Can you see any contradiction between SEO and branding? Most likely you cannot. Let me explore the interesting contrast for you in the following lines.
Search Engine Optimization has long been an indispensible tool for online marketing. Businesses have all been ramming every possible resource into their exercise to climb up the ladders of rankings of search engines. But now they say SEO is not a good tool at branding. They say your concentration on SEO is a guaranteed way to lead to disappearance of your brand from market. Brand awareness, and not the SEO, is the contrasting answer for leading in marketing.
SEO Is For Back Benchers
Everyone knows search engines are where the online buyers mostly browse first to put their order for an appropriate product online. Search engines bring forth the relevant websites for any keyword(s) or phrase. Prospective buyers go to the search engines with their common or general keywords for they don’t know about the brands. They have generally a vague or hazy idea about the products or services. What they know well is their need which make keywords for SEO eventually—when the most typed keywords and phrases are sought.
This leads to another logical implication. If a buyer is aware of your brand products he/she is most likely not to start with a search on search engines. Rather the buyer will directly look for your website. Here, your nasty and long exercises for getting top ranks overtaking thousands of brands become irrelevant.
The prospective buyer is pretty interesting. Consider the opposite of the above example. Nobody knows your brand. And with the dedicated efforts of your SEO staff, you attain one of the top ranks for popular keywords. Do you think only a result for a brand that is not already popular among the buyer will suffice for conversions? You certainly doubt it will. Is it not odd you keep pouring on your efforts for retaining the number one position despite the doubt about conversions of clicks on your site into business?
You lose the race eventually despite all your efforts. You can be happy you could top the world for that while—only if you don’t precisely eye on the conversions that may likely be scanty. But, in this euphoric world of SEO, people may still be chasing the tail that leads to no admirable conversions. So, it is time to reconsider the frenzy about the top ranks…
Brand Awareness Is the Key to Success, Instead
People know of brands and not the URLs. People who are ordinary buyers don’t have the search engine add-ons installed on their systems to show them the PR of the websites. They pretty don’t bother about that, if they have well-heard of the brand name. Most of the people are such ordinary buyers who are crucial for deciding your fortunes in the market.
Brand building becomes the key also because most of your competitors might still be engaged in investing in SEO. They might not be concentrating on brand building—leaving a great opportunity for you on this road. So, switch your strategies in compliance with the dynamic call of times.
