An old name left on the site makes visitors wonder whether the office changed hands or the forms are out of date. Search the site, its files and every form, then replace each remnant deliberately.

The site

An independent insurance office in a suburban shopping plaza sells home, tenant, business and travel insurance, with five staff and a steady flow of walk-in clients.

Two years ago it changed its name, with a new logo, a new sign over the door and new stationery. The website got the new logo in the header and a new colour for its buttons.

Everything else stayed. The old name is still in the page titles, the footer, every PDF form, several images and the graphic at the bottom of every staff email.

Nobody at the office looks at most of these places. Clients and search engines see all of them.

The inference a visitor makes

A visitor who meets two names on one site has to decide which is current, and the site offers no help.

They wonder whether the office has been sold, whether their broker is still there, and whether the forms are current or will be sent back.

For an insurance office, where paperwork and trust are most of the product, an old name on a form suggests old forms. Old forms suggest an office that lets its paperwork drift.

The new clients the change was meant to attract meet the confusion first, because they arrive through search, where the old name is most visible.

Where the old name hides

The first is seen by the most people. Page titles appear in every search result, before anyone has even reached the site.

The name in the page titles

The page title is the text in the browser tab, and Google usually shows it as the clickable headline of each result.

This site's template adds the old name to the end of every title, so every page in the results announces a business that no longer trades under that name.

Someone searching for the new name sees results headed with the old one, and either hesitates over which to click or assumes the listing is stale.

The fix is one setting in the template. Google then updates the titles as it revisits each page over the following weeks.

Forms on the old letterhead

The site offers a dozen PDF forms, from a claim report to a home inventory checklist, all made from the old letterhead.

A PDF carries the name in two places: on the page, and in a document title stored inside the file, which search engines often show as the result's headline.

PDFs are indexed separately, too, so a form can turn up in search results on its own, old name and all, months after the page linking to it was updated.

Each form needs remaking from the current letterhead, with its internal title corrected, and uploading under the same file name so existing links keep working.

Words inside pictures

The home page banner shows the old name in large white letters across a photograph, followed by a slogan. Two buttons are images with the old name worked into the design.

Because the words are part of the picture, a search of the site's text never finds them. The alternative text describing each image, written for screen readers, often carries the old name as well.

Replace them with real text over a plain photograph. That is easier to change next time, and readable by search engines and screen readers alike.

A worked example

The office manager asked the web developer for a complete list before anything was changed, so the work would be done once.

A search of the site's database and files for the old name and its abbreviation found it in the title template, the footer, the privacy page, the form's automatic reply and the alternative text of eleven images.

The PDFs were opened one by one, and banners and buttons were checked by eye, page by page.

The titles, footer and automatic reply were fixed the same day, the forms over the following week, and the banner was rebuilt as text over a photograph of the office.

Staff signatures were redone on every computer and phone during one staff meeting. One deliberate mention of the old name stayed, on the About page.

The signature on every email

Each staff signature includes a small banner with the old logo, loaded from an image file on the website whenever an email is opened.

So every quote, renewal reminder and claim update carries the old name to the people the office most wants to keep.

Replacing that one image file changes the banner wherever it is next loaded. The text lines beneath it are set up on each computer and phone, and each needs checking.

The footer and the fine print

The footer still gives the old name beside the copyright year, and the privacy page names the old company as the organisation responsible for clients' personal information.

If the legal entity changed along with the name, those lines are not cosmetic. They say who the client is dealing with and who answers for their information.

Confirm the legal name with whoever handles the office's paperwork, and use it consistently in the footer, the privacy page and any terms.

Beyond the website

The same search belongs outside the site: the Google My Business listing, directory entries, the Facebook page and the broker listings on insurers' own websites.

Each has its own login, so list them alongside the website and work through them in one sitting.

The counter-case within the site

Not every mention of the old name should go.

One plain line on the About page saying the office was formerly known by the old name helps returning clients and anyone searching for the old name.

Signed documents, archived newsletters and old policy wordings are records of what was sent at the time, and should stay as they were.

One deliberate mention, the current name everywhere else, and every remnant found by a search rather than from memory.

What to change

  1. Search the database and files for the old name.
  2. Fix the page title template first.
  3. Remake every PDF form from the current letterhead.
  4. Replace words inside images with real text.
  5. Update every staff signature on every device.
  6. Correct the legal name in footer and privacy page.
  7. Keep one line saying formerly known as.

Step one is what makes the rest finite. A written list of every place the old name appears turns a vague worry into jobs that can be ticked off.

The paperwork side of a change like this is covered in the website after the business incorporates.

Frequently asked questions

Why does an old name on the site matter?

Visitors meeting two names wonder whether the office was sold, whether their broker is still there and whether the forms are current.

Where does an old name usually hide?

In page titles, the footer, PDF forms and their internal titles, text inside images, email signature graphics, form automatic replies and the privacy page.

Why do PDFs need special attention?

They carry the name on the page and in a title stored inside the file, and search engines index them separately, so an old form can surface on its own.

How do I find text inside images?

By eye. Words that are part of a picture never show up in a text search, so banners and buttons have to be checked page by page.

Should the old name disappear completely?

No. One line on the About page saying formerly known as helps returning clients, and signed or archived documents should stay as sent.

When will search results show the new name?

Google updates titles as it revisits each page, usually over days or weeks once the template is fixed. PDFs are revisited separately, sometimes more slowly.

West Coast Media Solutions Inc. provides web design, web development, hosting, digital marketing, and business consulting to organisations across Canada, drawing on more than twenty-five years in the field.

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