Search engine optimization can be used in many ways to increase the success and ubiquity of your business online. From on-page optimizations to local listings and even blogging and mobile engagement, certain SEO tactics used in the proper way can help take your business to the next level with long-term, sustained growth. However, it’s often found that the branding aspect of SEO is little known or executed on. But by simply understanding how to enforce and strengthen your brand using basic SEO principles, you’ll be able to see even more success online than you previously experienced. To help you do just that, here are three tips for bolstering your branding using SEO.
Focus on E.A.T.
Because SEO encompasses so much about online marketing, it can be hard to know where to start when you’re wanting to improve your specific brand. Just what is it that you should be focusing on in order to see your brand awareness grow online and become the authority you want to be?
According to Jason Acidre, a contributor to Moz.com, three of the most important areas to focus on for your online branding are summed up in the acronym E.A.T.: expertise, authority, and trust. To improve your brand online, you have to improve each of these aspects as they’re related to your brand. Acidre also suggests that the best way to accomplish this is to create the best content you can while simultaneously attempting to get others to say the best possible things about your content. If you’re able to do this, you should see an improved level of expertise, authority and trustworthiness of your brand not only by Internet users but also by Google and other search engines.
Become a “Knowledge Center”
Once you’ve been able to successfully focus on the E.A.T. acronym, your next goal should be to become what Simon Swan, a contributor to SmartInsights.com, calls a “knowledge center”. However, getting to this point often takes a lot of time and attention. To truly be a business knowledge center, you have to be known as the go-to source for trusted and relevant information regarding a certain topic.
With the amount of competitors out there, getting to the point of being a knowledge center can seem near impossible for many businesses. However, the more you strive to be the authority within your field or market, the closer you’ll get to being the definitive knowledge center for those seeking information or understanding. This can most often be achieved by practicing solid and effective SEO strategies relating to content and social media.
Understanding “SEO Branding”
In the end, Trond Lyngbo, a contributor to Search Engine Land, reminds businesses that the ultimate goal of SEO branding is going to be the same for everyone: to reach a level of ubiquity where your business is synonymous with a certain market, product, or field of study. Once you’ve reached this point, you’ll have the brand recognition needed to truly influence buyers’ behavior in making purchasing decisions regarding your area of expertise. But until you understand this as the ultimate goal of your SEO branding and come up with creative tactics to achieve this goal. you’ll likely fall short of achieving all your online branding potential.
Taking advantage of your current standings regarding SEO and leveraging that to increase your online brand awareness can really help your business become a well-known name within your industry. Use the tips mentioned above to help increase that brand awareness even further and take your company to a higher online recognition plane today.