Leveraging the often-neglected tactic of Optimizing for Branded Search
What you will learn
- How to adapt your SEO strategy in response to Google's frequent updates
- Why it’s important to use targeting branded search terms for enhancing brand image and post-purchase experience
- Which methods are best for measuring and refining the success of your branded SEO strategy
- What benefits you can expect from leveraging branded SEO across multiple media channels
- Which strategies are best for optimizing media budgets based on trends and seasonal fluctuations
- How to use competitor analysis to maintain your brand's online presence
- How to integrate SEO and Paid Search to maximize ad spend efficiency
- How other companies have successfully used branded keyword optimization and content improvement
Estimated reading time: 10-12 Minutes
When it comes to SEO, nothing is forever. With Google's frequent updates, search dynamics are in constant flux, requiring businesses to adapt their strategies continuously. Targeting branded search terms is one of the most effective ways to stay afloat amongst the rapid changes.
When users search for specific brands, they are often in a purchasing mindset. Optimizing your website for these branded terms can enhance your brand image and reputation while providing a seamless post-purchase experience. Plus, when used properly, branded SEO can inform your media spending, ensuring you effectively allocate your resources.
Google's Consistent Updates Keep the SEO Landscape in Constant Flux…But SEO Is Worth It
To remain competitive, brands must evolve their SEO strategies to remain competitive in the ever-changing SEO landscape. Understanding the historical benefits of SEO, the distinction between push and pull marketing, and the current challenges in SEO can help businesses develop a branded SEO strategy that drives organic traffic and boosts online visibility.
SEO Helps Businesses Grow
From the early days of search engines, businesses have recognized the power of appearing on the first page of search results. High rankings translate to increased visibility, credibility, and more opportunities for leads and conversions. SEO helps businesses optimize their websites, create relevant content, and build authoritative backlinks—all of which contribute to improved search engine rankings and business growth.
SEO Uses Pull Marketing to Reel Customers In
SEO falls under pull marketing. Unlike traditional push marketing techniques—like commercials and billboards—that push your message out, pull marketing attracts potential customers who are actively searching for products or services. By targeting keywords related to their offerings, businesses can attract highly relevant traffic and increase the likelihood of converting those visitors into customers.
Google’s Ever-Changing Algorithms Mean Constant Adaptations
Despite its benefits, the SEO landscape is not without challenges. Google's algorithm updates, such as the Helpful Content Update, have made it more difficult for businesses to rank competitively. Search engines now prioritize high-quality content that provides unique and expert knowledge on a given subject instead of frequent keyword usage. This means businesses need to focus on creating informative, engaging, and shareable content that aligns with their target audience's needs and interests. To keep on top of the algorithm, businesses should employ experts to write and review their content and monitor the algorithm for changes.
The Benefits of Targeting Branded Search Terms
Most SEO practitioners are focused on targeting non-brand keywords in their strategies, as historically this was the way to win in SEO. It’s true that non-brand will always be the pillar of any SEO strategy, but marketers should understand how optimizing your website for branded search terms can bring numerous benefits to your business.
Branded Searches Get You Closer to Those at the Bottom of the Funnel
Branded searches indicate that users are already aware of your brand and actively want information about your products or services. These users are more likely to convert into customers, as they have a higher level of trust and familiarity with your brand. By targeting specific branded keywords, you can effectively showcase the unique features, benefits, and value propositions that set your products apart from others in the market.
But first, it's important to explain the difference between branded and non-branded search terms. Non-branded searches are more general and don't include specific brand names. These searches reflect a broader search intent where users are exploring various options and considering different brands. Branded searches, on the other hand, focus specifically on your brand, indicating a higher level of purchase intent. Branded searches are more than just your brand name or the names of your products: they can also be SKU numbers, phone numbers, addresses, and names of prominent employees.
Some SEO professionals say that you should already outrank your competitors for your branded terms. While this may have held true in the past, there are currently so many Search Engine Results Competitors trying to rank that ranking for your branded terms is not always a given. Ranking may be especially hard for specific types of branded keywords, like “review for [brand name]” or “which is better X Brand or [your brand]?”
