When you observe the “golden arches”, you know that that’s a brand! Whether positive or negative, McDonald’s logo is instantly recognizable. It is the same when you see Google’s G, Apple’s apple, or Coca-Cola’s signature writing and colors. Some companies manage to create a brand that elicits feelings and creates memories. There’s always one commercial from childhood that you never forget!
Let’s look at the relationship between SEO and branding and why it matters.
A brand is a name, “logo”, or symbol that distinguishes one company's products from another's. It produces an image in a person's mind when they think about that company and elicits an emotional response. Many companies can have an identical product, but a brand is always unique.
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO as it is more commonly known, is a way to improve your website to increase traffic. This is done by increasing your website's recognizable keywords. When people search on Google or other search engines for products or services your business provides, your company is more visible when it ranks for keywords. The more visible your business is, the more likely you will attract new customers or retain old ones. As more people shop online, especially due to the circumstances of the last couple of years, the more important SEO is for the success of a business.
SEO includes both on-page and off-page SEO. Every bit of your website has crawlable keywords, including your title tags, meta descriptions, website copy, landing page copy, and blog or newsletter copy.
So, what do keywords and SEO have to do with my brand imagery, you might ask?
To create a successful marketing strategy for a company, both SEO and branding need to be considered to attract new customers and gain their loyalty. Developing a solid brand takes time, but if a business optimizes its website for good keywords and content, it is more likely to be found when searching on Google or other search engines.
Famous brands have a better organic Google ranking, showing that branding is an influential tool to help businesses build their reputation and increase their SEO ranking. But that doesn’t mean that smaller brands can’t rank well. The Importance of Branding in Web Design and SEO – Key Medium. A higher search engine ranking can help your business grow.
Google uses links to calculate the search engine ranking. If people already know about and recognize a brand, they are more likely to visit your website and link to it, thus increasing the website's ranking. Shares on social media, such as Instagram and Twitter, can also influence a business's search engine ranking. The more shares a website gets, the more potential for attracting new customers and increasing the brand's reputation. The more Google reviews a company receives, the higher they rank because Google favors its products.
A well-known, trusted brand is more likely to be clicked on even if it is not at the top of the search engine's page. People will scroll past other websites to click on yours. This automatically improves the ranking of your website, even if the other websites have more backlinks! However, links are essential for improving search engine ranking, so getting links from trustworthy websites is vital. You can do this by connecting with publishers and bloggers to get your business’ website content more press.
Branding helps to build a reputation for your company. Highly ranked websites have good quality content but also a good reputation. People discussing your business online or writing blogs about your services or products make your company perform better in search engine rankings. Every brand mention is rewarded by improving your search engine ranking. Having your brand mentioned on news websites is one of the easiest ways to get rewarded.
Search engine optimization and branding are so thoroughly linked that branding needs to be used well in order to increase search engine rankings. Your business needs to create a brand strategy that focuses on its best points, improves the brand “value”, and increases traffic to its website.
Key Medium are SEO and website design experts and can help you come up with a keyword strategy that will work for your business. Get in touch today.
