The Secret SEO Pillar No One Talks About:Did You Know This Could Make or Break Your Brand?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a long-term strategy to bring organic traffic. While we all know it's of 3 types: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO, then what pillar am I talking about?

Well, these 3 are important, and here's another fourth pillar, which is keywords and content to help any website rank higher on the search engine through the EEAT and YMYL methods. I've created a link for these two methods to help you understand it better. Now, let's talk about the fifth pillar, which is the most important one to build credibility and trust for users.

Do you know that for every query of a user, Google uses a general idea of entity association to provide more relevant and credible sources? But what is entity association? An increase in the visibility of well-known brands is a result of this method, which was identified through pattern analysis. It is biased, but can you do anything about it? Yes, brand awareness is a term that every business is looking for.

Being more user-friendly is a priority for Google, so businesses should have clear values and goals to better connect with users. Well, brand awareness is also the first step of the marketing funnel to make your customers aware of your company's vision and brand.

WHY IS BRAND AWARENESS IMPORTANT?

Brand awareness is a core of marketing to be more relatable and memorable in your audience's mind. If your customers are having a hard time recognizing you, recalling you, or trusting your credibility, even the best and proven methods of SEO cannot save it. We'll take Apple as an example here to show the importance of brand awareness.

1. Builds credibility and trust: If your brand is known and famous, audiences are going to trust your content, products, or services, which will eventually increase your ranking, and hence, Google will be suggesting it to new consumers. For example, if a user searches for mobile phones, Google will mostly show them Apple, Samsung, or other branded products with higher ratings and reviews.

2. Raises CTR (Click-through rates): Search engines give more weight to brands that receive more clicks, leading them to believe that these brands are more user-friendly and relevant. Google sees the brand as authoritative and places them higher in rankings. For example, any time you type "apple" into a search engine, they will suggest the Apple brand rather than the fruit itself because the market is obsessed with Apple products. Try it for yourself.

3. Boosts engagement and conversions: Another pillar of the marketing funnel, when a consumer spends a longer time on your website, it builds the website's credibility since it lowers the bounce rates and eventually improves your SEO. For example, Apple releases similar products now every year with minute changes, though as a technology freak or as a first-time buyer, people often compare it with other similar products. Google will keep reminding you through ads, discounts, coupons, or other similar tricks; eventually, you'll buy at least one of them.

4. Creates organic word-of-mouth marketing: When people recognize or trust your brand, they naturally share it with one another through social media, reviews, and recommendations, giving a brand free exposure and backlinks. For example, Apple created a product and started selling a brand that represents innovation, quality, and aspiration, eventually associating itself with a premium status.

5. Market fluctuations and loyalty: Brand awareness keeps customers loyal during recessions and market fluctuations. As a result, they start promoting your products to new customers and act as brand ambassadors. For example: a large number of Apple customers began free band promotions after reviewing the product online and giving it as free gifts to others. They marketed it as premium status to everyone. Even today, many companies give iPhones away to boost business engagement. When they launch a new product, loyal customers wait in line all day.

Hence, to grow brand awareness and interest, increase brand visibility to its potential customers, develop authority, and garner trust for the brand, SEO can only bring paid or organic traffic; it's your consistent content creation, social media presence, influencer collaborations, and all other sorts of marketing. Businesses have to start selling more than products; they have to start building brands that people can remember and trust.

Check out this article about IKEA India and their struggles there because of low brand recognition.