The most successful firms have more than just a brand identity. They offer customers a total Brand Experience.

Customers who have had a positive brand experience don’t just recognize the brand. They feel it. It’s about ensuring that customers have a good experience at each and every “touchpoint,” or point of contact with the brand.

As it turns out, this not only boosts brand loyalty, it can also help your SEO, or search engine optimization. This is the key to getting your name at the top of those search results on Google. Although some have argued that SEO and branding are two separate and competing marketing strategies, the fact is, both strategies support each other.

When you create a good brand experience for your customers, your SEO soars because:

• Customers are more likely to search for you specifically.
• Customers are more likely to type in your exact URL.
• Customers are more likely to click on your site.
• Customers are more likely to stay longer on your site.

When customers type in your company’s URL, that is called “Direct Traffic.” It’s the second-largest type of search, behind organic searches. Organic searches are those that occur because someone typed in an inquiry and found what they were looking for that way. People are more likely to talk about/ like/ share information on products or services with which they’ve had consistent and positive brand experiences.

In practice, good brand experience might work to boost SEO like this: Customers scroll through their social media accounts and spy a product mention by a friend. The first time they see it, maybe they gloss over it. But after five or six times – seeing an advertisement, hearing a friend talk about it,  reading a blog about it, spotting a five-star online review – there is a higher chance that that person will remember it. (And if you’re using good SEO practices in addition to your branding, you should be targeting customers via these touchpoints.) Then when it comes time that person has a reason to buy a product like that, yours will be the name that pops into their head. The first place they – and millions of others – will start their search is Google. The search engine takes them right to it.

Google rewards those direct search hits with higher page rankings – and they are often driven by positive brand experience.

Another way that brand experience can help your SEO: The better brand experience you offer, the greater your brand reputation and the more likely you are to get those coveted “back links.” These occur when reputable and/or varied sites link back to your site as an authority or leader in your industry. The more diverse these links, the better this is for you. These links are a big factor in determining where your page ranks on a search engine. Even if people mention your brand name – but don’t directly link to it – this works in your favor too. (And forget trying to pay for these back links anymore. Google’s 2012 Penguin update heavily penalized sites that do this. The best way to get back links is with quality content and relevant search results – both of which are a part of positive brand experience for your customers.)

Consistency in brand experience across platforms can help too. Customers know what to expect, and that always helps. But beyond that, Google will look for firms that are consistently branded. While search engines don’t subjectively rank which companies are “better,” they do look for companies that have the same message across platforms (each representing a different touchpoint of the brand experience). A website that has clear, consistent branding, a meaningful message and utilizes the best SEO practices will outrank the others every time.

At Go Media, our graphic design team can help you determine the best ways to create a positive brand experience for your customers.

To learn more about how our team of Cleveland graphic designers can help your Brand Experience, call Go Media at 216.939.0000 or contact us online.