Let’s Talk Brand Signals and SEO

Everyone wants to rank higher on search engines most notably Google (For the rest of this article I’m going to refer to search engines as Google because it’s easier).

Higher search ranking leads to more website visits, more likes, and ultimately more sales.

SEO is both a very complex topic which I could write a multiple part series on if anyone wants to read such a thing.

The TLDR version of my SEO guide would be that you need to cover your bases (Tags, back links etc..) but also make sure that every thing you do fits under the same brand so that you can take advantage of what are being called “Brand Signals.”

I always like to start with a definition so for the sake of this article and any time you hear me discuss brand signals from now on, I define brand signals as :

Anything that shows Google you’re a real person and not part of some shady spam scam (say that 3 times fast).

Oftentimes people complain that there are too many social networks, which may or may not be true. What is true is that establishing a presence for yourself or your business across all of these platforms, will send a strong brand signal. Especially if you are consistently producing content.

So whether you are a job seeker, looking for a promotion or own your own business you are a brand.

We could get into the whole idea of branding but what it means is really unique for each and every person depending on their career, personality, and goals.

For the sake of this article and SEO you are a brand, much like the local waitress/actress/singer at my favorite Starbucks here in Los Angeles.

What can you do to send the correct job signals to take advantage of brand signals and rank high in Google?

I’m glad you asked.

1. Have a correctly tagged personal website. This doesn’t have to be fancy, or expensive. In fact, you can even create an ugly WordPress site yourself without even knowing how to code. The most important thing is that there is a website with your name on it in some capacity. Spammers hate committing to websites which is why they use fly by night sites that disappear if you’re ever doing market research.

2. Pick 3-5 social media platforms and link them together. I don’t care what they are, but by linking your social networking together you form an even stronger brand signal. Especially if you use the exact same name on each platform. This doesn’t work so well if your Twitter is David Justin, your Facebook is Justin Plumbers and your Instagram is LovesThe Dodgers.

3. Publish content weekly, if not daily. The more you publish content under your brand, the more brand signals created especially if you continue to tag everything with the appropriate tags.

So to Re-cap:

Brand Signals are anything that shows google there is a real person posting not a scamming spammer.

Brand Signals are important because they help tell Google what to filter out and what to show people.

The more you link your brand across the various sites and produce specific and tagged content the more brand signals you will create and the easier it will be find you online.

Hope that helps,

Jon Lee

 

 

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