Why is my website not ranking for my brand name?

Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.

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  Anuj Singh: Hey all,
  
  Can anyone tell me the reason why my website is not ranking for my brand name "examinationonline" itself on 1st page of Google. It comes up on 6th page. It is regularly crawled and all the pages are indexed. My website :- www (dot) examinationonline (dot) com Quick reply would be much appreciated....Thanks!
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  Andy Wigglesworth: Hi +Anuj Singh ;if you could edit your question to replace your website address with www (dot) examinatononline (dot) com to follow our posting rules...
  
  Same rule for everyone :)
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  Primary Image Ltd: Hi +Anuj Singh ; - just some very quick and basic feedback to start off with: (a) there's no mention of this brand name in the key headings of the page (e.g. there's "testimonials" instead), and (b) it's a brand name that includes very general wording so inevitably there's going to be a lot of competition for this key phrase.  ;Mike
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  Peter Lunn: Some reasons that won't be helping you Anuj...
  
  1) You brand name is generic. Google's response when someone types in "examinations online" into the search box is to understand the intent of their search, i.e. what they are looking for. The intent of that search will ne for someone who is looking for online examinations. I know that is what you do and so your site fits that criteria, but so will other sites. Google will not show your site first and foremost therefore because that is your brand name, but because one of the pages on your site is considered by them to best answer the search.
  
  2) On the basis of (1), your home page could do with improving in terms of on-page optimisation. Your page title is "Custom Examination & Online Testing Solution". If you want a better chance of ranking for your brand name then the page title would be better to have "Examinations Online" at the start of the Title tag where it has more prominence. With no reference to that phrase it's not helping. I suggest something like "Examinations Online - web-based exam testing".
  
  There may be other reasons but the two mentioned above are important. I hope that helps, Peter
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  Simon Fryer: Hi +Anuj Singh ;, +Peter Lunn's pointers are good ones. As a brand name you have chosen a highly competitive search term, so you'll be outranked for the time being. The on site advice is good too.
  
  That said, there's one thing which is likely to be hurting you more. ;
  
  The homepage renders at examinationonline(dot)com and at www(dot)examinationonline(dot)com. There are no canonical link elements on the site so you're likely to be under performing as a result of duplicate content. Given that there are no canonicals on the site it's possible it's occurring in other areas too. ;
  
  about canonicals
  https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/139394?hl=en
  
  rel=canonical FAQ's
  http://moz.com/blog/rel-confused-answers-to-your-rel-canonical-questions