{"id":14365,"date":"2023-10-25T17:48:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-25T14:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8080\/ignore-brand-serps-at-your-peril\/"},"modified":"2023-10-25T17:48:02","modified_gmt":"2023-10-25T14:48:02","slug":"ignore-brand-serps-at-your-peril","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/ignore-brand-serps-at-your-peril\/","title":{"rendered":"Ignore {Brand} SERPs at your peril!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brand SERPs You Really Should Be Tracking (and Improving)<\/h2>\n

Search queries in the SERPs for your brand name are vital touch-points\u00a0for both people and machines<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0and are therefore absolutely essential to your business.<\/p>\n

You should be tracking, evaluating, and improving them, consistently.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. People<\/h2>\n

Consider {Brand} SERPs as your new Business Card.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Prospects, investors, partners, clients, journalists, job candidates, readers, subscribers…<\/p>\n

Most people will search for your brand at some point before or during their working relationship with you.<\/p>\n

What they see when they search your brand name\u00a0is vital. Their perception of your brand when that first page displays is a factor that could very well tip the balance in the decision they are making about doing or continuing to do business with you.<\/p>\n

Do those SERPs accurately communicate your brand message?<\/h3>\n

Does it accurately reflect who you are and what you do? Is every single result accurate, up-to-date and positive? My experience has been that business owners assume Google shows complete, accurate, positive information to prospects\u00a0who search their brand name. They are wrong.<\/p>\n

Even if\u00a0the results are not\u00a0overtly negative and are reasonably\u00a0accurate,\u00a0{Brand}\u00a0SERPs are never perfect<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 they can always be improved. Have a good look, and see where they could be better, then set out to influence those results to make them as accurate and positive as possible. Sending out a clear, positive message to prospects is essential to any long-term business strategy.<\/p>\n

Insight and Action: Getting Started<\/h3>\n

First<\/strong>, set up tracking. At an absolute minimum, I track both {Brand} and {Brand review} for my clients. The list can be expanded depending on the market, the specifics of the brand and the business aims.<\/p>\n

Second<\/strong>, evaluate what message the\u00a0SERPs<\/a>\u00a0are projecting about your brand to people checking up on you. Try to\u00a0put yourself in the place of a prospect, investor, partner, client, journalist, job candidate, reader, subscriber or whoever else you seek to be an attractive proposition for. Take a step backward and evaluate with an\u00a0unbiased view and a\u00a0super-critical eye.<\/p>\n

Third<\/strong>, set out to make every single result accurate and positive. Work\u00a0to ensure that Google presents the brand image you wish to project to its users (the\u00a0people you want to do business with!)<\/p>\n

Start with improving the first page of results, then move onto the second. The second page is optional here\u00a0since relatively few\u00a0people look\u00a0further than the first page. But SEO and ORM both require that you\u00a0improve\u00a0the second and third SERPs, as we will see below.<\/p>\n

Stick to the facts.
\nGoogle wants to present you in an honest light.
\nIt has no reason to present you inaccurately or unfairly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

{Brand} SERPs\u00a0are your online Business Card.
\nDon\u2019t neglect them<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

2.\u00a0SEO, AEO,\u00a0and Google<\/h2>\n

SEO and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is the second primary reason you should be tracking and improving your {Brand} SERPs. The first pages of results for the search query\u00a0{Brand} indicate\u00a0how well Google\u00a0understands<\/strong>\u00a0your brand, and the\u00a0first 2-3 pages of results for the search query {Brand + review} indicate\u00a0Google’s assessment of your\u00a0credibility<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Consider {Brand} SERPs as Google’s assessment of you.<\/p>\n

For more on why understanding and credibility are central to any digital strategy,\u00a0read this article<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Big Bonus: ORM Protection<\/h2>\n

If you have built very accurate and positive results for {Brand} queries through an ongoing cycle of\u00a0‘Track -> Evaluate -> Improve’, those SERPs will tend to be more stable. And as a bonus,\u00a0should there be a little bad press in the future, the negative results are less likely to rise to page 1 and ruin your {Brand} SERPs in the eyes of your prospects. And if they do hit page 1, you will have already developed the skills\u00a0in-house to\u00a0boost the quality results of pages 2 and 3\u00a0to displace the negative PR.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Lock in accurate and positive {Brand} search results.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Track, Evaluate and Improve. Repeat.<\/h2>\n

If you want your\u00a0business to prosper long term, you do\u00a0need a perfect \u201conline business card.\u201d An\u00a0ongoing strategy of tracking, evaluating and improving\u00a0{Brand}\u00a0<\/strong>SERPs will\u00a0boost your brand image in the eyes of bothpeople and machines<\/strong>\u00a0and put you in the driving seat for\u00a0the long haul.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Track, Evaluate, and Improve. Repeat.<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Track and Evaluate = Easy.<\/h2>\n

