Question

Topic: SEO/SEM

Managing Names And "brand Or Stage" Names

Posted by cindy on 8/5/2020 at 1:16 PM ET 250 Points
Trying to optimize for an artist website and the dilemma is with the difference in his name and his "brand." His widowed wife is the steward of his work and she is trying to carry on his artistic legacy and develop an online shop.

Everyone called him "Bob" (nicknamed from Robert). And in the body copy of the website and blog he is referred to as "Bob" (and/or Bob/Last Name).

But his brand, the sig on his work when he signed it, is his Middle/Last name because his familiar name, Bob/Last name, is the same as another prominent artist (and also another prominent author). And so, in trying to distinguish himself in the art market, he began using his Middle/Last name.

The domain name is his brand (Middle/Last name) not Bob/Last Name.

So how to optimize headings... external links, etc?

And if galleries are referring to him as Middle/Last name, but the blog on the website is "Bob" because that's what he was called by everyone... then how best to establish a primary and hierarchy naming/brand and content structure?

Any assistance would be greatly appreaciated.

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  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/5/2020 at 2:08 PM Member
    When people are searching for his works, what words do they use?
    Could you add his nickname in quotation marks, so people will make the connection that his legal name differs from his familiar name?
  • Posted by cindy on 8/5/2020 at 2:38 PM Author
    Thank you.

    There isn't yet any extensive strategy and also he isn't yet an artist that's widely searched. He was known locally. And his brand (although still not unique, but far more so than is familiar name) comes up a couple of times when his familiar name does not. I don't believe any precedent has yet been set, so you could go either way. But I do believe that his windowed wife and curator will want to use his brand as primary (middle/last name), understandable. But I am wondering how referring to him as "Bob" in blogs and many subheadings (and headings) and links will affect SEO strategy for optimizing for his brand (Middle/Last Name).

    What guidelines or strategy should I pursue, generally?

    Thank you for you response.
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/5/2020 at 3:55 PM Accepted
    Ideally, you'd want the same phrase that people are searching for on your webpages. That's why I asked about searches (are you currently using Google's Search Console, for example) – it'll help inform your direction by giving you some baseline information.

    If he's not well searched, then perhaps a good first step would be to ensure he's listed on art authority websites to help people discover his work (including Wikipedia, if there's sufficient academic/independent information about his work & life).

    In general, I'd recommend using Bob in quotes, with the full name nearby/surrounding it. The domain name will give you some authority for his full name, but you'll need to add credence to his familiar name for SEO/SEM reasons.

    And if you don't already have a disambiguating page to differentiate your client from other people with similar names, you might wish to add one. It'll help people and won't hurt SEO efforts. If done well, you might wish to share this page with your "similars," in hopes that they do a similar step to help their non-competition with similar names.
  • Posted by cindy on 8/5/2020 at 4:31 PM Author
    Jay,
    Thank you. We are using Google console - the site is new - and other than a couple of local search results, it is a clean slate. Now is the time to finalize and that we're consistent with all of our efforts.

    So just one more thought: if we choose the brand name to optimize, then to add credence to his familiar name (in addition to the disambiguation process) it seems that when Bob's name is mentioned (maybe once at the start of a blog post, or in a heading, subheading or in the body of the website) that we could write his name like this: "Bob" Middle Last?
    Or what about Bob (Middle Last) in parentheses, or with either parts of the name as bold and/or italic?
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 8/5/2020 at 4:37 PM Accepted
    Experiment with the various ways you could show Bob's name. What looks best to people? How do they compare from a search perspective? For the time being, try all the variations and see what works best (now that you have a clean slate) and optimize from there.
  • Posted by cindy on 8/5/2020 at 4:44 PM Author
    Thank you so much - your assistance has made this issue less daunting and more comprehensible. Great - so before too much more content is developed we'll try options with name and what people are searching for. Thanks again!
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