BRAND PRIMACY

A business book offers advice for brand marketers about search engine optimization.

While SEO is a common marketing topic, Schmidt says some in the field miss its most obvious benefit: “The entire point of SEO is to rank higher in search engines.” Instead of focusing on the technical aspects of SEO, the author sets his sights on its strategic use. The book begins with a helpful, basic overview of SEO, including a brief glossary of key terms. Then Schmidt, an SEO expert, quickly moves to the idea that anchors the work—a concept he calls “Brand Primacy,” which means “brands have an advantage over other websites in internet searches.” The author largely concentrates on Google, since it is by far the dominant search engine. He offers background on Google’s development (intriguing yet not mandatory to know), but more important, Schmidt makes a compelling case for how “Google favors brand websites.” In fact, he even suggests “Google ‘owns’ part of your brand in a way, which can be tough to accept.” The author displays his considerable expertise in covering such areas as “topic authority,” “long-tail keywords,” and “content clusters.” Some readers may find these terms intimidating, but Schmidt explains them clearly and directly relates them to brand primacy. Perhaps one of the more broadly useful chapters is about brand awareness. Here, the author details ways to improve online brand awareness, including public relations, guest blogging, and the creation of excellent content. A key point he makes is that brand awareness can be significantly boosted with the use of videos, especially if posted on YouTube (a Google property). Marketers will also undoubtedly find the chapter on “outranking the competition” of particular interest since it addresses specific tactics for rising above competitors in Google rankings. Thankfully, Schmidt is knowledgeable enough to predict at least the probable direction of searches in the future. He envisions, for example, that brands will evolve from information publishers into “news organizations.” There is more to the author’s predictions, but suffice it to say Schmidt has an informed eye on the future. That’s one reason marketers would do well to pay attention.

Authoritative and strategically sound counsel for brand marketers.