Branded search terms can reflect all different types of search intent from a commercial investigation search intent where visitors are researching and comparing products or services before deciding to support oriented keywords like “how to fix a [brand] dishwasher”. By targeting these keywords, you can provide the necessary information to past, present, and potential customers, highlight the strengths of your offerings, and support and guide them towards choosing your brand.
Branded Searches Enhance Brand Image and Reputation
To enhance your brand’s online presence, implement a comprehensive strategy that includes effective monitoring, promotion, customization, and communication of your content:
- Monitor and Respond: Use tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, BrightEdge or SEO Clarity to monitor search engine positions as well as social listening tools for broader insights and swiftly address negative feedback or misinformation.
- Promote Positive Content: Boost SEO efforts on branded keywords associated with positive feedback and testimonials, increasing the visibility of favorable content across social media, email, and other channels such as Google Business Profile (GBP).
- Implement Content Customization and Crisis Management: Develop and reoptimize content to address common concerns and prepare for potential issues, ensuring your content remains relevant and helpful.
- Adopt Strategic Communication and PR: Tailor your communication and PR strategies based on insights from branded research, aligning them with current customer perceptions and interests.
Leveraging Keyword Research to Capture Missed Opportunities
Here’s a quick look at how branded keyword research works in real life. At Red Door, we conducted a keyword research project on behalf of one of our clients. This project focused on branded terms, and we quickly discovered that our client was not ranking for many high-volume terms where users had specific questions about the products, such as ‘Is [brand] body wash good for your skin?’, ‘Is [brand] body wash cruelty-free?’, and ‘Is [brand] body wash good for eczema?’ Conversely, their competitors were creating content answering these questions.
To address these missed opportunities, we decided to create new content targeting the identified search terms. We also optimized existing pages to better rank for these queries. The strategy produced outstanding results, and our client now dominates the conversation around these valuable terms. This type of specific branded keyword research revealed conversations happening outside the client's awareness, which they would have otherwise missed.
How to Optimize the Post-Purchase Experience
The customer support section of your brand's website is where past customers find answers and potential customers learn about your brand, the issues that might arise, and the level of post-purchase support you provide. Having control over this content makes it easier for you to maintain brand integrity amidst competition in the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Unfortunately, many businesses often neglect this section, leading to unhelpful content that can cause a decline in rankings—especially after Google’s Helpful Content Update.
At Red Door, we had a client affected by the September/October 2023 Helpful Content Update. Their rankings declined for six months, undoing years of progress in content and optimization.
We conducted a comprehensive content audit and found numerous issues within the support content, which had been neglected over the years. We systematically reworked the content, rearchitecting the support section into more helpful categories, removing outdated content, and consolidating duplicates. After implementing improvements for a single product section, we are already seeing significant positive results, with rankings recovering for both touched and untouched pages. This is because the Helpful Content Update assesses the entire site, and a high amount of unhelpful content negatively impacts the ranking potential of even your best content.
How to Leverage Branded SEO to Inform Media Spend
For a more integrated cross-channel strategy, utilize SEO and Paid Search to optimize your ad spend. Having both paid and organic listings usually drives more traffic than organic alone, but, if your budget is tight, consider reducing your branded paid search spend if you already rank first organically. Prioritize allocating funds to target non-branded keywords at the top of the funnel. Make sure to closely monitor your conversions to ensure you’re effectively capturing demand.
Elevate Your SEO Strategy with Targeted Branded Search Optimization
Staying ahead in the evolving SEO landscape is challenging due to Google's frequent updates, but it remains crucial to do so. We recommend several strategies to stay ahead of the constant changes, such as:
- Targeting branded search terms, as they indicate a purchasing mindset and enhance brand image and post-purchase experience.
- Tracking metrics like organic traffic and conversion rates to refine your strategy.
- Using cross-channel insights from SEO to improve paid search, social media, and display advertising.
- Adjusting media budgets based on trends and conducting competitor analysis to counteract threats.
- Optimizing ad spend by integrating SEO and Paid Search, focusing on high-conversion areas not ranking organically.
Adopting a strategic approach boosts your online presence and drives your business success. Reach out to Red Door today to evaluate your branded strategy and elevate your results!