Logo vs. Website Title

by Eoon
19 replies
  • SEO
  • |
I couldn't find a satisfying answer anywhere to a simple question - if I add a logo to my WordPress blog, does this make the Title tag less relevant for SERPS since it will not appear on the home page?
#logo #title #website
  • Profile picture of the author mkgg
    No. Just add alt attribute in your logo and you should be fine.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9370465].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Basenix Group LLC
    Alt for your logo should be ok!

    Good luck!
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9370602].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author satrap
    Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

    I couldn't find a satisfying answer anywhere to a simple question - if I add a logo to my WordPress blog, does this make the Title tag less relevant for SERPS since it will not appear on the home page?

    Your Title tag shows in the source. It has nothing to do with the logo vs title issue.

    Don't believe me? ...
    Remove both your logo and site title, then on your homepage right click and look at page source. You will see your title tag. (thats assuming if you have your title in your header via an SEO plugin or simply hard coded.

    That is what Google (and other engines) use as title tag, not your logo or the visible title text.

    I could be wrong, but thats how I see it.
    Signature
    60 Awesome Ways to Make Money Without a Job
    .................................
    Check out my blog Survey Satrap featuring honest reviews of paid survey sites.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9370710].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Eoon
    yes, i know it's in the code...that was exactly my question, if that's all there is to it...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9370714].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Najgel
    Yep don't worry about harming your serp results by putting up either logo or title website "logo". Just imagine how unfair it wuold be when an image logo would do more harm than a simple text one

    alt = gg
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9371152].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Eoon
    I know, it doesn't make much sense, I get paranoid with this stuff...partner and I have a website that kind of "exploded" in the past few months and we are moving on with new properties.

    It's funny for me to even ask this since that the guys who's outranking us for most of the best keywords is:

    1. Using a PBN that you could spot from the moon
    2. Sends almost all his links to the homepage
    3. Stuffing the anchors with exact match
    4. Has no social aspect whatsoever
    5. Haven't updated anything for months

    So I guess it's either a glitch or the G algo is not so subtle in spotting these kinds of shady practices after all.

    And here I am, thinking about whether putting a logo instead of visible text will harm me.

    Anyway, I think I'll stick with the old "Don't fix it if it's not broken" with that website.

    This was more of a question for my future efforts.

    Thanks
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372513].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

      It's funny for me to even ask this since that the guys who's outranking us for most of the best keywords is:

      1. Using a PBN that you could spot from the moon
      Google actually is not that great at spotting most private networks automatically. Most of the networks they have found are highly public ones sold to hundreds or even thousands of users. That's why I would stay away from any advertised networks or even anyone selling links on their network in the WSO section here. All Google has to do is buy a few links and it is pretty simple to unravel the majority of a link from there.

      Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

      2. Sends almost all his links to the homepage
      For most websites, there is nothing unusual about that.

      Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

      3. Stuffing the anchors with exact match
      Don't believe everything you read about anchor text percentages. They play more of a role when you are building links on a massive scale, not on the micro scale.

      Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

      4. Has no social aspect whatsoever
      Social signals have nothing to do with rankings or SEO.

      Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

      5. Haven't updated anything for months
      I have sites that have not been updated since 2004 that are ranking. People have this whole update thing completely wrong. A site does not need constant updates to rank well. Of course, if you are operating a news site, that's a little different. Unless a site is dealing with current events, regular updates are usually not necessary.
      Signature

      For SEO news, discussions, tactics, and more.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372602].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author Eoon
        That's nice to hear it basically means that the mini website will continue to outrank me while this chair and my bottom are growing into one
        1. About the PBN - it's not about finding it, if he keeps his prints tidy, they'll probably never find him, I know that - but what about context? What about the fact that the sites he is linking from have nothing to do with the niche. It's not a PBN that's well built in a niche (not even close).

        2. About the anchor - is your opinion that if you have a 100 links from 5 domains, with 85 of them pointing to the home page ( most of them with exact match anchor) seems natural to Google? I am failing to see the logic in the link profile being differently rated depending on the number of links you have. I am not saying you are wrong, I just don't know...

        3. About the content - I have to put this into context. It's not just him not updating content, the big picture would be me adding articles and 2000+ word guides rich in videos, downloadables, etc..(and naturally getting links for them). Guides laser targeted to outrank him for specific keywords and still his PBN links hold strong.

        4. About the social signals - I'd beg to differ, no matter what Matt Cutts says. When I am saying this I am looking past the likes and shares and talking more about user engagement and secondary signals of quality. It might sound like blabber, but I've seen it on my websites - the difference between two website with almost exactly the same metrics and with/without social dimensions to them.

        With all that said the fact remains that he's outranking me - which leads me to the simple conclusion that links are still the main arena, I'll just have to work and wait until I naturally beat him on that front.

