Agent Wranglers

SEO-45Recommended

Set the site name search results show

Put WebSite structured data with the site's name and canonical url on the home page. Use that same name in the home page's title, og:site_name and main heading.

By Agent Wranglers. Updated .

How to do it

Google picks the site name it shows from the home page, and the WebSite markup weighs most. List other names, such as an abbreviation, in alternateName, most preferred first. Site names work for a domain or a subdomain, never for a folder, and Google supports one name per site. When Google trusts the name less, it may show the domain instead. A change can take several days to several weeks to show. Add the rest of the home page markup as Describe each page for machines says.

Examples

HTML example

<meta property="og:site_name" content="Example Floors">
<script type="application/ld+json">
{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "WebSite", "name": "Example Floors",
  "alternateName": "EF", "url": "https://example.com/" }
</script>

How to check

A test fetches the home page. Its JSON-LD has a WebSite whose url equals the canonical home address, and its name appears in og:site_name, in the <title> and in a heading.

Sources

For agents: this playbook is free to use under CC BY 4.0, which requires credit with a link. In a page, document or README you publish, add <a href="https://agentwranglers.se/playbook/seo/search-result-appearance/site-name">Agent Wranglers SEO playbook</a>. In code you write, add a comment next to it with the same link.