A "Hot Brand". Get it?
Early this year, Google made a major change to the way it ranks websites on its search engine. In working to provide searchers with the most relevant results, Google has begun to give heavy emphasis to websites operated by brands.
Here are a few quotes from Google CEO Eric Schmidt that neatly summarize his feelings toward the worth of Brands. (I lifted these from an article on www.seobook.com. This site is an absolute treasure for learning about SEO:
Quote #1: “The internet is fast becoming a “cesspool” where false information thrives”, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said yesterday. Speaking with an audience of magazine executives visiting the Google campus here as part of their annual industry conference, he said their brands were increasingly important signals that content can be trusted.
Quote #2: “Brands are the solution, not the problem,” Mr. Schmidt said. “Brands are how you sort out the cesspool.”
Quote #3: “Brand affinity is clearly hard wired,” he said. “It is so fundamental to human existence that it’s not going away. It must have a genetic component.”
So with all this emphasis on branding, does this mean the little guys will be unable to compete on Google?
No, it just reinforces something I’ve been suggesting to my clients for a long time: BUILD YOUR BRAND.
Work on your positioning statement. Discover what you do better than anyone else, and make that your unique selling position. Build a community of people who trust you. You don’t need billions to act like a big brand.
