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How To Leverage SEO When Your Brand Site Doesn't Actually Sell Anything [BrightonSEO April 2022]
- 1. How to Leverage SEO When Your Brand Site Doesn't Actually Sell Anything Jake Gauntley | Reprise Digital reprisedigital.co.uk/brighton @JakeGauntley
- 2. Sometimes a D2C option on brand.com just isn’t logical or feasible @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 3. So where to focus SEO strategy and resource? @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 7. Product SEO for brand sites that don’t sell @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 8. Sites that don’t sell aren’t useless Explore Buy Brand.com Inspire Discover @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 10. Search data to inform architecture Maximising the visibility of your online product catalogue @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 11. Content relevancy & depth Maximising the visibility of your online product catalogue @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 12. Include structured data as standard Maximising the visibility of your online product catalogue @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 13. Be realistic with your expectations [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] 0 1,500 3,000 4,500 0 10 20 30 40 Visibility # ranking keywords Non-brand Product Search Visibility - Pre Optimisations Source: Reprise ORT – 48 generic product keywords (Amazon removed). Feb 2020 vs Sep 2020 @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 14. You won’t outrank Tesco Source: Reprise ORT – 48 generic product keywords (Amazon removed). Feb 2020 vs Sep 2020 [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] 0 1,500 3,000 4,500 0 10 20 30 40 Visibility # ranking keywords Non-brand Product Search Visibility - Post Optimisations @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 18. https://www.linkdigital.co.uk/the-big-ecommerce-battle-google-shopping-vs-amazon-advertising 0 2,000 4,000 Kleenex tissues Andrex toilet wipes Toilet wipes Google vs Amazon Search Volumes Google Amazon Source: Ahrefs @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 21. How traditional SEO applies to Amazon optimisation Keyword research Amazon search data from the likes of Helium10 and Ahrefs. @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 22. Information Architecture Informed product categorisation and store structure. @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 23. Content Research Use searched-for product info within your ASIN content. @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 24. Content Optimisation Relevant keywords in titles, descriptions, bullets etc. @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 28. Increasing organic performance in Amazon for Kimberly-Clark +15% Top Ranking Positions +36% Growth in Sales Rank 80% Average Quality Score @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 29. Finding a purpose for your brand site @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 30. Brand Protection: You’ve got to look out for yourself… @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 32. Identify top brand Qs Find your gaps Source the experts Craft the answers @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 33. Identify top brand Qs Find your gaps Source the experts Craft the answers @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 34. Identify top brand Qs Find your gaps Source the experts Craft the answers @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 35. Identify top brand Qs Find your gaps Source the experts Craft the answers @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 36. Wiping out incorrect snippet information @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 37. Wiping out incorrect snippet information @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 38. Set your sights on non-branded search @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 39. Set your sights on non-branded search @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 40. Be there when customers need specialist help @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 45. Putting this into practice for Andrex @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 46. Expert wiping advice from Andrex Using external experts for further topical value, growing all site traffic +92% YoY and impressions +226% YoY Source: Google Search Console @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 47. If you can’t get their money, get their data @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 49. 0 400,000 800,000 Total Monthly Searches Pollen Topics Seasonality All Pollen Searches Pollen Count Searches Finding the opportunity Source: Reprise Ad Hoc Metrics, Search Volumes @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 50. Pick your battles Source: 130 Pollen Tracker keywords, Reprise ORT [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] [CELLRANGE] 0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 40 60 80 100 120 Est. monthly clicks # ranking keywords Pollen Count Competitive Landscape @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 51. Source: Google Analytics @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 52. Source: Google Analytics Data capture moment @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 53. Organic traffic increased +961% YoY in peak pollen season Source: Google Analytics Data capture moment @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 