Are you looking for ways to reinforce your brand image and reputation? Do you want to drive qualified organic traffic to your website and amplify conversion rates? Would you like to outrank your competition on Google search results?
If you’re a business owner, chances are you’ve nodded your head in agreement to one or more of the above questions.
You might have developed a powerful search engine optimization (SEO) strategy to take your website to the top of search engine results. But that isn’t enough for skyrocketing your website’s search engine ranking and organic traffic.
If you want to drive targeted traffic to your website and yield more conversions, it’s necessary to harness your branded search queries.
Branded Search: A Closer Look
Branded search queries are the search terms that include your brand or product name. Examples of branded search queries include “Amazon Fire TV Stick”, “Netflix pricing”, “Apple iPad Pro reviews”.
Branded search queries can also include other brand-driven terms, such as the names of your company’s top executives and writers.
Why Prioritize Branded Search?
Here’s the thing – consumers who type branded search queries into search engines have a higher search intent. They’re further along in the buyer’s journey than people who use generic search terms related to your niche or product. They are more likely to convert into customers once they visit your website.
Also, branded search queries are a great tool for delving deeper into the minds of your potential and existing customers. You can find out how your brand is being perceived by target consumers. You can even get an idea of website navigation issues and product flaws that are affecting consumers.
Moreover, harnessing branded keywords will give your control over the buyer’s journey. That means you can influence how consumers move down the sales funnel, thus driving more conversions.
Whether you hire skilled digital marketing experts like Outrank SEO services or decide to take care of SEO in-house, it’s crucial to harness your branded search queries.
How to Build a Branded Search Optimization Strategy
As a ground rule, you should ensure that your branded content assets, including blog posts, videos, social media posts, FAQs, product pages, etc., dominate the SERPs for branded search queries. If that isn’t the case, even the best SEO services won’t succeed in helping you outrank your competition.
Branded search optimization involves a series of complex steps, from identifying branded keywords to optimizing and diversifying your content assets. Additionally, you’ll need to work on local SEO, create and optimize your Google My Business listing, and ensure that your brand has a flawless online reputation.
Here are the steps you should take to develop your branded search optimization strategy:
Identify and Group Branded Search Queries
Before you start optimizing your website for branded search, you need to find out the most frequently used branded keywords. The simplest way of doing this is to use Google’s autocomplete suggestions.
Type your brand name into the Google search bar and take a look at the list of suggestions. It’ll give you a deep insight into what your target consumers are looking for with respect to your brand.
Also, it’ll help you identify ways to enhance the customer experience and conversion funnel. For instance, if you notice “brand name/product name refund” in Google autocomplete suggestions, it indicates that many of your existing customers aren’t happy with your product.
Similarly, if you notice queries, such as “brand name contact us” or “brand name working hours”, it could indicate potential web design and navigation problems.
Additionally, you can use Google Search Console and various keyword research tools, such as Moz Keyword Explorer and SEMrush, to find search queries featuring your brand.
Next, run a Google search for one of your branded keywords and analyze the “People also ask” section. Find out whether the answer to each question includes your content assets. While you’re at it, don’t forget to check the “Searches related to” section of search engine results.
Once you’ve identified relevant branded search queries, the next step to group similar keywords. You can use keyword research tools to group related search queries based on specific modifiers.
Analyze SERPs
It’s now time to find out where your SEO strategy stands in terms of branded search. Enter one of the selected branded keywords into Google and take a closer look at the search engine results pages (SERPs).
Do the topmost organic listings on these SERPs include your website and content assets? Does the SERP include a detailed knowledge graph? Are there any resources from your competitor’s website in the search results?
Focus on these points to find out where your branded search optimization strategy stands. It’ll help you determine what actions you need to take to rank for the target keywords.
Depending on the status of SERPs, you’ll need to take one or more of the following actions:
- Optimize an existing web page
- Create a new web page
- Add a new FAQs page/section
- Create/Optimize social media pages
- Create a new review page
Diversify Your Content Assets
You’ve already noticed that Google search results feature a wide variety of content other than web pages. These include videos, images, social media posts, etc. Make sure you publish relevant and insightful content in various formats to rank for relevant branded keywords.
Renew Your SEO Strategy with Branded Search
Whether you’re running a global corporation or niche local business, branded search is crucial for attracting organic traffic and customers. Use modern keyword research tools to find and group relevant branded search queries. Create a broad spectrum of content using these keywords to dominate your branded SERPs.
