1. Social Media
Your social media profiles have a high likelihood of showing up in your branded-search results. Accordingly, you’ll want to claim all your major social media profiles (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, etc.) and fill in as much information on each of them as possible. Be sure to link to them from your website, and link from each of your social media profiles back to your website’s home page. If you would like any help with your social media accounts, contact us.
2. Branded Articles
After your main site and social media profiles, there will still be room for other branded entries on page 1 of the search results. There’s a chance some negative or unwanted results could appear here, so whether you’re trying to suppress such results or just trying to prevent them from appearing in the future, you’ll want to fill this space as much as possible with positive results. One of the best ways to do that is through branded articles, which you can publish off-site. These include press releases, interviews or any other opportunities you can imagine where you get to use your company’s brand name in the headline.
3. Expanded Site Links
Everyone wants bigger, badder expanded site links in search results. Unfortunately, the entire process behind expanded site links is automated, not to mention variable, based on user queries. All you can do is set up your site navigation as thoroughly as possible, making sure that you include your most important pages in it, and write descriptive titles and meta descriptions for each. From there, it’s up to Google to decide whether it’s worth offering expanded site links for search queries of your brand name. The more branded search traffic your brand has, the more likely expanded site links will appear, so engaging in a content-marketing strategy to grow your brand can help here.
4. Distinctions & Variables
You’ll want to make sure your brand name is suitably mentioned throughout your site. It helps to link mentions of that name to your home page, and to ensure that at least one link in your site-wide navigation leads back to the homepage. Additionally, make sure to optimise your brand name and company description in your title tags and meta descriptions throughout the site.
5. Google Reviews
Google reviews feature prominently in your Knowledge Graph entry (or in local results, depending on where you’re showing up), so you’ll need to make sure yours are in good shape. The quantity and quality of your earned reviews may help you earn a boost in organic search rankings, but more importantly, these factors will help branded searchers decide whether or not your company is worth doing business with. Encourage your top customers to leave detailed reviews from their Google accounts, and do what you can to remedy any bad reviews that crop up. Before you can get reviews, you’ll need to set up and claim your profile on Google My Business, so if you haven’t done so already, do it now.
6. Link To Your Most Desirable Results
Last but not least, build links to the results you want to boost to a higher position in the search results. Even results that are on page 2 or further down in the search results will get a boost as a result of more inbound links pointing to them. You may also wish to build more links pointing to your most important main navigation pages, increasing the chance they’ll be featured in your expanded site links section.
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