54. Thousands of data captures across all channels! @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 55. Thousands of data captures across all channels! CRM & Email Paid Media Get to know them Look- a-likes @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 59. Direct Attention Media Eliminate Friction Experience Customer Flow Capture data for future media targeting Attract Engagement Content @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 60. Get your business talking about SEO @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 61. https://firstsiteguide.com/google-search-stats | https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-search-statistics | https://techjury.net/blog/google-search-statistic @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 62. Turn free, readily- available search data into quick and easy share-outs for your brand @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 63. Three universal brand insights Market Demand Brand Demand Emerging Trends @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 64. [CELLRAN GE] [CELLRAN GE] [CELLRAN GE] [CELLRAN GE] [CELLRAN GE] - 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 Quarterly Searches Toilet Paper Category Demand Q4 2020 Searches Q4 2021 Searches Comparing searches of categories over time Categorised product keyword volumes Report Source Market Demand @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 65. - 50,000 100,000 150,000 200,000 250,000 Monthly Searches Toilet Paper Brand Demand Andrex Charmin Cheeky Panda Cushelle Who Gives a Crap Tracking the trend of branded search Historic volumes for brand competitor keywords Report Source Brand Demand @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 66. Emerging Keywords Q4 2020 Q4 2021 Actual Change % Change bamboo toilet paper 7,200 12,600 +5,400 75% biodegradable wet wipes 790 1,820 +1,030 130% bamboo toilet roll 2640 3,190 +550 21% eco toilet paper 2,770 3,320 +550 20% bamboo loo roll 590 1,080 +490 83% bamboo toilet paper uk 480 880 +400 83% ethical toilet paper uk 50 200 +150 300% Comparing searches of keywords over time Historic search volumes for category keywords Emerging Trends Report Source @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 69. Shy bairns get nowt @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 70. Leveraging SEO when your brand site doesn’t sell… @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 71. Leveraging SEO when your brand site doesn’t sell… Product @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 72. Leveraging SEO when your brand site doesn’t sell… Product Purpose @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 73. Leveraging SEO when your brand site doesn’t sell… Product Purpose Data @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
- 74. Thank you Download my slides at reprisedigital.co.uk/brighton @JakeGauntley #BrightonSEO
Editor's Notes
- eCommerce now makes up a third of all retail sales in the UK. That’s more than doubled in the last 3 years. Despite this, it doesn’t always make sense for some brands to sell D2C on their website. You could be up against the online heavyweights like Amazon, or even just the convenience of popping to a corner shop or supermarket. If you are a brand in this situation, you might be wondering what to do with your website and where to focus your SEO resource… Over the next 20 mins, I’ll cover How you should be thinking about your products How you can find a purpose for your site And How to get your whole business talking about SEO https://www.smartinsights.com/digital-marketing-strategy/online-retail-sales-growth/
- I’m talking about this today because brands have to be honest with themselves…. Sometimes D2C sales just aren’t logical or feasible on a brand site. You might be up against the convenience of Amazon, or even just popping to a corner shop or supermarket.
- So for these brands… Where should you as marketing managers, agencies or SEO teams be focussing your strategy and resource? To answer this, we will look at…
- The tricky question of what exactly to do with your products on site https://unsplash.com/photos/vwZo1zAYPws
- How you can find a purpose the content of your site https://unsplash.com/photos/vwZo1zAYPws
- And finally, how to get the people inside your business talking about SEO https://unsplash.com/photos/vwZo1zAYPws
- First, lets talk about product SEO for brand sites that don’t actually sell anything
- And I want to start with some reassurance… Just because you don’t sell directly on your website, it doesn’t make your site redundant in the ecommerce user journey. Users will still want explore or get information about your products – and you are best placed to deliver that.
- The best way to think about it, is to use your website an official shop window for when users want exploration and information. You won’t be making money directly from this, but a positive user experience can lead to them buying your products elsewhere – whether in store or through eretailers. And to give users the best experience, you need to cover off the best practices for your product content… https://unsplash.com/s/photos/shop-window
- And these are… Firstly, using Search Data to Inform the Architecture and categorisation of products. This is key if you have lots of product on site. Group it according to how users search. Create a logical journey through products and categories for both users and bots, and you can also get visibility for the category pages themselves.
