Google’s Search Liaison clarified an important aspect of SEO lately and it is now clear that using branded keywords in content won’t harm the rankings. Content creator Jake Boly questioned in a Twitter discussion that why his unique articles consistently ranked low in search results. He argued that branded terms might be the cause of negative impact.
SEO professional Taleb Kabbara said that using branded keywords like “New Balance” in product review titles resulted with negative ranking due to such terms. He tweeted this sentence: “Jake, trust me it’s the word ‘new balance’. Don’t expect to rise to page 1 with 3rd party branded content.”
Google’s Search Liaison refuted the claims. It is learned that brand name of a product in reviews is expected and also beneficial. Writing a review without mentioning the brand would be unhelpful to readers.
The Liaison provided evidence from a search query for “New Balance Minimus TR V2 review.” The top result was from an individual reviewer and not from top brand. This means that Google can rank independent content if the content is relevant and helpful.
Google’s representative responded to another user. The reply by Google Search Liaison was similarly straightforward.
The discussion is a reminder to publishers. Content creators should take a note of it too. It is suggested to focus on writing the best content for readers. Google’s systems aim to reward content that is useful and not that attempt to cheat the system. Using branded keywords in a natural and informative way aligns with Google’s algorithm.