        Thanks for your thoughts
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372671].message }}
        • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
          Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

          2. About the anchor - is your opinion that if you have a 100 links from 5 domains, with 85 of them pointing to the home page ( most of them with exact match anchor) seems natural to Google? I am failing to see the logic in the link profile being differently rated depending on the number of links you have. I am not saying you are wrong, I just don't know...
          It's about the scale. If a site has 100 links from 100 different sites, could it be possible that 40 of those sites used the same anchor text? Maybe unlikely, but surely possible.

          If a site had 100,000 links from 100,000 different sites, is it at all likely that 40,000 sites all chose to link to that site the same way? Nope.

          Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

          4. About the social signals - I'd beg to differ, no matter what Matt Cutts says. When I am saying this I am looking past the likes and shares and talking more about user engagement and secondary signals of quality. It might sound like blabber, but I've seen it on my websites - the difference between two website with almost exactly the same metrics and with/without social dimensions to them.
          User engagement on a site has nothing to do with social media and social signals. You are talking about something different there.

          Google is never going to invest a healthy portion of their algorithm into something they could be shut out of at any moment. Facebook could decide to block Google's crawlers completely tomorrow if they wanted to.

          As far as just general user engagement on a site and how it impacts rankings, that is nearly impossible to measure because you do not have that information on your competitor's sites.
          Signature

          For SEO news, discussions, tactics, and more.
          {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372683].message }}
          • Profile picture of the author Eoon
            Originally Posted by MikeFriedman View Post

            It's about the scale. If a site has 100 links from 100 different sites, could it be possible that 40 of those sites used the same anchor text? Maybe unlikely, but surely possible.

            If a site had 100,000 links from 100,000 different sites, is it at all likely that 40,000 sites all chose to link to that site the same way? Nope.



            User engagement on a site has nothing to do with social media and social signals. You are talking about something different there.

            Google is never going to invest a healthy portion of their algorithm into something they could be shut out of at any moment. Facebook could decide to block Google's crawlers completely tomorrow if they wanted to.

            As far as just general user engagement on a site and how it impacts rankings, that is nearly impossible to measure because you do not have that information on your competitor's sites.
            With a metric like time spent or bounce rate you would have to go with guesswork and your hunch. You would have to see the two website to understand why my hunch is that the other one is not doing so well there.

            But there are measurable things like comments - hundreds vs. all time zero is a pretty good signal of user engagement, wouldn't you say?

            Yes, I see your point about the link numbers and you are theoretically right. And if that's right that's a huge loophole to be taken advantage of.

            Again, it seems like a moot point and it seems like I'm a crybaby about somebody outranking me. The man did what he did and I respect that (whatever hat you put on). I am just trying to understand so that I can plan better and focus my efforts.
            {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372707].message }}
            • Profile picture of the author yukon
              Banned
              Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

              But there are measurable things like comments - hundreds vs. all time zero is a pretty good signal of user engagement, wouldn't you say?
              Are you suggesting comments can't be fake?
              {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372720].message }}
              • Profile picture of the author Eoon
                Mine are real, which I know is not really relevant, just saying...

                Since you mentioned it - what I am suggesting is that even if they were, how would Google know the difference between the two, unless you negligently buy them and go from 5 to 100s per day to and your time spent and bounce rate remains the same - this would mean that somebody comes by leaves a comment and just bounces (code-fiverr)

                I am sure that Google is smart enough to know unnatural behavior and that this kind of imbalance would trigger some red flags.

                What I am saying is that my website grew naturally in all aspects.

                Again, I am not trying to turn this into who-has-a-bigger-seo-d...

                I am sharing what's going on and trying to look at my situation with a fresh set of probably smarter eyes, not prove that I am an SEO wonder...my partner is in charge of that...
                {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372766].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Laubster
    Be careful about the alt tags, could contribute to over optimization as that keyword tag will be present on every single page on your site.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372615].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
      Originally Posted by Laubster View Post

      Be careful about the alt tags, could contribute to over optimization as that keyword tag will be present on every single page on your site.
      Well in that case, nobody should use menus either...
      Signature

      For SEO news, discussions, tactics, and more.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372661].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Eoon
      Originally Posted by Laubster View Post

      Be careful about the alt tags, could contribute to over optimization as that keyword tag will be present on every single page on your site.
      thanks, I did think about that, but I don't really know what "being careful" would be...going with broad match or...?
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372687].message }}
      • Profile picture of the author MikeFriedman
        Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

        thanks, I did think about that, but I don't really know what "being careful" would be...going with broad match or...?
        Just ignore Laubster's advice on that. It was a totally unfounded concern. There are tons of sites with thousands of pages using keyword rich alt-text in their logo image ranking just fine.
        Signature

        For SEO news, discussions, tactics, and more.
        {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372694].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    Good grief, I have multiple domains with site wide keyword anchor-text for the logos (100s of pages). It's no big deal.

    This has already been covered on other SEO forum threads. The forum search probably isn't working as usual but the threads are out there.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372692].message }}
  • All here is just talk talk. It would be nice to see those websites you compare with.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372934].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Eoon
    I know it would but no can do...
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[9372981].message }}

Trending Topics