SEO Branding: How to Build Brand Awareness Through SEO

You probably know that effective search engine optimization (SEO) is critical for driving traffic to your website, but it can also support your branding efforts in a big way. SEO branding builds off and supports SEO goals while boosting your visibility, targeting people who are ready to buy, and drawing in your existing fans.

A good strategy for SEO branding calls for a comprehensive focus on your user’s experience across search engine result pages (SERPs) and your website.

Two reasons why branding and SEO go so well together

1. Consistently appearing in related searches boosts your brand’s authority

It can take someone many many searches until they have gone through all the stages in the buyer’s decision making process. The research phase itself can lead to multiple questions and hours of research for one single buyer before they are ready to make a purchase or start the buying process.

If your website is showing up in each of those searches, even if it isn’t the first result, you’ve built up some real brand power in that searcher’s mind. You’re brand has authority from the user’s perception even if it is subtle.

2. Known brands get repeat clicks and customers

If you are a brand with the potential for repeat customers, ranking well for related products and services gives you another brand recognition factor. Think about every time Amazon shows up in a product-related search. The user doesn’t even have to click on the result to understand the following things:

1. For one, Amazon sells the product they are looking for
2. The product is likely priced competitively or cheaper than elsewhere
3. The user could get the product quickly with prime shipping
4. And the user could look over reviews of the product they are looking at buying

All this is built into the user’s understanding of the brand, which can drive more traffic to Amazon. SEO is just a tad easier for them because of this.

What is SEO branding?

SEO branding uses search engine results to drive brand visibility and awareness and capitalize on the searches of people already looking for you. SEO can naturally support branding by putting your name higher up in the search results list. Even if you only get a few clicks, you expose more people to your brand.

Branded SEO also ensures that when users look for your company, product, or service, they have a great experience that represents your brand well and moves users through the sales funnel. Your brand name alone becomes a source of organic traffic.

Some of the best searches include your name and product or service. These queries are called branded searches and reflect valuable opportunities.

When someone includes your brand name in a search, they’re probably close to making a purchase. These high-intent users are often at the bottom of the sales funnel, so they’re ready to buy and offer great conversion opportunities — but you need to guide them through those last stages.

Why should I use branded SEO?

Branded SEO offers diverse opportunities for businesses and can help with goals like:

• Increasing brand awareness: Just showing up on the first SERP can do wonders for brand awareness campaigns.
• Driving traffic due to brand recognition: Many users will click on a page from a brand they trust before one they’ve never heard of. SEO branding can help you leverage existing awareness to drive traffic to your website.
• Boosting engagement: When you target branded search terms, you can craft a web experience precisely for those users, giving them a better impression of your brand and driving engagement and conversions.
• Building your authority: If more people click on your site after searching for your product, Google sees that you are most likely the best fit for the user’s search. Targeting these queries can help search engines see you as the authority on your brand.
• Reducing costs: SEO branding is closely tied to other marketing efforts, like driving conversions and traffic, so you can often build off these projects and leverage similar resources for different goals.

How to create an SEO branding strategy

An effective branded search strategy requires a holistic approach to your user’s experience with the following three elements.

Build your website for searchability

Start your branded SEO efforts by reviewing your website from a technical perspective. If your brand is relatively new, consider branding needs now so you can build a strong foundation for SEO.

Some things to evaluate include:

• Functionality: Is your website easy to use? A poor user experience can give visitors a bad impression and suggest to Google that your site isn’t the best match.
• Crawling and indexing: Crawling refers to how search engines “read” — or index — your website, and optimizing your site for crawling can help you perform better on the SERP. Implement crawling and indexing best practices, such as using a sitemap and internal linking.
• Mobile views: Does your website look good to visitors on mobile phones? Almost 60% of internet traffic worldwide comes from mobile devices, so giving these users a great experience is vital.

Develop your content for users

Search engines are now highly sophisticated — stuffing your pages with keywords won’t work and can turn visitors off to your brand. You need content built for people, not search engines, but thankfully, they have significant overlap. Use keywords naturally, and focus on making high-quality content.

Tailor your content to branded searches with a style and tone that reflects your brand well.

Backlinks are another crucial part of developing content for branded SEO. Your website receives backlinks when another site links to you, and they help show search engines that you have authority and trust. Authoritative sites can also pass on authority, so you get more “credit” when an established site links to you.

An effective backlinking campaign can help you build trust and boost your ranking. Prioritize backlinks from reputable websites related to your brand, product, or service. High-quality backlinks suggest a significant brand presence to search engines.

Measure the success of branded search

Before implementing any SEO branding campaign, determine how you’ll measure success. Identify your biggest goals and metrics you want to track. For example, if traffic is your biggest priority, you could track new traffic from the SERP, but for an awareness strategy, the volume of branded searches might be more helpful.

You can monitor most of these metrics through Google Analytics, Google Search Console, or other search tools. Some SEO branding metrics to consider include:

• Branded searches: Branded searches can help you see how often people search for your brand and related terms, like products or services. Dive into aspects of traffic like your bounce rates, return visitors, and conversions to gauge whether the pages people land on meet their needs and support your goals.
• Direct traffic: Direct traffic refers to the traffic from users typing your URL directly into the search bar or through, for instance, a saved bookmark. This metric can estimate how many people remembered your brand and went straight to your site.
• Google Trends: Larger brands can use Google Trends to gauge interest over time based on search volumes.
• Backlink profiles: A tool for checking backlinks can help you see who’s talking about your brand and find opportunities to increase your brand’s presence for SEO purposes.

As part of a larger branding plan, you could also use social listening tools to see if people start discussing your product or service more on social media. These tools are particularly effective for measuring share of voice, helping you understand your brand’s visibility.

Master SEO branding with SEO.com

Branded SEO is a powerful way to increase visibility and build your reputation with new and existing customers. The right strategy will depend on your unique brand and goals. Try the techniques we’ve discussed to get started, or partner with the experts at SEO.com for branding services.

Whether you want comprehensive and effective SEO services or extra support in one area, such as technical SEO, our experienced team can help. We offer a wide range of services to support your SEO branding efforts and other marketing goals. Request your SEO proposal today to get started!