How to Build a Branded Search Strategy

There are no two businesses that are the same, and there is always something that separates one from another, which helps consumers identify with a brand. It can be a name, a logo, a slogan, or even what you stand for as a company.

Branding is about building an image for your business so customers can find you when they’re ready to buy. You don’t want to leave anything up to chance – especially in this competitive marketplace!

If you have a web-based company or sell medical products or services online, branded search results are what you should be aiming for. It can be hard to stand out in the digital landscape as a small business owner. In addition to online advertising and social media marketing, branded search campaign can help you achieve your goals.

What is a Branded Search Strategy and Why You Should Do It

What is branded search strategy? In a hack shared by SEO expert Neil Patel: “Your business name can make a massive difference in how quickly and easily you rank on search engine results page.” But what does that mean?

One of the most critical aspects of your SEO strategy is branded search. It’s one thing to rank high in Google results when looking for a specific keyword, but it’s an entirely different situation when someone searches for your company name or product line.

Branded search strategy establishes oneself as an expert in the field by optimizing your website content, social media profiles and other digital assets to rank higher on top of Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc. When used correctly with a well-planned keyword strategy, this type of SEO can help your site gain more traffic from potential customers actively searching for what you have to offer.

How to Build a Branded Search Strategy

Remember that just because potential customers perform a brand name search does not mean they will find your branded keyword at the top of the search engine results. You should have two essential things to move your SEO strategy forward: organic search and paid search.

Organic Search

Organic search refers to the non-paid method of obtaining a high ranking on search engine results. You can utilize this type of SEO strategy by writing high-quality, relevant content. It is a good start if you have a limited budget for your SEO content strategy. Other factors that help boost your SEO performance using an organic search strategy are:

• Internal and external links
• Optimized elements on the website (such as alt text on images)
• Length of URL
• Meta title and description
• Volume/percentage of branded keywords used in the content

Branded keywords are helpful when added to:

• landing pages
• home page
• About us section
• branded product pages
• after-sales support content

Paid Search

Paid search is beneficial for your marketing strategy without spending too much on ads for your brand to appear on search engines. Why? Branded keywords have fewer competitors. In this strategy, you should focus on the quality Score. As more customers click on your ads,  it means that the ads are relevant to them. But this doesn’t mean that you have to spend more. YourCPC (cost-per-click) reduces as the quality score increases, making it a cost-effective strategy for your brand. If you are looking for a long-term ROI, investing in branded keywords is definitely worth it!

The Benefits of Building a Branded Search Strategy

The effect of branded searches can be compared to a ripple effect. The more you use branded searches, the better your web pages appear on SERPs. It is also worth noting that search engine algorithms recognize brands with better or higher branded search volumes.

So, what does your branded search strategy has to do with your competitors? How can it make you stand out? Since competitors don’t usually include your brand name in their web pages because it will affect relevancy, they will have to pay more for your branded keywords. Yet, it will be hard for them to compete and gain high traffic and receive a low-quality score.

How to Use Keywords in Your Content for SEO Purposes

Use your brand name in meta titles

A brand name on meta titles helps users identify if they are directed to the correct domain whenever they use branded keywords on searches. It also allows search engine algorithms to determine the relevance of your website to your brand.

Usually, people would read the title of the search results before clicking on them. If you are including your brand name in your meta titles, this strategy will help you boost brand awareness.

Identify branded keywords

Tools like Google Keyword Planner and Semrush can help you do your keyword search. Start by using your brand name on this activity. These tools will then give you the results that are related to your query. You will then be able to see the branded keywords your potential customers are using to find your products or services. You can now create content based on those generated results.

Tools That Can Help With Branding and SEO Strategies

The following tools help you develop and execute a search engine optimization (SEO) and branding strategy.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a great and free tool to utilize to understand your web visitors’ behavior and experience as they visit your website. It generates results that will allow you to improve your landing pages, find opportunities to boost your rankings or web traffic, and monitor “404 — Page Not Found” errors that affect your SEO performance.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is a social media scheduling tool that will save you time maintaining your brand presence on social media. Sharing links to your content using social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn drives more traffic to your website. It also offers analytics to help you track your social media performance and do some modifications if needed. Advanced analytics is available on paid plans.

Moz Open Site Explorer

Backlinks are an essential part of SEO that you should also consider in your strategy. Moz referred to it as a representation of “vote of performance” from one site to another. In other words, it informs search engines that other websites vouch for your content, and it is worth linking to. Use Moz to track your website’s backlinks to boost your site’s ranking and search visibility.

SpyFu

Spyfu serves healthcare businesses not only to help them track their SEO performance but also to research their competitors’ websites and keywords to use in their SEO strategy.

Copyscape

Google algorithms hate duplicate content! Your website could be penalized if it contains plagiarized content. Take note that search engines know when the article was first published. They prioritize unique and original content on SERPs while bringing down websites that contain copied articles from the other sites.

Backlink Watch

Another valuable and free tool to track backlinks is Backlink Watch. It shows up to 1000 backlinks and their qualities. Simply enter the website address on the search bar of the site and click “Check Backlinks” and viola, it will fetch all the backlinks of that specific website for you!

Google Trends

If you wonder what words or topics generate the most audience interest, Google Trends is a perfect must-have tool! Aside from being free, it sorts out real-time searches across different geographic locations. It is a no-fuzz platform that helps you find related queries and trending topics to create content. The search volume will tell you how the keywords are driving traffic to websites.

SEMrush

To develop a perfect SEO strategy for your content, you need a reliable tool like Semrush. Some of its helpful features are keyword research, tracking your competitor’s keyword strategy, backlinking, and you can even use it for auditing your blog or web pages. We were impressed by how it tracks and provides detailed results of the organic position of a domain on Google’s SERPs and CPC if you’re looking to invest in paid ads.

All of these tools provide useful information about the best strategies to use when it comes to branding and search engine optimization, as well as information to help you improve your website’s organic search rankings. The benefits of investing in the branded search strategy outweigh the costs.

We’ve outlined all the steps you should consider if you’re looking to incorporate this strategy into your healthcare content marketing. However, to get it right, you need healthcare marketing experts who know and understand the results you want to deliver. We take pride in helping health and wellness businesses grow. If you want to experience a significant increase in your brand’s SEO performance, WriteRN is a perfect go-to source that can help you from start to finish of your marketing campaign!