It’s not often you’ll hear SEO experts admit that search engine optimisation is of less than central importance to a site. Partly this comes from the tendency for businesses to completely ignore their SEO. Partly it comes from the intense focus the SEO industry has. It is true, however, that SEO shouldn’t be the first and last thing you consider for your site.

In truth, search engine optimisation can both be assisted by and assist other aspects of your site’s marketing. If done well, search engine optimisation should have a positive effect on your site well beyond the search engines. To have this affect, though, optimisation has to look beyond the basic optimisation techniques. A good SEO company won’t just stick keywords all over your pages and consider the job done. Good SEO involves tactics that improve the site overall. You can talk to us about this at SEO Consult. One of the things that should be considered is your business branding.

The origins of brands

Branding has been the traditional realm of the marketer, and the move online hasn’t changed anything. Businesses still go to their marketing departments for their brand ideas, and approach SEO experts only when the marketing side has been sorted out. Some separation between SEO and regular marketing is only natural, but SEO shouldn’t be left out of the loop entirely. The choices you make for your brand have a big affect on your SEO and, more importantly, your SEO could have a big effect on your brand.

Find the balance

Just as your site and SEO cannot operate in isolation from each other, it’s not wise for your brand and your SEO to be completely separate. It’s a mistake to allow your brand to be the central guiding factor of your SEO, but it’s a mistake to go in the opposite extreme as well. If incorporated properly, your SEO and your existing brand presence can work together to promote each other. In areas where your brand is already known, tying it to your SEO can boost site rankings. In areas where off-page SEO is being used to promote inbound links, your brand can also be mentioned.

Brands in the future

Branding may well take on greater importance in coming years. In late 2008, Google CEO Eric Schmidt warned the publishing industry that without proper efforts in branding at that stage, their news services could take dive-bomb in future rankings. The reason, Schmidt said, was that the internet is increasingly starting to resemble a ‘cesspit’ of information. Branding may well be the only way to identify reliable information in the future, if only because it automatically attributes a source for the information which can be tracked down.

Brands already play an important part in modern culture. Market studies have consistently shown that people will pay more for a brand, and in the case of information, will pay for a brand when they can get the generic version for free. Basically, a well-established brand can sell itself. Allow your SEO to help your brand.

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