I’ve been discussing branding recently, and it made me remember a show I did in 2010, which showed a spike in a particular brand’s search volume. Someone ran a contest for a certain brand on Facebook, and they ended up with a spike in the number of searches for that brand. We used to call that a relationship between social and search, but now we realise it’s just the effect of brand.
You can build your brand anywhere; this was just one instance of a way it works. Back then, Google had an update, which they termed a trust update. Whatever it was, it worked for brands, maybe because people trust brands. So, how can Google know if you’re a brand? I’m not exactly sure, but some things are true. It might be search volume for the brand’s name. It’s definitely not backlinks. We’ve see that in multiple searches when the number one spot has fewer backlinks than other sites down the list.
Whatever contributes to your branding, it’s got to be tied to your customers’ user experience. That comes down to even the most basic of details, starting with technical SEO. I’m talking about having a fast site with no broken links, labelling everything clearly, making the site and its contents easy to find, and creating a smooth user interface.
Do these things, and do your brand marketing, and your site will rise in the rankings. Oh, and if you’re coming to Pubcon in a few weeks, be sure to stop by and say hello.
Jim Stewart is a leading expert in search engine optimisation. His business StewArt Media has worked with clients including Mars, M2 and the City of Melbourne.