- Secondly, always ensure you’re giving users Relevant & in-Depth information. Cover off everything a customer needs to know about your products so they don’t have to go anywhere else. And if anyone knows everything about your products… it’s you.
- Thirdly, implement product Structured Data as standard. This is the Building blocks for a richer SERP, and can help to create a positive user journey from within the results. Following these steps is a great way to start increasing the visibility of your products…. But you should also be realistic about the results.
- Here is a snapshot of before we implemented those three tactics for Andrex. Essentially, the bigger the bubble and further to the top right, the more visible a site is in the SERP. The bubble for Andrex may look small, and that’s because it is.
- but with just those three optimisation we saw a 15,000% increase in visbility. We were neveeeer going to overtake Tesco. And Who Gives a Crap are an online only d2C challenger brand. But for other brand sites like Cushelle and Cheeky Panda we were able to move away from the pack. Brands should use product keyword rankings as a benchmark, but it’s not the be all and end all of success.
- I also just want to drop a quick mention in for brands who need to consider long-life post purchase journeys. Products where users may need information, even long after you’ve stop making it. https://unsplash.com/photos/VFrcRtEQKL8
- One great example of this is the Pioneer DJ website. The site doesn’t actually sell the products. But there is a huge wealth of information like guides and manuals held within product archives for people who own discontinued equipment. Is there anything your customers might want to know about your products in years to come? https://unsplash.com/photos/VFrcRtEQKL8
- Now lets look at where the money is…. Most of you are probably aware, but more than twice as many users search for products on Amazon than Google. https://unsplash.com/photos/Q59HmzK38eQ
- I even did a quick check on this, and although it’s not always the case, it generally checks out. https://unsplash.com/photos/Q59HmzK38eQ
- And we are all here today to learn about SEARCH ENGINE optimisation … Guess what, Amazon is a Search engine. https://unsplash.com/photos/SpVHcbuKi6E
- Not only that, but 86% of people in the UK shop through Amazon. Imagine if your product teams knew that nearly 90% of the country shopped in the same supermarket. Naturally they would want to be on those shelves. If you aren’t selling on your site. Then maybe you should be selling on Amazon – if you aren’t already. Here’s how can you or your SEO team help to increase organic visibility on Amazon as well as traditional search engines https://unsplash.com/photos/SpVHcbuKi6E
- First – keyword research. The crux of any work for ‘traditional’ SEO. Our bread and butter, if you like. Amazon is no different, and loads of tools are now launching Amazon volume data to help with this.
- Next up, we’ve already talked about site structure and information architecture for your website… Your Amazon store also needs to be similarly structured. Use your research to inform this structure based of data and how users search or categorise products.
- Thirdly, what are people searching about your products? You probably already know this anyway…. Utlise this info on your ASIN content to give users what they want to know.
- And then finally Optimisation… Amazon keyword optimisation has massive similarities to “traditional” content optimisation. Make sure your relevant product keywords are in titles, descriptions, ASIN bullet points – all the key places a user looks.
- Tie this all together and there are some amazing transferrable skills that your SEO resource should already have in it’s arsenal. https://unsplash.com/photos/Q59HmzK38eQ
- However, it’s not as simple as that… there are also some key differences when it comes to ranking and performing well organically in Google. https://unsplash.com/photos/Rm3nWQiDTzg
- Things like product inventory – do you actually have enough stock to sell? Price, reviews and Sales rank – how you stack up against the competition within your product niches – is incredibly important. If you are doing Amazon optimisation, no amount of content optimisation will work if you don’t get these right, https://unsplash.com/photos/Rm3nWQiDTzg
- And the proof is in the pudding…
- Okay so we’ve covered off what to do with your products… Now let’s find a purpose for your brand website, even when you aren’t selling products.
- First and foremost…. Look out for yourself!! No one else will. Here’s an example of Google showing incorrect info in the SERPs for a popular featured snippet about Andrex. The article that was ranking was a couple years old, and the information was incorrect and out of context, but how was Google to know? Imagine if incorrect information aired on TV about your brand… Your brand team would be furious!
