The query for this version of Ask An search engine marketing comes from a reader who’s making an attempt to make their rebrand stick in search:
“Our firm just lately went by way of a rebrand with a brand new identify. We’re seeing our previous model identify nonetheless dominating search outcomes, whereas our new model barely registers.
What’s the most effective strategy to transition model fairness in search from our previous identify to our new one?”
Having your previous model identify seem on Google may be extraordinarily irritating. You simply launched a brand new model identify, spent quite a lot of time engaged on it, and right here you might be caught on the search engine outcomes web page with the previous identify.
It’s genuinely irritating.
There are primarily three steps right here:
- Deal with your personal ecosystem.
- Request modifications to third-party websites.
- Construct up your new model identify so that you don’t must depend on No. 2 occurring.
Aligning The Property You Management
The primary, and apparent factor to do, is guarantee your new model identify seems persistently throughout all of the belongings you personal.
A few of these locations are completely apparent, like your homepage. Clearly, you’re going to vary the way you seek advice from your self in your homepage.
Nonetheless, there may be quite a lot of nooks and crannies throughout your ecosystem which will nonetheless point out your model’s former identify.
This may embrace:
- Title tags and meta descriptions.
- Alt textual content.
- Data Base pages.
- Structured knowledge markup.
- Unused social media accounts.
- Worker bios (each on and off your website).
It’s a matter of crossing your i’s and dotting your t’s. In the event you’re an enormous model with a broad ecosystem, this may be extra difficult than it may appear.
Let’s think about for a second that what modified isn’t the principle model identify however a product identify or the identify of a sub-brand.
There might be hundreds of pages that you’d by no means even consider that may reference the previous naming.
In such a case, you must conduct an in depth audit. I like to recommend this on the whole, even in case you are not an enormous web site – it’s really easy to overlook a web page that references your naming and that such a web page even existed.
This could assist guarantee your personal model SERP is aligned with the brand new naming as a lot as potential.
Nonetheless, there are nonetheless components even on these SERPs that can want some assist, reminiscent of your Data Panel. For this, we have to assume past your owned belongings.
Align Third-Social gathering Property
Getting others to acknowledge your new model identify is somewhat harder than simply combing by way of your belongings to make sure alignment (which, as I stated earlier, may not be as easy as it could appear).
Getting third events to choose up in your branding change is extremely vital.
The underlying purpose or idea is: We would like individuals to speak about you and to say your new model identify after they do.
Inside this activity, there are issues which can be simpler to perform and issues which can be a lot more durable.
Begin with the better issues. Getting these accomplished will aid you push areas that you’ve much less affect over.
One simple place is creator bios. In the event you, or anybody in your organization, has contributed content material to a third-party website (whether or not or not it’s an article, webinar, podcast, and so forth.), there’s usually a bio that can point out, if not hyperlink to, your organization.
Be sure these bios are updated and replicate the present and solely the present firm identify.
By the way in which, typically these bios have a number of locations the place the model is talked about; be certain that all cases are updated.
For instance, in my Search Engine Journal bio, my firm is talked about twice:
Screenshot from Search Engine Journal, Might 2025Getting these up to date shouldn’t be exhausting in any respect.
It’s simple to overlook a couple of wins right here.
However getting these citations proper might help with the Google outcomes.
Once I went round and had my present firm added to all of my bios throughout the web, Google’s Data Panel took discover.
Whereas my previous Wix bio nonetheless usually seems as the principle URL within the Data Panel and as a prime natural outcome, Google began to drag within the pictures from my website as effectively:
Screenshot from seek for [mordy oberstein], Google, Might 2025Discover, by the way in which, that as a result of I took care of my social media. My present model exhibits up as a part of my LinkedIn profile, which is complicated contemplating what the Wix outcome says beneath it (i.e., that I work at Wix).
That’s precisely what I need. I need the particular person to ask, “Does he nonetheless actually work at Wix?”
When Third-Events Gained’t Align
What occurs when your model is listed beneath its earlier identify on some random listicle that received’t reply to any of your requests to vary the model identify?
What occurs if on some discussion board (say Reddit), there are countless references to your earlier model identify you can’t take away?
For starters, it does present the logic behind operating a marketing campaign to announce your new branding.
Usually, corporations will run a marketing campaign asserting the brand new branding to generate buzz and curiosity and even to realize extra conversions.
Nothing mistaken with that, in any respect. Nonetheless, even when none of that occurs, it nonetheless is smart to run a marketing campaign while you change the identify of your model.
If solely to sign that the model identify that when was, is now not. This fashion, the following time somebody talks about your model on Reddit, they could cease themselves and use the brand new identify.
In the event you’re fortunate, when somebody posts utilizing your earlier identify, one other consumer will remark that the model identify has truly been modified.
That is one much less place to determine go about altering how your model is referenced and one much less one who will proceed to go round spreading the mistaken identify throughout the web. That’s one much less Reddit thread rating on Google that mentions your previous model naming.
Now, let’s return to that listicle. Your organization is listed as a prime 10 greatest no matter, and while you contact the web site to replace the identify, they ghost you. What do you do?
Nothing.
You retain transferring on. You retain doing extra public appearances, writing extra content material, assembly extra individuals, and customarily build up your presence throughout the planet and the web to the purpose the place your new model identify is the default.
Till the purpose the place Google’s Data Graph is overwhelmed with Mordy Oberstein, founding father of Unify Model Advertising and marketing, and never Mordy Oberstein, head of search engine marketing Model at Wix.
As a result of then, that one web site that hasn’t up to date its content material along with your new naming is the one going in opposition to the grain. Now the strain is on them to point out they aren’t stale and old-fashioned.
Set Expectations
I don’t anticipate this course of to occur in a day nor must you. It takes time. Consider it extra as a course of.
Are increasingly locations throughout the digital panorama referencing your new model identify? If sure, you’re doing nice. Are extra individuals asking for those who modified your identify? Additionally, a great signal.
As you proceed to unfold your new model identify throughout the net, Google’s personal Data Graph can have extra alerts that the identify that when was has been changed.
As soon as your new model identify begins taking maintain, anybody who cares in regards to the accuracy of their content material will begin to both make the edit or attain out to you to make the edit.
Anybody else, at this level, is simply operating poor content material that shouldn’t be there anyway (all issues being equal).
Extra Sources:
Featured Picture: PauloBobita/Search Engine Journal
