 4

I was just asked on Twitter if there was an easy way to compare Google organic traffic hourly like you can in Universal Analytics. That’s a great question, and that’s a super useful report to have as major algorithm updates roll out. You can typically start to see the separation over time as the update rolls out (if your site was heavily impacted by a major update like broad core updates, Product Review Updates, etc.)

So I fired up GA4 and created a quick exploration report for analyzing hourly traffic. Here is a short tutorial for creating the report:

1. Fire up GA4 and click the “Explore” tab in the left-side menu.

Explore tab in Google Analytics 4

2. Click the “Free Form” reporting option.

Free form exploration reporting in Google Analytics 4

3. Click the plus sign next to “Segments” to add a new session segment. Then create a segment for Google Organic by adding a new condition, selecting “Session source / medium” and then adding a filter for “google / organic”.

Creating a segment for Google Organic in Google Analytics 4
Selecting session source and medium and then filtering by Google Organic when creating a new segment in GA4

4. Add that segment to your reporting by dragging it to the “Segment Comparisons” section of the report.

Adding a segment to the reporting in Google Analytics 4

5. Set “Granularity” to Hour.

Selecting Hour as the granularity for the reporting in Google Analytics 4

6. Add a new metric and select “Sessions”. And then drag “Sessions” to “Values”.

Adding sessions as a metric in Google Analytics 4

7. Change the visualization to line chart by clicking the line chart icon.

Changing the visualization of the reporting to line graph in Google Analytics 4

8. For timeframe, select “Compare” and choose a day. Then choose the day to compare against. Note, GA4 isn’t letting me choose today (which is a common way to see how the current day compares to a previous day). So, you’ll have to just compare the previous day to another day. Sorry, I didn’t create GA4.

Comparing timeframes in Google Analytics 4

9. Name your report and enjoy comparing hourly sessions.

I hope you found this helpful, especially since the March 2023 broad core update is currently rolling out. Have fun. :)

GG

It’s all in the (site) name: 9 tips for troubleshooting why your site name isn’t showing up properly in the Google search results

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Site names in Google Search

Update: April 21, 2023
Google published a form for reporting site name problems in the search results. This is based on a number of companies reporting the wrong site names appearing in the SERPs. Read more here:

——

With favicons and site names now appearing in both the mobile and desktop search results, it’s important to make sure both are showing up correctly. Learn how Google generates site names and how to troubleshoot the wrong site name showing up in the SERPs.

In addition to helping a number of companies with favicon problems in the Google search results, I’ve also had companies reach out about botched site names. Site names are the visual partner to favicons and reside to the right of the favicon and above the url. The favicon and site name combination can definitely impact how users perceive your site and can impact click-through rate from the SERPs, so they are important to get right.

For example, here is an example of site names appearing in the search results for Newegg and Best Buy:

An example of site names in the Google search results.

In May of 2019, Google rolled out favicons and site names in the mobile search results. At that time, Google explained that the visual treatment would also be coming to desktop at some point (and I had been sharing that information often to make sure site owners were prepared). Well, the desktop rollout finally happened on March 8, 2023 (after heavy testing over the past several months). So now it’s even more important to make sure you put your best foot forward in the search results…

First, if you are having problems with favicons (and not your site name), then read my post dedicated to favicon issues. This post is focused on site names (which is the name Google is providing to the right of the favicon and above the url). I’ve seen some weird situations with site names since 2019… and this post provides a number of tips for making sure the right site name shows up in the SERPs.

Here is a quick table of contents if you want to jump to specific sections:

Multiple Names, Multiple Variations:
First, it’s important to understand that Google could be providing multiple site names in the search results right now for your website. The easiest way to check this out is to fire up Google Search Console (GSC), check the Performance reporting, open an incognito window in Chrome, and then start testing searches across both desktop and mobile. You might be surprised with what you find.

For example, you might see various site names showing up for your listings, including acronyms, the full domain name versus your brand name, a person’s name, and more. I recommend documenting the queries and taking screenshots of the variations so you can easily track site name changes over time.

How Does Google Create Site Names?
After going through the process of checking and documenting site names, you might be wondering how Google actually creates a site name. Well, Google explains in it documentation that they use several signals for creating a site name. I’ll quickly cover each below and then cover various issues I have seen when helping companies troubleshoot site name problems.

