Keywords for Optimization Vs. Branding
Remember these numbers:
- Pre-owned cars - 2,124 searches
- Used cars - 1,143,275 searches
One of the maxims of product marketing is that it is very difficult and expensive to educate potential customers, hence it is usually better to describe products with language already in use for similar products: Less differentiation and more imitation. This is particularly true for search engine optimization since the objective is to be found by people who are looking for a product they are already aware of. Branding — creation of a strong corporate or product identity — seeks to differentiate a product or service from competitors and thus usually conflicts with the goals of SEO. For instance, an automobile manufacturer wants to emphasize the uniqueness and better value of their product compared to that of competitors, not describe it as “just another car.”
The difference in vocabulary between branding and SEO affects every project to some degree. Perhaps surprisingly, I have encountered the greatest problems with companies in mature markets. New companies with innovative and never-before-seen products may not be able to describe themselves with existing vocabulary reducing the conflict between branding and SEO. Companies that sell mature products can have a harder time differentiating themselves. The perceived risk of commoditization can result in a strong desire to avoid the “standard” vocabulary.
This brings us back to the numbers provided earlier. I recently worked on a project for a car dealer that asked for feedback on a proposed reworking of their site. They wanted to avoid the negative perceptions of “used cars” by referring to them as “pre-owned cars” throughout the site. The numbers I cited earlier show that for every search on “pre-owned cars” there are 500 searches on “used cars”. As an SEO advisor, what do you think I recommended? Note that this difference is vastly larger than I encounter in most projects.
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