5 Ways To Building To Improve Your Brand Awareness with SEO
Even the most backward of businesses can no longer deny the importance of a strong online presence in 2022. And when looking into ways to improve a business's digital footprint, many companies start by pouring resources into SEO.
While SEO is undoubtedly critical in standing out in a fiercely competitive online business climate, few businesses truly understand how to optimize their SEO efforts, spending vast amounts of time and money only to get buried at the bottom of search results. To help in this regard, keep reading the following analysis of the 5 best ways to build brand awareness with SEO.
Use Content Marketing Strategically
“Many times I’ve wondered how much there is to know.”
Led Zeppelin made this profound statement nearly 50 years ago, and the answer has become crystal clear in the age of the internet: a lot! In fact, recent data estimates that Google processes a whopping 5.6 billion search queries each day. Given this insatiable thirst for information, it may seem like answering questions is the ticket to brand awareness. And while this is true, you have to remember that it is critical to answering the right questions. Clearly, there is no way that you can answer every question in the world. You can’t even answer every question in a given industry.
What you can do is provide answers to those seldom discussed questions and highlight why your business is uniquely positioned as a solution to the problem. Therefore, get specific in the content you create for your website and social media channels. There is no question too “stupid” to be answered online. For example, if you operate a roofing business, don’t create a post answering “What is the best roofing material?” Don’t even answer “What is the best roofing material for bad weather?” Make it something even more specific, like “What is the best roofing material for 30 MPH wind gusts in Colorado?” When you have this kind of strategic focus, search engines quickly identify your business as a unique solution to a specific customer problem, helping your brand shine online.
2. Create a Link Building Empire
In one respect, the path to brand awareness is pretty self-explanatory: get your brand in front of more eyes and watch your brand awareness grow. Therefore, the more links to your business you have floating around the internet, the more eyes you will reach, right?
Yes and no.
While volume is an important aspect of link building, stuffing links into posts is a spammy indicator that can quickly cause your business to lose favor with search engines. Just like the content you create should be focused and relevant, so too should the links you insert. Make sure that all backlinks are spaced out within your content and direct readers to related pages, sites, or products that enhance their browsing experience.
If you are a pet supply vendor and you link to a high-traffic automotive page, the extra eyes will be angry eyes, irritated and confused about what your brand even stands for.
3. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
Long-tail keywords are so powerful because they help a business reach its target audience. This helps a business create a market and place its brand at the forefront of the niche, rather than clawing to exist in an otherwise crowded sphere. Get into the mind of your ideal customer and think about the specific keywords they might be searching for. By tailoring your content to rank for these terms, you will face less competition and experience greater conversion rates.
4. Optimize Your Website’s UX
Every great SEO campaign should start with website optimization efforts.
Among a multitude of factors, websites will rank when they receive incoming traffic, keep visitors on pages for long periods of time, and generate a high click-through rate to other pages.
The best way to score high along all of these lines is to create a UX that visitors can easily engage with. A couple of ways to accomplish this include:
Simplifying the homepage - search engines reward those sites that concisely identify their brand and what their business does on the homepage. Bulky chunks of texts should be avoided, replaced with catchy titles, clear meta descriptions, high-quality logos/images, and easy-to-follow links to other pages
Make action easy for visitors - place search bars in clear locations. Streamline the checkout process on your store page. Include a “where to buy” page that uses modern store locator software to quickly connect customers with your nearest in-person vendor
By making a top quality UX, more visitors will interact with your brand for longer periods of time.
5. Take a Local Approach to SEO
Before you can leverage the internet’s potential for global reach, you have to dominate your local market.
Not only does local SEO eliminate competitors and help you zero in on your target market, but local searches are much more likely to generate high-quality leads looking to make a purchase than are general informational searches.
Some ways to rank higher for local SEO are:
Posting images of your business near recognizable landmarks
Soliciting posts and endorsements from local media and influencers
Sharing social media posts from local customers
When visitors start to trust your brand as the premier local solution, you will start developing loyal, profitable customers that can fuel company growth over time.
Make Your Brand Stand Out With These 5 SEO Best Practices
Search engine optimization is critical for business success in 2022, but few businesses understand how to tackle it properly.
Therefore, to stand out from the crowd, get strategic in your content marketing efforts, create a link-building empire, focus on long-tail keywords, optimize your website’s UX, take a local approach to SEO and watch your brand arrive at the top of searches within its niche.
Stacey Bailiff is a creative writer and editor with experience in home renovations and home design. She has been featured in several high-end publications, including Ask A Roofer, Fine Homes & Living, and Lodging Magazine.
Photo credits: Carlos Muza | @kmuza ; Solen Feyissa; UX Indonesia; @tracminhvu