Structured Data:
You can provide WebSite structured data that can influence the site name in the search results. For example, you can provide both a name and then alternateName property. I highly recommend doing this to avoid problems down the line. You only need to add this to your homepage and it’s very easy to do.

Title tags:
Yes, title tags are still extremely important on several levels SEO-wise. But for site names, it’s another signal that Google uses to understand the site name. So don’t overlook the power of making sure your brand name is accurately reflected in your title tags (and especially on the homepage).

Headings:
Google also explains that headings are important. And just to clarify, I’m referring to html headings like <h1>, <h2>, etc. Review your homepage and make sure you are accurately using the name you want Google to use as your site name in the heading tags. It’s just another signal Google will use.

Open Graph tag: og:site_name
Google can also use the open graph tag og:site_name when understanding which site name to use. So don’t leave that out either, especially if you are having problems with site names in the search results.

Not confirmed, but had me thinking… Are inbound links and anchor text influencing site names?
I just helped a company troubleshoot the wrong site name showing up in the SERPs, and after digging in a bit, I  started wondering how anchor text might be influencing the site name. For example, inbound links using the wrong brand anchor text. I saw that heavily with the site in question, so it’s possible… I might reach out to Google about this just to get some clarification. I’ll update this post if I hear back from them about this.

For example, a website that had the wrong site name showing up in the SERPs had many inbound links pointing at it using that name as the anchor text:

Does anchor text influence site names in Google Search?

Now for some tips based on my work helping companies with the wrong site name showing up in the search results.

9 tips for troubleshooting site names in Google’s desktop and mobile search results:
Below, I’ll cover several issues that could be causing problems with your site name showing up properly in the search results. This is based on helping a number of companies with site name problems.

1. WebSite Structured Data on the domain homepage:
I covered WebSite structured data earlier in this post, and Google lists that first in their documentation. I highly recommend adding accurate WebSite structured data to your homepage and providing both name and alternateName properties. Again, it’s very easy to add to your homepage and I’ve seen this work well when helping companies. After adding the structured data and verifying it’s valid, you should request indexing of your homepage in Google Search Console (GSC). Note, it can take time for Google to recrawl your homepage, pick up the structured data, etc., so definitely have patience.

WebSite structured data for site names in Google Search

2. Duplicate homepages? Fix that (or at least be consistent).
If your site resolves with both www and non-www, or at http and https, then I highly recommend 301 redirecting the non-canonical versions to the canonical version. For example, 301 non-www to www if www is the canonical version of your site. And I would always make sure to redirect all requests from http to https. Then Google will see one version of the homepage, the WebSite structured data on the page, title tag, etc.

For example, redirecting non-www to www:

Redirecting non-www to www

If you cannot redirect the non-canonical versions for some reason, then make sure you are using the same structured data on all versions of the homepage. Again, that’s not great on several levels SEO-wise, but I had to mention it. Speak with your developers about using redirects like I mentioned earlier. You’ll be in much better shape (and beyond just site names).

3. Site names at the domain-level:
Google supports one site name per domain (and not at the subdomain-level or subdirectory-level). Also, Google explains that the subdomains www and m are considered domain-level (so they are special cases). Just keep this in mind if you are trying to have a different site name show up for a subdomain or directory. That can’t happen (unless it’s www or m).

How Google handles domains for determining site names in search

4. The homepage must be crawlable and indexable:
The site’s homepage must be crawlable by Google, or it might not be able to accurately generate a site name. Make sure you aren’t mistakenly blocking the homepage via robots.txt. In addition, make sure it’s indexable and it doesn’t contain the meta robots tag or x-robots-tag using noindex. In other words, make sure it’s not being noindexed.

Blocking a homepage via robots.txt

5. Nest Structured Data Properly:
If you are already using WebSite structured data on your homepage, then make sure to nest site name properties correctly and accurately. For example, some sites are already using Sitelinks search box structured data. If you are, then make sure you add site name properties correctly in your JSON-LD code.

