Improve Brand Awareness And CTR With Semalt On-SERP SEO
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- What is Brand Awareness?
- What is CTR?
- What is On-SERP SEO?
- Ways to Improve CTR and Brand Awareness using On-SERP SEO
- Conclusion
Introduction
If you knew about SEO during the times of page 1 and page (never-ending), then you must have learned that the first result in a search engine result page is the most important. Nonetheless, it is sad to tell you that times have changed, and there is now a position 0.
If you go on google now to search for a query, you will see a lot of sponsored ads at the top, featured snippets, maps and contact boxes, knowledge panels, or even videos. Then the first organic result would appear in the fourth or fifth roll.
This has not only reduced how many pages can be shown on the first page of search engines but also cut down your organically optimized website to number 5 or 6. What can you do?
That is why this guide comes in. Today, you will learn why this is, and how you can optimize your website to be on position 0 using on-SERP SEO.
What is Brand Awareness?
Before going too far into the content, you should be aware of some of the major keywords for better understanding. Brand awareness is not so far-fetched. It is simply about making your customers and the market as a whole aware of your brand, what it has to offer, its product, its impact, and so on. It aims to make your customers know you, remember you, trust you, and believe in your story.
When your brand awareness tactic is on point, it would be easy for you to stand out from your competitors, make sales, expand reach, and encourage repeat purchases. There are three different types of brand awareness. They are:
- Brand recall: To remind customers about your existence.
- Brand recognition: To establish your existence in a new marketplace.
- Brand dominance: To show your superiority among competitors.
What is CTR?
CTR is an acronym for Click-through interest in the content
When you run an ad, or you post a blog, Google (and other search engines) measure how many times it is clicked on vs the amount of impression it has. A good CTR is around 0.5 to 1% on a display network and about 4 to 5% on a search network.
CTR is more important because Google ads and search engine results use CTR to tell whether or not a website/page is relevant, of good quality, and appealing to users. Odds are, if your CTR is low, you have no shot at appearing on page 1, not to talk of position 0.
What is On-SERP SEO?
On-SERP SEO stands for On-Search Engine Result Page SEO. This is simply SEO for SERPs. Before now, SEO experts and businesses tweaked meta titles, descriptions, and keywords to rank first on SERPs. Now, things have changed and SERP SEO is gaining more spotlight attention.
As mentioned earlier, Google has introduced some more features on their result page, such as snippets, knowledge panels, paid ads, images, maps, contact boxes, and so on.
This has made traditional SEO limited to an extent and SERP SEO more important than it has ever been. If you skip SERP SEO - thinking that it is not such a big deal, you might find yourself on page 2 or 3, receiving no brand awareness and low CTRs. So with this already established, how can you improve your brand's awareness and CTR with the latest On-SERP SEO techniques?
Ways to Improve CTR and Brand Awareness using On-SERP SEO
1. Image Optimization
One of the things that are primary to SERPs now is images. But not any kind of image - it has to be optimized to fit into the requirement of a featured image. So what are those requirements?
- Image file name: It isn't as in the days of the old where 'IMG_002354675.jpg' can work as an image file name. A befitting title is the first way a search engine can tell the content of a file. There, use keywords to briefly place a name for your file.
- Alt tags: This is like the description for the image. Also, corporate keywords while constructing the alt tag. But remember not to stuff in keywords because that would be counterproductive.
- Positioning: Where you place your image also matters. Ensure that the position of your image correlates with the surrounding context in the text. Also, don't over-stuff your content with images. You can either allocate an image to every subheading or place it strategically at the beginning, middle, and base of the text.
2. Knowledge Panel Optimization
The essence of knowledge panel optimization is for users to see all the important information about your site in one space. That way, you can easily grab their attention and boost your CTR. You are eligible for knowledge panel optimization if you fall under the following categories:
- Registered companies
- Nutritional websites and organizations
- Non-profit organizations
- Media networks
- Influential entities
- Local businesses
- Product stores
3. Run PPC Ads
Though many past rules stated that you should focus on organic SEO and give less attention to ads. However, the rules have changed. Both work hand-in-hand. While you should pay attention to your website SEO, you can also convert views into clicks with a well-structured paid ad. Besides, they are one of the new features on position 0.
4. Take Advantage of Google Business
Google business has been around for a while, and it was created specifically to help a business get more recognition on SERPs. When you register for Google business, you would be required to provide a lot of information about your business, such as the address, products or services, contact details, website URL, other social media links, and so on.
Here, you would have the liberty to include any important information that you would like your customers to know about. Therefore, if a user is to search for your brand name, instead of different articles and blog posts, users will be faced with a position 0, Google business-featured map, and an information box about your company.
5. Optimize for featured snippets
This might be the last of the list, but it is most definitely not the least of all the ways to improve your CTR and brand awareness on SERPs. Featured snippets are usually the first things to appear on SERPs, and they usually include a block of text with highlighted fractions. These highlighted areas contain the direct answers to the query searched on search engines - and that is why it is very popular.
To rank high enough to be featured as a snippet on a search engine is not simple work. It is more of an art. Usually, multiple pages are re-indexed to figure out which of them provides the most accurate and direct answer to the searched query. Then this site is featured as a snippet (with the answer highlighted in bold).
The steps involved in optimizing your page for search engine feature snippets are as follows:
- Check your organic rankings: It would be wise you know where you are at before making any modifications. When you know what keywords you rank for, you would be able to determine what more keywords to add. You can use any website quality check or audit tool for this.
- Determine which of those keywords has displayed a featured snippet: When you know what keywords your website ranks for, the next step is to check which of the keywords you have listed is a high-ranking keyword. High-ranking in the sense that it is featured for a snippet.
- Add those keywords strategically: The final stage is to introduce those keywords into your content. The best places to add these keywords are directly beneath the subheading, in a paragraph containing at most 45 words, in a table, list, or as the alt tag of an image.
Note that the key is to be featured for giving direct answers. So when constructing your text, make it short, precise, and well-detailed.
Conclusion
On-SERP SEO is more important than it ever was, especially with the changing demands from search engines. But there can be a lot to think about when trying to optimize your website for a featured snippet, Google business, ads, knowledge panel, and image search all at the same time.
What you can do is take one step at a time, making small tweaks and documenting the results. That way it won't blow up in your face or seem overwhelming. If you don't have enough time and resources to dedicate to the step-by-step process, you can outsource your needs to an expert in SERP SEO.