- So how can you protect yourself? https://unsplash.com/photos/ngd2uo1eyZg
- Firstly, you need to understand what questions people are asking about you brand and products. This can be through some good ol’ fashioned keyword research But also utlise your brand or customer teams to get real world information about common gripes or questions that customers have. https://unsplash.com/photos/ngd2uo1eyZg
- Once you’ve complied that into a big list of searches, categorise them based on topic and pull rankings. You should be able to quickly spot the areas where your brand is not ranking at the top of the SERP for questions about your brand. This is likely where you have some content gaps you need to fill. https://unsplash.com/photos/ngd2uo1eyZg
- Next up, source the expertise to answer these questions as well as you can. Your business should be the experts in your brand and products. Again, speak to the relevant REAL HUMANS in your business. https://unsplash.com/photos/ngd2uo1eyZg
- Once you’ve got the info you need – craft some content! Hit the questions head on with a clear answer, and elaborate into more detail after that if needed. Back up what you are saying with fact. Even drop in things like FAQ structured data to GIVE search engines the answers and prompt a richer SERP listing. https://unsplash.com/photos/ngd2uo1eyZg
- We did exactly this for Andrex when we saw the example I showed you earlier and we were able to WIPE OUT the incorrect information. This bespoke page answers the question head on, and backs it up with facts.
- The page started to rank almost immediately, ranks for a variety of relevant snippets, It has had huge visibility since it went on the site, and allows Andrex to serve the correct information directly in the SERPs when users need to know.
- So now you’ve answered the questions about your brand… set your sights on relevant non-branded questions. https://unsplash.com/photos/Aq7id0ZjEW4
- And no offence, but there are A LOT more questions that aren’t about you. So when your customers or potential customers have questions that relate to what you do as a brand, maybe you can create content… https://unsplash.com/photos/Aq7id0ZjEW4
- That offers them specialist help when they need it most. This type of content creates a great brand experience, and can ever get you in front of new audiences. But don’t just create any old content…
- Before you create any old content… You should ask yourself:
- Is this question or topic ACTUALLY relevant to my brand? Will people think it’s weird we are answering it?
- Do we have the expertise to give this a great answer? I’m sure we all know the important of expertise in the eyes of Google, so this is probably no shock.
- And thirdly, are we actually adding value here? Or are we just regurgitating what is already showing online.
- Here’s how we put this into practice for Andrex… And if there is one thing Andrex know how to do, it’s wipe a butt.
- We found really high demand for parents needing to teach a kid how to wipe… Wiping butts is highly relevant to their products… But to add even more expertise and value, Andrex partnered with potty training expert Amanda Jenna to ensure the content was as well rounded as possible. This type of content is great for building brand awareness and affinity… but it’s limited in what you get back from it in return.
- So if you can’t get a customer’s money through your website…. Maybe you should think about their data? https://unsplash.com/photos/68c8TlX5dfk
- Kleenex wanted to do exactly this as they launched their CRM system in early 2021. Spring was coming up, and they were looking for a way to be useful to allergy sufferers, in order to raise awareness of their allergy comfort range - which is great, if any of you suffer from pollen allergies. https://unsplash.com/photos/yfXN1I5Ej1M
- Our first port of call with the brief was to carry out KWR into a wide range of allergy keywords and topics. Pretty soon we noticed that searches for pollen counts saw a huuuuge increase across spring and summer.
- We then tapped into some competitor research to see who performed well, and as you would expect, Met Office performed really well. But it was interesting to see A Vogel – a holistic medicine brand – also with a high visibility. However, we noticed some friction with their users – their pollen count tracker wasn’t working. We then knew that if Kleenex could build a better pollen count tracker then there was a great chance we could rank well in this space.
