Brand SERP Definition

What is a Brand SERP? Simply put, and Brand SERP is what appears on Google when someone searches your brand name. Most people will search for your brand at some point before or during their working relationship with you.Some examples of people Googling your brand name are: Prospects, investors, partners, clients, journalists, job candidates, readers, subscribers…What they see when they search your brand name is vital. Their perception of your brand when that first page displays is a factor that could very well tip the balance in the decision they are making about doing, or continuing to do business with you. 

As a brand you want your Brand SERP to be accurate, positive and convincing.

Accurate: you want people to see information about your that is correct, complete and up to date. Positive: you want people to have a good first impression of you right off the bat. Convincing: you want to look like a brand they will want to do business with.

Convincing = Rich Brand SERPs

Which company would you choose to do business with?

For your Brand SERP to be convincing, it needs rich elements. Videos, images, Twitter boxes, knowledge panel and so on. Like the one on the right.

The one on the left, with just blue links, is not convincing and does not reflect well on the brand.

Tracking, analysing and optimising your Brand SERP

There are 6 main reasons you need to track, analyse and optimise your Brand SERP – and one or more of these apply to every brand, whatever the size, location or industry.

Ensure that clients and prospects see a reflection of your brand that is positive, accurate and convincingQuickly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your digital strategy. The Brand SERP that Google provides is an easy-to-understand reflection of what is working in your strategy and what is not.Understand your audience (aka valuable, simple market research). Why pay a research company tens of thousands of dollars to interview a few hundred people when Google accurately tracks your entire audience in real time?Get a heads up on problems that are brewing under the surface so you can act before they explode in your face. The first signs of a rising reputation problem can be seen on pages 5 to 10 for a search on your brand name. Deal with negative content that rises to the surface. This is reputation management.Build a ‘reputation cushion’. If the results on the first page of results for a brand search are solid and evergreen, they won’t easily be replaced by short term news about a temporary issue or problem. I call this proactive reputation management

Articles and videos about Brand SERPs

What are Brand SERPS?Crafting your brand SERP—best practicesYour Brand SERP is your Business Card

Read about Kalicube and our work on Brand SERPs >>