Earlier this year, we began noticing a significant change in how Google returned results for a certain set of keywords. It seems Google has given “big brands” a push in the search results.
It is not surprising that Google uses ‘brand’ as part of its algorithm as it has always been introducing new factors to make its search results more difficult to manipulate: domain age, backlinks from trustworthy sites, number of reviews (very useful for local search optimisation) etc.
Because informational websites like Wikipedia, BBC and government sites have dominated top search positions for commercial terms for a long time, it also makes sense that Google gives special or at least equal considerations for commercial sites when it comes to commercial search phrases.
So what does it mean for SEO and e-marketing?
Build & Enhance Your Brand
In the offline world, your most valuable asset would be your brand and now it could be the case in the search market arena too. Make sure your marketing messages help your potential customers associate you with the (niche) market you are competing in.
Link building
How many times have we seen nothing but keywords in anchor text? E.g. ‘car insurance’, ‘London hotel’, ‘cheap mobile phones’. They are simply not natural especially when you do this for link building on a large scale. Chances are, Google will find out and penalise your site.
From branding point of view, it would definitely help if you include your brand name in anchor, for example, ‘Marriott Central London’ and link to www.marriot.co.uk/hotels/central-london/. In this way you can not only avoid spammy link building but also create a strong association between central London and Marriot hotel for users.
Online PR (Not Google PageRank)
It would be almost impossible that people can avoid Android when talking about mobile operating systems; or moneysupermarket.com is never mentioned on any insurance or money saving websites. Similarly, if you are going to nurture your brand, you need to be on authoritative sites and engage with the community: give impartial opinions on whatever is discussed and build relations with the members.