- We worked with Kleenex to create an amazing tool where users could get hyper local pollen counts –
- And crucially, they could also sign up for email alerts when the pollen was high. Giving us that all important data capture moment. This was all backed up by a hub of content relevant to the needs of allergy sufferers, as well as targeted content for high demand locations which extended our visibility.
- And from an SEO perspective, it was a hit. We saw insane traffic growth right off the bat, with traffic up 961% YoY at the peak of pollen season and thousands of organic email sign ups.
- And when this was amplified by paid media, we got huuuge results – thousands and thousands of sign ups across all channels.
- This was massive, as having those email addresses allowed Kleenex to not only alert them when pollen was high and remind them about allergy comfort, They could also retarget them through CRM and email. Create look a like audiences for paid media, And ultimately get to know their customers and their needs better.
- So when we factor in all the options within finding a purpose for your site – what we find is clear ideas that help to increase what we call Customer Flow.
- Firstly we are creating a positive user experience – either on site or directly in the SERP - though answering popular questions about your brand or relevant to your brand.
- Plus, we are creating content that draws a user in and attracts engagement on your site – even if people aren’t massively aware of your products.
- And finally, we use organic search to create a value-add so good, that a users gives us their data which we can use to direct attention through media further down the line. And the flow pattern continues.
- Last but certainly not least…. How can we get people talking about SEO…
- You’re probably well aware, but there are A LOT of searches on Google. Between 3.5 billion and 7 billion depending on who you ask… This gives us an incredible amount of free data covering all the things your customers think and want to know.
- As marketers, this gives us an amazing opportunity to turn this free data into quick and informative share-outs for the people within your business. If you aren’t doing this already, I bet it will earn you kudos from your boss and colleagues. https://unsplash.com/photos/mcSDtbWXUZU
- So lets look at three pretty universal things a brand might want to know… What is demand like for our products? How popular are we vs competitors And what are the up and coming trends in our industry
- Starting with product demand. All you need is some categorised product keywords and historic data and you can analyse changes in your market. Take this example for toilet roll products… Coming off the back of 2020 – which as you may remember was a huuuge year for toilet roll – we’ve seen decreases across most product categories… EXCEPT, eco and sustainable products….. Interesting! Maybe people are feeling bad about stock piling and want to be nicer to the environment.
- Next, what brands are most popular and how was this changed over time…. All you need for this is some brand keywords and a source of historic search volumes and update things monthly. Who remembers what happened in March 2020? The world went MAD for toilet roll. All brands saw some sort of increase in demand around this time, but Who Gives a Crap especially, as an self-styled eco friendly online only brand. After that massive spike they’ve seen steady growth – again maybe signalling a change in customer behaviour.
- And now, what specific searches are seeing growth and can we spot any trends? Again for this, all you need is a keyword set and historic volumes. What this table shows us is that while users are searching more for eco options, bamboo seems to be the rising star. This is really useful data for people in our business!!!!
- Now picture you sharing this regularly with product teams, marketing and brand managers, or even other channels…. https://unsplash.com/photos/mcSDtbWXUZU
- I guaranteed they will find it useful. And whether you use email, Excel, Sheets or even get fancy with a Data Studio dashboard… it’s so quick and simple and can compliment your current performance reporting well. https://unsplash.com/photos/mcSDtbWXUZU
- And to bring this section to a close. I just want to mention this classic north east phrase Shy bairns get nowt And it’s so true here… If you aren’t sharing this valuable data with your teams, they might not know the full power of what we have at our disposal. And when they do, they’re more likely to buy into our SEO ideas and strategies. https://unsplash.com/photos/NQTphr4Pr60
- So, lets wrap up. How can we leverage SEO if your brand site isn’t selling anything?
- Firstly, don’t neglect product SEO Be the official shop window, think about long life user journeys and apply your skills to selling off-site. Product Official shop window SEO for off-site sales Post-purchase journeys
- Purpose Own brand narrative Offer expert help Find data-worthy value add Create continuous customer flow
- Data Free market data! Bespoke business reports Quick share-outs for key stakeholders