by Alan Rabinowitz
As more enterprise companies and successful small businesses are becoming aware of the role Search Engine Optimization plays in their online marketing campaigns, they are seeking to use this to benefit the reach and online presence their websites can gain by using SEO services.
However, most companies do not use SEO for Search Engine Branding. Instead, we see a growing number of websites that all look the same on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPS). It makes online branding lost. As some companies are too focused on keyword targeting, they can lose sight of branding on the SERPS, which is becoming a necessity for businesses to stand out online in one of the most influential venues in on the Internet: the Search Engines.
One benefit of SEO services, if done right, is that they can brand your company in the SERPS. Traditional advertising and low-quality SEO service companies that have relationships with enterprise clientele often lose sight of the branding that is created in the SERPS.
If a company listing cannot be distinguished in one second or less, then the branding is lost. This is an extremely important factor in online marketing. SERPS are typically skimmed and clicked on if the title or description appears to the searcher as relevant to what they are searching for. This is usually done very quickly, look for a product or service that you need and judge how quickly you skim through the search results.
Many SEO companies prefer keywords to be the priority over company names, and many companies are losing in this battle by not placing their company name first. Instead, the SEO fears that it cannot get its clients’ rankings if they add a company name first instead of the keywords. This is lost branding in one of the most important places to have branding and company, or product, recognition. Since a majority of all online traffic comes from a search query on a major search engine, if your business name is not at the forefront of your listing on the top of the SERPS, you have lost branding.
To enterprise companies and small businesses looking to gain exposure online, this is the most important factor that should not be given away to the SEO company that is not capable of getting rankings with your brand first. If the company you choose to hire cannot get your site rankings without moving your company name to the end of the title or not even placing your name in the title, then you are losing in branding even if you are #1. Unless, of course, you do not want to brand your company, then you still need an alternative to get your listings to be remembered on multiple search engines or queries.
I tell all my clients that I would rather have number 3 positions with my company name than a number 1 position without it. Here’s why: When a searcher searches for a product or service, he or she will shop around. The searcher who is investing money has a certain mentality. This is to make the smartest, most educated, and most cost-effective decision. To capture this visitor, you need to be remembered in the SERPS. Not branding at the front of your title limits this. The searcher becomes less aware of your site without clicking or reading the tiny URL placed under the search results listing. He or she will search through multiple sites on multiple Search Engines before making an investment. If your brand is on the SERPS, then you are achieving a presence by speaking directly to the searcher every time he enters a query for a product or services related to the searcher’s needs. This builds credibility and brand awareness all in a fraction of a second. Once a visitor has seen your website, and then they find you again on a second search query, they again see you, and without even clicking, you have gained their attention a second time around and haven’t made them click to your site again and taken their time away from their searching.
At SEO Image, we believe it is a mistake for any company using any SEO service to not brand themselves in this fashion. Rankings alone do not offer a complete marketing strategy, and if you can market to a searcher in less than a second, you have achieved more ground than rankings alone.
Smart SEO services and branding campaigns will produce subliminal marketing to web searchers and should not be taken lightly. At the same time, SEO should not outweigh the branding that is more important in today’s flooded online markets. More capable SEOs will be able to gain both rankings and branding in the SERPS, so research the rankings of their clients to see if you can distinguish the difference between keyword title reliance and company branding with top rankings.