Google’s ongoing incorrect naming issue is over; however, Google admits your site pages may need reprocessing to resolve it completely.
Google announced it had solved the problem that caused some internal pages to show an incorrect site name in the Google Search results.
Bringing an end to the issue that’s been running for almost two years.
What was the internal names issue?
In October 2022, Google launched its mobile site name feature, followed by the desktop feature in March 2023.
Google Search Central explains what this is:
- When Google includes a page in search results, it shows the name of the site it came from. That’s the name of the site. Note that the site name is different from the per-page title links, as these links are specific to each web page, while the site name is site-wide.
But it had problems, as many internal pages showed an incorrect site name when searched for on Google.
On Dec 6, 2023, Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, acknowledged that the issue was causing the site name for internal pages to take longer to show than the home page.
Danny Sullivan`s confirmation on the Google Webmaster Help thread:
- “There’s a known issue with internal pages sometimes having older site names.” “If your home page is showing what you want (as it seems to be), the internal pages should catch up over time. On the favicon, make sure you’re doing what our documentation says, such as 48×48 minimum, etc.”
Google’s site name timelines
Google posted a timeline showing the development of site names since the October 2022 launch:
- October 2022: “Site names for the domain level were introduced for mobile search results for English, French, German, and Japanese.”
- April 2023: “Site names were added for the desktop for the same set of languages.”
- May 2023: “Site names are supported on the subdomain level for the same set of languages and on mobile search results only.”
Google’s update
On June 4, Google updated its Search Central site names documentation, removing the below “known issue” alert that read:
- “In some cases, a site name shown for a home page may not have propagated to appear for other pages. For example, example.com might be showing a site name that’s different from example.com/internal-page.html.”
- “We’re actively working to address this. We will update this help page when this issue is resolved. In the meantime, if your home page is showing the site name you prefer, understand that it should also appear for your internal pages eventually.”
Here’s how the section looked before June 4:
Google asks for patience for internal page update
Some sites may still see this issue because, as Google says, “on specific sites, it can take time to reprocess all the internal pages.”
Google’s updated documentation notification says:
- “Not seeing your preferred site name for internal pages? If your home page is already showing your preferred site name, remember to also allow time for Google to recrawl and process your internal pages.”
How to choose the name of your site
In October 2022, Google explained Google Search Results uses many ways to identify a site name.
However, you can tell Google which site name you’d like for your site by using specific data on your site’s home page.
Some advice from Google on how to choose your site name:
- “Choose a unique name that accurately reflects your site’s identity and is not misleading to users. The name you choose must follow Search’s content policies.”
- “Use a concise, well-known name for your site (for example, “Google” instead of “Google LLC”). While there are no length limits, long names may be truncated on some devices.”
- “Avoid using a generic name – Our system may not select a generic name (for example, “Best Dentists in Iowa”) as the site name unless it is a well-known brand.”
- “Use your site name consistently on your home page. Make sure that the name you use as the site name in structured data matches how you reference the site in other sources on your home page that our system considers.”
You can find Google’s specific documentation on the new site name structured data here.
Moving forward
When using Google Search, site owners who continue to see internal pages showing an incorrect site name have two options.
You can ask Google to reprocess the affected pages or, as Google recommends, remain patient as it naturally updates the pages in its own time.
When he is not writing content, Terry can be found on his boat in Italy or chilling in his villa in Spain.
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