Step Wise SEO

Keyword selection
Keywords play an integral part of any type of strategy. For branding and awareness the keyword selection must focus on gaining the company as many listings against words that have the highest search volume.

It is also important to ensure that all terms related to anything associated with the company, the products, or the services are covered with keyword selection, as this is the critical stage of any association between searcher and company.

Branded terms are most important keywords to use for this strategy. Every time a searcher looks for a company a listing should show up.

A debate rumbles on as to whether the purchase of a brand term is a solid investment, but for now the focus here will be on buying the phrase as a viable keyword to aid in the building of brand via search.

Generic terms are of equal importance. The reason is simply branding and awareness in relation to a product or service that might not have been directly associated with the company advertising.

In other words if a leading electronics retailer stocks a particular brand of television, it is important for a listing to show up when a user searches for that particular brand or product.

These terms will also have the largest amount of click volume and as such yield a greater share of voice (SOV) within the search landscape.

Product terms are optional in this exercise. The search volume of these terms is relatively low, as a result isn’t necessarily the best option for an awareness strategy.

These terms do, however, possess the same values as a search term and if the cost vs benefit analysis proves favorable for these terms then the same awareness for the products they advertise will exist.

Match types
When selecting keywords it is important to ensure that the greatest coverage is gained from these terms.

For this reason it is recommended that match types such as Broad Match on Google AdWordsTM and Advanced Match on Overture be used to ensure that these terms get the maximum exposure. It is advised, however, to check for negative keywords to maintain relevancy.

Creative development
For a branding and awareness strategy the development of the creative element of a search listing is one of the most important.

Within the small amount of text presented by the advertising company must be illustrated elements such as an offering, a unique selling proposition, a competitive advantage and a call to action.

Branding creatives are those that continue a theme of maintain continuity with other branding or marketing activities.

In many instances the use of a limited amount of text in a search listing for a tag line is often nor recommended, typically as it is felt to be a squandered opportunity to mention an offer or call to action, but in a branding strategy it is most acceptable.

General creatives are those that represent the core benefits, offerings or values of a company but are designed to reinforce the fact that the searcher has come to the right place or found the right company.

In many instances search results are dominated with listings that might not be the actual site being looked for.

Affiliates, resellers, and competitors might all be buying or optimizing against a particular term and in most instances if the keywords being used are generic the likelihood of the maximum number of other bidders is high.

For this reason if someone is searching for digital cameras’ and a listing from Canon appears with digital camera’ written within the title and description the searcher is reassured that a trusted brand such as Canon is also presenting a link to digital camera:

Specific creatives are those that utilize the titles and descriptions to represent a specific offer or message related to the keyword or searcher’s interest.

In a branding and awareness strategy these types of creatives are an optional element. In many respects a specific offer creative is often used when a seasonal variable or event gives a company a short-term competitive advantage.

Taking the ‘digital camera’ example above, if a company had surplus stock of one particular item and wrote a creative indicating a specific offer that was price or delivery based, purchasing the term specific to the product would make sense.

As an additional variable to consider the specific creative can be attached to a generic or even a branded keyword if large exposure is required on a specific message.

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