Trickier: How To\u00a0Improve {Brand} SERPs…<\/h3>\n

The results\/snippets that appear\u00a0in your {Brand} SERPs can be grouped into 3 types:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Those you control directly.<\/li>\n
  • Those you control indirectly or partially.<\/li>\n
  • Those you do not control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Obviously, the easiest thing you can do today is work on improving the results you control directly \u2014\u00a0those on your sites.\u00a0For example, meta titles and descriptions are often sub-optimal (and sometimes missing entirely). Make them shine for you!<\/p>\n

    Use the meta title to communicate\u00a0the basic message,\u00a0and then the meta description to expand on that in a helpful and informative manner.<\/p>\n

    Note on missing meta descriptions:<\/strong>\u00a0If you don’t have a meta description for a page, Google\u00a0will create a description from one or more pieces of content on the page. And, that may not be the message you want to convey. Using the meta description tag correctly gives you more control over what Google shows.<\/p>\n

    If you also optimize\u00a0the less obvious brand pages that appear in {Brand} SERPs, the first result for a search on {Brand} can go from this…<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Oh dear!<\/i><\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    To this:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    <\/span><\/p>\n

    That is the simplest and most obvious tip. Nothing ground-breaking there.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    How Many Brand\u00a0Searches?<\/h2>\n

    The volume of brand searches varies enormously from business to business and from market to market.
    \nBut whether your company is a\u00a0local business\u00a0or a multinational corporation, brand volumes are well worth keeping an eye on.<\/p>\n

    Higher search volume means:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Plus\u00a0People<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a0the last, decisive\u00a0step\u00a0before doing business with you, and perhaps helpful, positive signals for\u00a0Google<\/strong>. For example, high brand search volume implies that a brand is credible,\u00a0and the dates when brand searches peak gives clues that help Google better understand different aspects of the business (like, low {brand} search query volume on weekends could indicate\u00a0that a brand is B2B). And, the words\u00a0users associate\u00a0with\u00a0brand names can help\u00a0with both understanding and credibility through semantic relationships and sentiment.<\/p>\n

    So, how many times do people search your brand name?<\/strong>\u00a0It is easy to find out using Search Console.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Getting the Data From Search Console<\/h3>\n

    Search Console gives you reliable data about the volume of brand searches.<\/p>\n

    In the following URLs, replace https:\/\/www.yoursite<\/strong>.com with the full domain name (make sure you get the correct protocol \u2014\u00a0http or https and with or without the \u201cwww\u201d),\u00a0yourbrand<\/strong>\u00a0with your brand name and copy paste into the address bar of your browser.<\/em><\/p>\n

    I am assuming here that you have a Search Console account, are logged in and have added your site as a property.<\/em><\/p>\n

    {Brand} Searches<\/strong><\/p>\n

    https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/performance\/search-analytics?resource_id=https:\/\/www.yoursite<\/strong>.com\/&query=!yourbrand<\/strong>&breakdown=query&page=!https:\/\/www.yoursite<\/strong>.com\/&num_of_days=28<\/p>\n

    Look at \u201cimpressions\u201d \u2014\u00a0that is the number of times people searched\u00a0your exact brand name over the last 4 weeks.<\/p>\n

    For {Brand review} Searches<\/h4>\n

    https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/performance\/search-analytics?resource_id=https:\/\/www.yoursite<\/strong>.com\/&query=!yourbrand<\/strong>+review&breakdown=query&num_of_days=28<\/p>\n

    All Searches Containing\u00a0{Brand}<\/h4>\n

    It is also very useful to look at all queries containing your brand name. Any user search query that contains your brand name is potentially a big deal.<\/p>\n

    https:\/\/search.google.com\/search-console\/performance\/search-analytics?resource_id=https:\/\/www.yoursite<\/strong>.com\/&query=*yourbrand<\/strong>&breakdown=query&num_of_days=28<\/p>\n

    Disclaimer: Generic\/Ambiguous Brand Names<\/strong><\/p>\n

    With a generic or ambiguous brand name, {Brand} searches bring up irrelevant results for users and the Search Console data on {Brand} searches\u00a0loses much of its meaning. Plus, ambiguity is something machines are pretty uncomfortable with.<\/p>\n

    Stay tuned \u2014\u00a0in June I\u00a0will write a guide on the techniques you can use to improve both {Brand} and {Brand review} SERPs:<\/h4>\n
      \n
    • Learn more advanced tips\u00a0for directly controlling results.<\/li>\n
    • Get tips to improve results where you have indirect or partial control.<\/li>\n
    • Learn how to influence or change\u00a0results you don’t control.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Brand SERPs You Really Should Be Tracking (and Improving) Search queries in the SERPs for your brand name are vital touch-points\u00a0for both people and machines\u00a0and are therefore absolutely essential to your business. You should be tracking, evaluating, and improving them,\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[112],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14365","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14365","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14365"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14365\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alienroad.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}