Your brand name should dominate the SERPS
JAQUO magazine as an example
This applies whether you are a lone blogger or a major corporation. When someone searches for your brand name (even if this is simply the name of your blog) you should be in control of what is displayed in the search engine results pages – at least on the first page. You can see above how Google displays JAQUO Magazine.
The first result dominates the entire page on my laptop (or iPad when held horizontally). There is even the ‘More results from jaquo.com linkleading viewers to all the pages from the site that Google has indexed. This is the perfect result.
By dividing your site into a few categories, this is an easy result to achieve. Don’t use too many categories as Google will show six, as seen above. Be sure too to post to each category regularly.
You can see that the second result is the JAQUO Facebook page. Hate Facebook? I can’t pretend to be keen myself but it is a necessary evil for branding today as your Facebook page will rank highly in your search engine results page. This alone is a good reason to create your own branded Facebook page. Post to it regularly to keep those little Googlebots interested and on their toes. Be sure to keep it in good condition.
paper.li
Your online newspaper will also do well in search engines when someone is searching for your brand name. See the image above. Once again,it’s important to care for and prune this service. Although online papers tend to be ‘set it and forget it’ systems, it’s still a good idea to edit it with every edition. This will only take a few moments but you will be able to ensure that your online paper reflects your brand accurately.
Automatic services do make mistakes. An erroneous pornographic image can destroy your brand in the eyes of search engines and the public. Be sure too that you’re not advertising the competition – I have seen this happen often.
Blurb
Most services you use will appear in search engine results. The one above is for the JAQUO print magazine. Be sure to check any services you use to see how they appear in results. If they do not represent your brand properly, or have errors, go to the service and correct them. For example, if you use Zazzle or some other online service for selling goods, be sure to check how they appear in search engines.
Google images
Image results from Google images will more than likely appear half way down the first page of search results. Do they reflect your site accurately? You can see also that Google posts the dates on which the images were collected. Again, this shows the importance of keeping your website or blog fresh.
Rebelmouse
Rebelmouse does well in search engines. Again, this can be used as a ‘set it and forget it’ method of promotion but to be sure that your brand is shown in the way you wish, it’s much better to individually curate what you post there. You can easily do this in seconds by installing their browser button. Simply add each new article to your account.
Issuu
Above you can see another site that will more than likely come up in your search engine results pages. Issuu is likely to be on the first or second page. The one you see above is the preview of the JAQUO print edition for Spring 2015.
Add articles to your Flipboard account by using the browser add-on. It takes only a few seconds and Flipboard is highly regarded by search engines. Make the most of large sites with thousands of users. They are more likely to show up in search engine results than small individual sites.
Fooderific
Fooderfic is a recipe-only version of Pinterest. All the recipes that are posted to JAQUO.com are automatically included. Although this is an automatic service, it is the only one that doesn’t need any curation; it is curated and checked at their end. Note that only recipes with good photographs are likely to appear. See the screenshot below.
Other sites
If you encourage other websites to share your articles,or if you take part in a guest posting scheme, your articles published there will also come up in searches for your brand name. Be sure to choose popular, high quality sites that are regularly visited by search engines.
Google +
Google + is a little more complex because, as you will have noticed, items shared by people who you have as contacts on the site will show in your search results. This means that this happens for everyone. Therefore post regularly to Google + and encourage others to share. Google + results will invariably be displayed so don’t neglect this interesting networking opportunity.
Check often
It’s a good idea to check to see how your brand if faring in search engine results on a regular basis – monitor them to make sure that you are being represented correctly. If you write using a pseudonym, make sure you check that too – it is also part of your brand.
Check your pen name too
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
August 1, 2015
Oh my if wouldn’t have created the top articles in the side bar I would have missed this. I’ll be putting this to use, as always thanks for sharing you knowledge 🙂
April 2, 2015
very nice Jackie – bookmarked to use for reference – thank you! 🙂
April 2, 2015
Thank YOU Melanie 🙂
April 2, 2015
This is very interesting. So, I have a question. If this is what we should be doing with our domains, how does that work with Jaquo, where our articles are absorbed into this URL? Because we no longer have our OWN presence on Google with our articles on Jaquo. Maybe I’m confused but it seems to me you’re saying we need to maintain our own site and not put articles on Jaquo, because we lose our URL identity. Please clarify for me. Thanks.
April 2, 2015
Nancy, the important thing is that when people search for your name (or your business name) that you are seen at your best. It doesn’t matter if you’re seen on Facebook, JAQUO, your own site, or any social media, as long as it’s site that you have some control over. It’s the best way to look after your internet reputation.
If you find that you do NOT come up on the first page with a site you control, I recommend using a service such as those described above to make sure that you do. The site itself is immaterial as long as you are reflected in a way that pleases you 🙂
Of course, with my name, as opposed to my site brand or pseudonym, I have no chance – there are pages of Jackie Jacksons in my local phone book alone 🙂