Branded SERP’s, What?

22 Apr 2020

Recently you might have heard the term “branded keyword” or “branded SERP” being thrown around online.

Branded keywords and results are becoming an increasingly important factor when it comes to your SEO efforts.

You’ll probably be shocked to find that a high percentage of your website visits will come from a user literally typing in your business name and hitting enter.

Now we are in no way shape of from saying that your product or service based search terms are defunct. If someone doesn’t know you and is looking for your product or service, this is still the best way to trigger a successful search.

But, why should you be worried about your brand name, its ranking and how well it is displayed on Google and Bing? Let’s have a look.

What is a “Branded Keyword” or “Branded SERP”?

In short, your branded SERP is the information displayed about your business resulting from someone searching your business name.

Why are they important?

Two reasons why they are important.

  1. The main reason. We have become lazy when using the internet. Hands up, be honest, how many of you actually type a full website address into the URL bar and hit enter? Probably about 1 in 10. We are creatures of habit. The search engine has replaced the URL bar and pretty much everyone who already knows about you will use it to find your website and other information about you.
  2. The second reason. The first page of Google, when a search is triggered by searching for your company name is like a virtual business card. This page can host a raft of information about your business, including reviews, your social channels and any third-party content that has been created about you. This page crucial for your business. Say you are in the midst of a sale or tender and your intended new customer wants to do some research on you. You want this page to be full of top quality information. You want the 1st page on Google or Bing to be full of high quality, relevant information about you, your services and more importantly you will want it to give you credibility.

How can you improve your Branded SERP?

There are three steps to improve your Branded SERP

  1. Track – make sure your brand is triggering the right results for the search.
  2. Evaluate – we’ll be 100% upfront and honest, no branded search results will be 100%, you’re always going to be improving your branded SERP page, so it is never going to be perfect. It can be perfect for a snapshot in time, but then the very next day new info, new social posts or even a new review could pop up about you, making your page completely different.
  3. Improve – Once you’ve evaluated your page, take a look at things you could look to improve on. Is your Google MyBusiness page showing? Is your Twitter feed displaying recent Tweets? If you have YouTube content, is it appearing in the correct place as a video preview? These are just a few examples of things you can improve on, by updating your feeds and showing to Google that the info you post is relevant, quality information about you and your brand.
  4. The fourth step isn’t really a step – it’s a reminder to repeat. Don’t rest thinking you’ve got a great page. In a short amount of time, that page could change drastically. You could Tweet less, you could get some negative reviews or feedback, a competitor could optimise a landing page for your name. Anything could happen. Always trackback to point two and re-evaluate and improve.

If you want to improve your Branded SERP or have any SEO questions, contact the digital marketing team at Hush today.