Download brand building through search engine optimization

IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
BRAND BUILDING THROUGH SEARCH ENGINE
OPTIMIZATION: AN IMC TOOL
Author’s Name: Swati Gupta
Author’s Name: Geetanjali Gulati
Department: Amity School of Business
Name of Organization: Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India
Optimization is optimizing your site and the content of your
Abstract: Building Brands, establishing them in market and
site to get high rankings in the search engines when a
creating an unaided recall value for them is a job easy said
search term or a keyword is entered for finding about a
than done? Marketers undertake humungous efforts and
product or a service. Since the number of internet users has
invest large amount of resources to create a standing for a
increased drastically over a period of time, the relevance of
brand. Apart from giving a brand performance related
search engine optimizers has become all the more useful for
attributes, brand managers also need to confer upon the
marketers and brand managers. In this paper, we attempt to
brand the imagery related attributes. In order to
answer questions like the importance of Brand Building for
communicate both performance and imagery attributes
the organizations, the importance of SEOs as an IMC tool,
various IMC tools are used. There is a lot of innovation that
how SEOs can help in Positioning a Brand etc.
has happened in the Marketing Communication Mix, one of
them being SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION.
Key words: Brand Building, Search Engine Optimization,
This term paper investigates the impact of Search Engine
Integrative Marketing Communication, Brand Management
Optimization
on
Brand
Building.
Search
I.
INTRODUCTION
Engine
A. BRAND BUILDING:
Building a brand ensures identification of brands
REPOSITIONING: Repositioning occurs when a
brand tries to change its market position to reflect a
change in consumer’s tastes.
with customers and creating an image of brands in
customers’ minds with a specific product class or
INTERNAL MARKETING: management should
customer need. The concept of brand building
make sure that the employees of the organization are
converts the brand response to create an intense, active
well aware of the brand and understand its brand value
loyalty relationship between customers and the brand.
and position.
There are several factors that are crucial for building
LONG TERM PERSPECTIVE: This leads onto
successful brands. They are:
another important factor in brand-building: the need to
invest in the brand over the long-term. Building
customer awareness, communicating the brand’s
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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
message and thus building customer loyalty takes a
long time period for the organization.
B.
INTEGRATED
MARKETING
COMMUNICATION:
COMMUNICATION: To create a clearly defined
A concept of marketing communications
image and correctly positioning the brand in the minds
planning that recognizes the added value of a
of the target customers, the organizations need to
comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles
communicate
audience.
of a variety of communication disciplines - for
Therefore, communication plays a vital role in the
example, general advertising, direct response, sales
brand.
promotion, and public relations- and combines these
the
awareness
to
the
disciplines to
provide clarity, consistency, and
maximum communications impact.
FIGURE1 - Factors of brand building
QUALITY: Quality is a vital ingredient of a good brand.
FIGURE 2: Integrated Marketing Tools.
Remember the “core benefits” – the things consumers
Apart from the above mentioned tools there are 2 more
expect
POSITIONING: it is about the position that a brand
communication that can be used for successfully
occupies in the minds of the customers. It also takes into
promoting and creating brand. They are:
consideration:
a.
Competitive Frame of Reference
Social networking sites- Through social networking
b.
Points of Parity & Points of Differences
slowly and steadily not a business can create a brand
c.
Brand Values – attributes & benefits that
of its own but also can derive a lot of additional traffic,
characterize a brand
d.
Brand Mantras – the brand DNA
which otherwise would have been difficult or nearly
impossible to attain. Return may be slow at the first
stage, but social online marketing is considered as
great free advertising tool that can build a solid
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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
foundation for the brand if implanted properly.
interest groups, and the general public. The brand
Numerous marketers successfully are strategically
managers and the marketers now understand the value
using social marketing to increase the appeal of their
of strategically integrating the various communications
business. There are also examples of successfully
functions for promoting their product or their brand
getting into a Joint Venture Partnerships. What it
rather than having them operate autonomously.
means, it is easier to find out business minded people
interested
in
similar
niche
in
the
online
IMC tools make it very easy and convenient for a
world. Successful entrepreneurs use social networking
company to maximize the return on its investment in
sites to spruce up their network of friends with
marketing and promotion. The changing environment,
common interests. They share ideas, exchange
the up gradation in the technologies and the power of
information and in the long run establish relationships
the consumers has made it necessary for the marketers
and take it to the next level then promote by becoming
to make effective use of various alternatives present
partners or referring someone interested in the venture.
with
them
for
promoting
their
brand
and
communicating the clear message about itself to the
Search Engine Optimization- Search engine
target market.
optimization is optimizing your site and you’re content
to get high rankings in the search engines. When
Therefore, making the use of IMC is all the more
people go to a search engine, they enter their search
important from company’s point of view.
terms or keywords for a product or service. Sites that
appear in the top results get the majority of the
D. ROLE
OF
IMC
TOOLS
IN
BRAND
visitors. So websites
BUILDING
optimize their content to outrank their competitors and
Integrated marketing communication tools are
used by the organizations to create a brand identity of
get more customers.
a product or a service in the minds of the target
C.
