Balancing SEO and Branding to Avoid Being Covered in Mud

Adding copy to your website can become a tug-o-war between the Branding and SEO teams. One side is representing the voice and tone of the brand.  At the other end of the rope, the SEO team is focused on increasing keyword rankings.

This can lead to everyone walking away covered in mud.

Avoid that unclean situation by creating a win-win situation. Check out our tips for finding a balance between branding and SEO that will keep the whole company out of the mud.

Scenario #1: Adding New Product Pages

Marketing just spent the last several weeks filming a video that demonstrates how your new product works. It’s thoughtful, creative and sure to be bigger news than Donald Trump’s challenge to the president.  Additionally, they created a rad instructographic with how-to instructions for use. Bam.

That’s sure to be a very pretty page. At least until the SEO team stomps out your enthusiasm by complaining that there isn’t any actual text on the page. Sure, they dig the visuals, but Google is going to need an instructographic of their own to decipher this page.

The Solution:

1. Adding a few paragraphs of copy to the page will not only benefit SEO, but it will be a great way to tell your customers more about your product. Add at least 5-6 sentences describing the product and remember that this content should be 100% unique from any content on your site or the Internet.
2. To help search engines see your video content, add a descriptive title or annotation and a few sentences above or below the video plugin. If you can, type up a transcript to add to the page.
3. There are many image optimization factors that can help search engines rank your image. For starters, write alt tags that fully describe the image and add relevant captions.

Scenario #2: Writing Content for the Blog

Blogs are a great tool for creating a sense of community on your site as well as a fantastic resource for content generation.  The battle here comes from different approaches in content strategies. How can you achieve long-term SEO objectives while reinforcing the values and vision of your brand?

The Solution:

1. Write blog content that is casual, friendly and non-promotional.  Diversify your content to include topics your readers would expect you to comment on while also implementing content that is completely innovative to your industry. This will help prevent your blog from becoming stagnate and will help appeal to new audiences.
2. Posting an image with only a few sentences is not enough. Not only does this give search engines very little to crawl, but it doesn’t create an opportunity for engagement and conversation. Create content that can start a conversation. And don’t forget to write a descriptive alt tag for your images.
3. Ask your reader to contribute to the conversation. At the end of the post, include a question that encourages the reader to share their experience or suggestions.
4. Ask your reader to share your content through social media. Not only can this help to increase brand awareness among your reader’s connections but we’re seeing more and more correlation between social signals and better keyword rankings. Yahtzee.

Finding a balance between SEO and brand voice in your internet marketing strategy can do much more than keep you out of the mud. It can increase traffic to your site and allow all teams to achieve their company goals. Share your tips for finding balance in the comments.