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07.01.09 What Positioning Means For SEO Strategies  By Patrick HareThough the term "search engine positioning" is a little more antiquated sounding than "search engine optimization," it has some interesting connotations that may bridge the gap between marketing people who are savvy about the internet and those who aren't up to speed on the ever-changing face of the search marketing world. It may also help people in the search engine optimization (SEO) business sell their services to the brick and mortar marketing departments who understand the old "positioning" concept vs. its meaning in the world of SEO. Classic marketing students will be familiar with the concept of positioning as it relates to how a brand name is perceived. Most marketing school graduates were required to read the book "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind" by Al Reis and Jack Trout. Briefly summarized, the book contends that your brand image tells people what your capabilities are. In an example from the book, it was noted that Xerox did not compete well in the computer market against IBM because people associate IBM with computers and Xerox with copiers. Since the book's publication, "positioning" has itself become a buzzword so it creates a clear idea in the mind of a listener who has been exposed to the concept. Therefore, "search engine positioning" may be a bit deceptive (are you trying to position a search engine?) as a phrase, but it is possible to clarify the idea in a way that clears up its real meaning and gets potential customers on board with its possibilities. Any SEO expert will consider "search engine positioning" to be synonymous with optimization. Additionally, the marketing concept of "positioning" on the internet doesn't really work because search is demand driven, and branding involves sending a repetitive message through various channels until someone understands the connection between the brand and its service offering. However, the process of relating the concept of SEO to people who don't work in the search engine trenches is difficult, and takes many different approaches. With a word like "positioning," it is possible to relate that your spot in the search engine rankings is going to build brand equity (albeit more slowly) by creating an association between your company and the "what you do" searches made by the average searcher.
Many people in SEO have no interest in brand building, but traditional marketing types may seem to think of nothing else. Therefore, it is necessary to show brand-conscious SEO prospects how you can use optimization and PPC to build brand presence while simultaneously creating a profitable sales channel for non-branded searches. One of the keys to creating long term customer relationships in the SEO world is to show value month over month, and the residual aspect of good keyword optimization is that people will come back to the site by searching for the brand name once they know it, assuming the brand name matches up with the URL. Finally, there are people who only want to build a brand presence on the search engines, and don't necessarily have an interest in the potential for all of the traffic generated by search terms. Many clients want to have a presence on the web that takes people to a site and presents information in the same manner as a billboard or commercial. These are not always bad clients to have, as they may spend their advertising dollars in amounts comparable to radio and television campaigns. By adding value and creating better search engine positions for keywords relative to the brand being built, a search engine marketing agency can prepare for the day that the customer's strategy changes into a keyword conversion model. This usually happens when a shakeup or merger brings in a manager more familiar with the internet and the potential of search. In cases like these, showing tangible value in combination with online branding expertise generally creates an opportunity for your agency to be retained. Comments About the Author: Patrick Hare has been managing online and offline marketing projects since 1999. From 2005 to present, he has been with Scottsdale Arizona’s Web.com Search Agency (formerly Submitawebsite). Patrick provides Search Engine Optimization and Marketing advice to in-house customers and Web.com Jacksonville’s web design group. |
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