IMPORTANCE
OF
INTEGRATED
MARKETING COMMUNICATION
audience. This identity is created by constantly making
the customers aware of the product or the service
through marketing activities like advertisements, sales
communications
promotion, personal selling, internet selling, social
approach seeks to have a company’s entire marketing
networking sites, search engine optimization etc. IMC
and promotional activities project a consistent, unified
tools are effectively used by the brand managers for
image to the marketplace. The IMC approach helps the
making a brand successful and therefore acquiring
companies to identify the most appropriate and
more market share. Through the consistent promotions
effective methods for communicating and building
done by the organizations, the brand recall and
relationships with their customers as well as other
recognition value increases and customers remember
Integrated
marketing
stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, investors,
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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
the brand or a particular feature of the product/ brand
III.
LITERATURE REVIEW
during their purchase.
Vertexera (2003) has studied the benefits of
Therefore, helps in gaining brand equity.
search engine optimization as a tool for building a
E. ROLE
OF
SEARCH
ENGINE
OPTIMIZATION IN BRAND BUILDING
brand is discussed. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
is a plan implemented to increase a site's visibility. It
involves selecting keywords that will generate targeted
Search Engine Optimization helps in optimizing
traffic,
researching
search
engine
policies
and
your site and the content of your site to get high
guidelines, and understanding customers. In addition,
rankings in the search engines when a search term or a
SEO involves dealing with design and content
keyword is entered for finding about a product or a
problems that might hinder a site's results ranking.
service. Sites that appear in the top results or the first
Search engine optimization is an integral part of web
page get the majority of the visitors. So, optimizers are
site promotion and no company can afford to ignore it.
hired by the organizations to make changes in the con
Search engine optimization is a tool that markets the
tent or the webpage so that it appears before the link of
brand in a cost effective manner. This term paper has
their competitors or right next to it. This helps in
also discussed the various benefits that companies can
creating greater brand exposure to a large number of
draw from the use of SEOs as their marketing tool.
internet users about the company and thus creating a
With the drastic change and up gradation of the
brand identity for them. A successful SEO campaign
technologies,
will not only improve your search engine ranking but
alternatives for the successful promotion of their
also put you in the same bracket with the best and
products and services and one of them is Search
largest players in your industry. Being at the same
Engine optimization.
the
companies
have
got
various
platform with biggest names in your industry will
surely increase your brand value.
Wenyu Dou (2006) has talked if the companies would
be benefitted of using search engine optimization for
positioning their brand or not. Integrating theories
II.
OBJECTIVES
• To analyze the importance of brand building for an
organization.
• To know how Search Engine Optimization helps in
building a brand
• To study how Search Engine Optimization is used
as an IMC communication Tool.
• To analyze the different benefits that organization
draw from Search Engine Optimization.
from various research domains, it was found that
search engine results can serve as a meaningful vehicle
for creating brand positioning in the e-commerce
world. This mechanism appears especially significant
when Internet users ‘search engine ranking schema
gets activated (e.g., through a brand feature priming
mechanism), and it is particularly salient for lesssophisticated
Internet
searchers.
Also
it
was
highlighted that although a brand positioning strategy
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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
is the most sensible one for SMEs, large firms may be
optimize your site based on a short, static keyword list,
interested in the impact of search engine rankings on
your SEO results will remain static as well
their overall brand evaluations.
Graham Charlton (2002) discusses various benefits
Seoguru technologies team (1998) talks the various
that a company can get by using SEOs as a tool for
benefits that a company can get by the use of search
promotion and brand building. Use of search engine
engine optimization technique for the promotion of the
optimization can give greater visibility, increased
brand. Search Engine Optimization is an efficient and
return on investment and can have a long term effect
a cost effective way for the communication and
on the minds of the customers. This paper basically
creation of brand identity. It also helps the
analysis the various benefits that an organization can
organization in increasing their sales and ranks their
achieve by investing a small amount of money as
webpage at the top and with the main players or the
compared to the profits.
competitors. Through the use of SEOs, a company can
leverage upon their rank on the search engine.
Laric, Michael V. University of Baltimore (2010)
Edward Charles (2010) talks about the myths about the
ponders upon the importance of integrated marketing
optimization of the content are discussed. The myths
communication tools in building a successful brand.
are about how people think that their content would be
Communication is a vital part for any organization to
changed and how actually they are done. Thus the
create awareness about itself among the consumers
myths are to be cleared and a proper understanding
and rightly positioning itself in the minds of the
about the process for optimization should be provided
customers. This communication can be made more
to the companies so that there is no controversy in
effective with the use of various communication tools
future regarding the rank of the web page. As the
called integrated marketing communication tools.
optimizers do not provide any guarantees regarding the
rank on the search engine.
