What is a Site Name? #
- The site name is what appears in Google Search results to represent your entire site (different from per-page titles).
Example:
Burnt Toast
How to make toast in a pan
How Google Picks Your Site Name #
- Google auto-generates site names based on:
- Your home page content
- Structured data (WebSite schema)
- og:site_name
- <title> and heading elements
- Other mentions of your site across the web
- Your home page content
- Best control: Add WebSite structured data to your home page.
Best Practices for Choosing a Site Name #
✅ Use a clear, concise, brand-accurate name (e.g., “FSIDM” instead of “Full Stack Internet Digital Marketing Institute of Ahmedabad”)
✅ Keep it consistent across homepage elements (title, headings, OG tags, schema)
✅ Avoid overly generic names (“Best Marketing Classes in India”) unless it’s a known brand
✅ Provide alternative names using alternateName (for acronyms, short forms, or domain fallback)
Structured Data Example #
Preferred + Alternate Names #
<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “WebSite”,
“name”: “FSIDM”,
“alternateName”: [“FSIDM Ahmedabad”, “FSIDM India”, “fsidm.in”],
“url”: “https://fsidm.in/”
}
</script>
If Google Keeps Ignoring Preferred Name (Last Resort) #
<script type=”application/ld+json”>
{
“@context”: “https://schema.org”,
“@type”: “WebSite”,
“name”: “fsidm.in”,
“url”: “https://fsidm.in/”
}
</script>
Implementation Tips #
- Add to domain-level or subdomain-level homepage only (not subdirectories like /blog).
- Ensure homepage is crawlable (no noindex, no robots.txt block).
- Use same schema on all duplicate homepage versions (HTTP/HTTPS, www/non-www).
- Test schema in Schema Markup Validator.
- Use URL Inspection Tool to request recrawl after updates.