Search Keywords That Drive Brand Message & Positioning

• by Dan Bailey

If you happen to be at a place in your company where you’re working on brand messaging and positioning, you might just want some keyword research to provide research that can help. For example we previously worked on a client that was a surity law firm (which is basically construction litigation). Since we knew this was the client niche area of expertise, we wanted to ensure the keywords for messaging (and website copy for SEO) fit what people were searching for. Since consumers often use different words in Google than what the company would expect, the keyword research identified that. The keyword research also identified that the US state with the most searches for those keywords was Alabama. Ironic since they were based in Atlanta and had just set up a second office in Florida, unsure of how successful that would be. I could have identified a lot of potential demand for their services in Alabama before they setup an experimental second office had they come to me first. Because people don’t search for ‘surity legal services’ for the fun of it – when they Google that, it’s because they need industry-specific legal service help and are highly-qualified leads. For another client, a global sustainable architecture firm, they wanted to add a lot of new messaging for their website and brochures and white papers (keeping in mind those content pieces would also be added to the website).  They knew how they talked about their technical services, but a major question was – what do corporate CEOs who want a new building for their company, and engineers who will be involved in the process and influence buying decisions – what do these prospects search for in Google? Even the difference between ‘green architecture’ and ‘sustainable building design’ can mean a lot of different client impressions and value. So for the examples above, the clients were able to incorporate their new keyword search knowledge into their messaging and copy more specifically. Since the words prospects use in Google searches are often the words they use to describe what they want – and how they see the industry itself!

– Jake Aull, Head Honcho, Zen Fires Search Engine Marketing