IV.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
Word Stream Inc(2009). says that Search Engine
Optimization is the best practice to be used by the
organizations for building a successful brand. It gives
A. Role of integrated marketing communication in
brand building.
the best promotional results in a cost effective manner.
Search marketing is a powerful and cost-effective
Integrated marketing communication tools are
means of expanding reach and acquiring new
used by the organizations to create a brand identity of
customers, but the world of search is getting more and
a product or a service in the minds of the target
more competitive and harder to master. SEO is not a
audience. This identity is created by constantly making
one-time activity; it’s an ongoing process. If you try to
the customers aware of the product or the service
through marketing activities like advertisements, sales
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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
promotion, personal selling, internet selling, social
TITLE tag with unnecessary keywords. Only focus
networking sites, search engine optimization etc. It
on main keywords.
creates awareness about the brand in the market which
influences people or the consumers and persuades
b) Keywords in the content or the body- Don’t
them to buy the product or induces trial purchase.
indulge into Body text keyword stuffing. It will
Using social networking sites for the promotion or
only lower your rankings. There are no fixed rules,
advertisement of the product creates a buzz about the
but keep your content natural and it should
brand among the audience of different target markets
resemble what text you have in your TITLE tag.
thus creating brand identity. Public relation protects
and promotes the image of the company to the market
and adds value to the imagery attributes of the brand.
c) Keywords in domain name- You should always
use less number of keywords for best results. Like
www.keyword-domain.com.
Brand identity is the sum total of all points of
encounter or contact that consumers have with the
d) Keywords in image titles- The keywords within
brand, and it extends beyond the experience or
Image Titles and Alt text are useful for image
outcome of using it and these contacts can also result
search rankings.
from the various integrated marketing communication
activities like mass-media advertising, sales promotion
e) Age of your document- Most of the webpages
or
which are old and have quality content will rank
entertainment events, websites on the Internet, and
higher. However, in the past few months search
direct-mail
brochures,
engines are showing more inclination towards
catalogues, or videos etc. Search engine optimization
Fresh pages with quality content rather than old
helps the organization in building a successful brand
pages.
offers,
sponsorship
pieces
activities
such
as
at
sporting
letters,
and provides various different benefits to the
organization.
f) Quality of your website content- There is an old
saying in SEO industry that “Content is king”. If
your content is good, then you will automatically
B. Process of search engine optimization-
gain links.
The process includes various simple steps that are
used by the optimizers for optimizing a company’s
website. These steps are:
g) Frequency of change to you content- If your
website’s content gets updated regularly (i.e.
addition of new content), then you can expect
a) Keywords in the title tag- Choose TITLE tag
some Bonus points from search engines.
wisely, and do not overload or overstuff your
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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
word of mouth that spreads like fire in the
C. Role of Search Engine Optimization in Building
consumer market.
Brands.
¾
Be at the top- It quite evident that if you are
¾ Improve the page rank - With more visitors,
looking to build a brand at the World Wide Web,
greater sales volume, the importance of your site is
your site must feature at the top result pages of the
improved significantly. With this improving
leading search engine and most likely in the first
reputation at the online world, your site is all set
result page itself. It will not only guarantee
for a top ranking for longer period of time that will
increase of traffic to your site but also effectively
result is a sharper increase in the brand value.
build your brand image. To get that coveted top
ranking at the organic search results of the leading
¾ Be consistent in your SEO objectives - With a
search engines like Google, Yahoo, and MSN,
consisting ranking at the leading search engine
search engine optimization is the most viable
result pages, you create a long lasting and strong
solution you have got.
influence on the mind of your customers. This will
guarantee the brand loyalty of the customers.
¾
Break the digital divide- A successful SEO
Therefore, it is important that instead of one time
campaign will not only improve your search
SEO campaign to take a long time program for
engine ranking but also put you in the same
your SEO initiative that will definitely contribute
bracket with the best and largest players in your
to your brand equity.
industry. Being at the same platform with biggest
names in your industry will surely increase your
¾ Brighten your online image - Online reputation
management that is the buzz in the present context
brand value.
can be successfully done with the help of SEO. By
¾ Leverage from your ranking - With the top ranking
providing better ranking of pro brand sites and
at the leading search engines, it is quite evident
eventually lowering the ranks of the ‘boycott’ or
that traffic to your site will significantly increase.
‘flame’ sites you can achieve better brand
The best part of this traffic is that most of them are
management through SEO.
pre-qualified customers and hence major part of
these leads will convert in sales. So, with a search
V.
CONCLUSION
engine ranking your customer base will increase
rapidly. This increase in the sales will not only
Brand building is a very important concept for the
give you a financial gain but also build an interest
marketers and the brand managers for successfully
and reputation of your brand thanks to the recent
positioning their brands and thereby making profits. An
trends of blogs and online reviews and of course
established brand is the one which has a clear and a good
image of itself in the minds of consumers. The brands which
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IRACST- International Journal of Research in Management & Technology (IJRMT), ISSN: 2249-9563
Vol. 2, No. 1, 2012
can successfully communicate the desired message about
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