Nesting WebSite structured data properly

6. Adhere to Google’s content guidelines:
Google has provided a section containing content guidelines for site names. I highly recommend reviewing those guidelines to make sure you aren’t violating them. For example, choose a unique name, one that’s not misleading, and double check Google’s content policies for Search as well to make sure your site name isn’t violating them.

Content guidelines for site names in Google Search

Also, use a concise, commonly recognized name. Don’t provide something super long that most people wouldn’t use. Google can truncate the site name due to device limits. And as I covered before, I recommend adding an alternate name via structured data, which can be an acronym. For example, I use G-Squared Interactive and then GSQi as the alternate.

7. Consistency wins, align your signals:
Google only checks your homepage when creating the site name, so be consistent with the use of that name across the homepage. For example, make sure your title tag, structured data, headings, and og:site_name are all consistently using the site name you desire. To check your open graph settings, you can check the source code of your site via DevTools, or you can use Facebook’s sharing debugger, which will provide the open graph tags being used for a url.

Open graph tag for site name

8. Homepage Redirects and Destination URLs:
If your homepage automatically redirects users to another location (like a subdirectory), then Google will use the site name based on the target of the destination url you are redirecting to. So, if your homepage redirects to /en/ or something like that, then Google will create your site name based on the /en/ url and not the homepage. Just make sure the destination page can be crawled by Google and it’s not being noindexed via the meta robots tag or x-robots-tag.

Redirecting a homepage to a directory

9. Have Patience Once Implementing Changes:
As I covered earlier, it can take a few days or longer for Google to recrawl the homepage and process the changes before it updates your site name in the search results. I would periodically check the search results via incognito mode in Chrome based on top queries after requesting indexing of the homepage (after the changes are implemented). I’ve seen site names change relatively quickly for some sites, where it takes longer for others. This is typically not an instantaneous change.

Request indexing in Google Search Console (GSC)

Submit your site name problems directly to Google:
On April 20, 2023 Google published a form where site owners could provide more information about site name problems in the SERPs. Google explained they want to collect examples and forward them to the engineers so they can improve their systems. This comes after a number of sites have complained about the wrong site names showing up. I have seen this as well based on companies reaching out to me about the wrong site names appearing, despite the sites having the correct setup and signaling to Google what the actual site name should be in the SERP. You can access the site name form here.

And here is a tweet from Google’s John Mueller about the situation:

Summary: Put your best foot forward with site names in the SERPs.
I hope this post helped you understand more about how Google generates site names in the search results and how to troubleshoot site name problems. Favicons and site names are now in both the mobile and desktop search results and the treatment can impact a user’s perception of your brand, and click-through rate from the search results. I recommend making sure both your favicon and site name are accurate, look great, and work for your business. And again, if you are looking for specific help with favicons, check out my post dedicated to troubleshooting favicons in the SERPs. Good luck.

GG

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: Can Google show multiple site names in the search results for my website?

A: Yes, Google can show various site names for a single website in the search results. It uses several signals to build the site name and you can end up seeing multiple site names in the SERPs.

Q: Can I influence site names in the search results?

A: Yes, you can influence the site name Google chooses by using a variety of methods, including using structured data, refining your title tag, heading tags, and using the site_name open graph tag.

Q: Will using structured data help Google understand the right site name?

A: Yes, using WebSite structured data can help Google understand the correct site name. It’s not absolute, but can help influence which site name is displayed by Google.

Q: Can I have a different site name for subdomains or subdirectories?
No, Google chooses site names at the domain-level, so you can’t have a different site name for subdomains or subdirectories. There are two special cases, which are www and m subdomains, which are treated like domains. For all other subdomains, you cannot have a different site name.

Q: How long does it take for Google to change the site name in the search results?

A: This completely depends on the site, how quickly Google recrawls the homepage, processes the changes, etc. It’s important to have patience. It can take days, or longer, for the correct site name to appear in the search results. Also, Google might keep the current site name if it’s algorithms believe that site name is correct.

Q: Can Google pick up the right site name if I’m disallowing the homepage via robots.txt?

A: No, the homepage must be crawlable and indexable in order for Google to pick up the correct site name. Make sure Google can crawl and index the homepage. You can test the page in the Robots.txt Tester and the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console to make sure the page is not being blocked or noindexed.

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