Let's check out an example of a SERP for an alcohol brand (brand name blurred out)
To the left of the screen your website information should appear.
To the right of the screen your Google Business Profile should appear.
Learn more about your Google Business Profile here.
SERP means Search Engine Results Page. It's the results you see on the page when you conduct an online search.
Of course we all want our brand or company to be on the first page, and ideally in the top 3 spots.
There is a situation when you should be in the #1 spot. When someone searches your brand name.
Imagine how disappointed you'd be to not rank #1 for your own brand.
I can do something about that...
At some point, you hope, your customer will search your product or company. Why? Because they are interested in you and want to know more.
This is why you have a website after all.
So they type in your name. It could be an exact product name or your company name. Either way you want the information presented to them exactly as you intended it to be. Accurate, informative, motivating. A true reflection of your brand or company.
By giving the search engine (probably Google) what they need, in the way they want it.
Search engines want to help, but it's the searcher who is the number one priority. They want the searcher to find their answer as quickly as possible. This is what the algorithms do. Accessing layer upon layer of data to retrieve the information it thinks you want.
But the search engines need you to provide the information in the first place. So there is a mutually beneficial relationship here.
Your job is to provide the information in a way that the search engine wants it. This is also where SEO comes into the picture. Behind the scenes, in the website builder you used to create your website, there are certain fields that need to be filled in. Consider these fields as guideposts for the search engine to use to better understand you. Yes you can leave them blank and your website won't look any different to the reader, but why do that? Wouldn't you rather take control of your destiny. Otherwise the search engine will make it up for you. Why would you want that to happen?
Maybe some do. From experience in working with many designers, most don't. It makes sense they don't. This is where copywriting skills are needed. The fields to fill in are text fields.
And again SEO comes into the picture.
Your keywords, the words you want your brand to be associated with, constitute a large part of the text.
Is hard for a designer to know what these words are. Let them focus on design, and let a copywriter focus on the words.
It doesn't matter what industry your brand is in. All the same rules apply to your beer, wine or spirits brand like any other brand.
I know this may sound very confusing. I felt the same way so I educated myself on this topic. Today I stay up-to-date with the ever changing landscape of digital marketing and SEO. I find it fascinating which helps keep me interested and learning more.
I'd be more than happy to bring you up to speed and show you examples of this in action.
It blew my mind when I started to dig into it. I'm sure you'll feel the same way.
In the end, this is how I see it. You either take control or be controlled...
