Finding an ideal balance of searchability, referring to a brand’s visibility in search, and memorability, meaning retaining a strong branded identity to relevant audiences, are both key to generating brand loyalty. Shopify recommends aiming for a 60/40 split of organic brand building and paid performance marketing for increased ROI.1
While there is no universal formula or best practice for brand websites to achieve the right balance of searchability and memorability, both are critical to discoverability and making a lasting impression. Finding that balance can make customers more likely to do things like create an account, finish checking out, sign up for updates or come back to purchase again.
The recommendations provided below are a few of the most impactful ways to better balance organic web content so you can attract potential customers and encourage loyalty.
Enhancing Searchability Through Keywords and Analytics
Improving website searchability starts with optimizing existing web content and analytics. According to Shopify’s 2022 “The Future of Commerce” report, strong brands draw more organic acquisition while retaining more customers.1 For marketers, investing in organic searchability is a long-term play to impact conversions.
Knowing where and how to approach content optimization begins with a thorough site audit process. You have to identify which search engine keywords to prioritize based on their popularity, competitiveness and how well they map against current and prospective audiences. Determining the right mix of keywords can prioritize the site revision process for page titles, meta text, images and even website body copy.
Optimizing site keywords is not the only organic marketing approach to increasing relevant site traffic from search engines, social media and AI tools. With Google’s planned required update this summer to their web performance and traffic software platform, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), web page event and action-based engagement rate or “engaged sessions” becomes the new measure of success over the previous “bounce rate” metric emphasized by Google’s Universal Analytics platform.
The new “engaged sessions” metric refers to the number of web visits that lasted over a period (10+ seconds) or web visits resulting in a specific event or action (e.g., conversion) as defined by the brand. For some brands, that action might be as simple as filling out a contact form while for others it might be viewing multiple pages in a specific order. As with keywords, determining what defines an “engaged session” for your brand requires constantly assessing the audience journey to the website, core events and learning what contributes most to repeat visitors.
The use of keywords and engaged sessions are two ways to not only assess but improve brand searchability and the user experience for ideal audiences.
Strengthening Memorability Through Language and Design
Improving web searchability is just one part of the balancing act to create more meaningful brand loyalty. Memorability also needs to be addressed by differentiating the web experience. A memorable experience provides a foundation for sustainable growth that reinforces trust, improves recall and encourages customers to take the next step or come back again in the near future.
Improving memorability starts with language. You have to define which words to emphasize based on your brand’s identity and experience. Brand words should be used consistently across the main areas of the website and should be incorporated with keywords identified during the site audit process. It is important to review any new web content’s language so each product page, blog post and news release feels connected and on-brand.
The second key aspect of generating memorability is design. Namely, how does your brand develop a design system that retains elements like language, imagery and colors while maintaining optimal site performance, scalability and responsiveness? Memorable design starts with scannability and tone. Both of these aspects are particularly critical for brands with a direct ecommerce store or service. They establish who the brand is best suited for and whether the site matches the visitor’s perceptions and expectations.
Every brand needs designated team members who will continuously consider and question organic website changes on behalf of intended audience profiles. Whether a marketing agency or department, your team should constantly ask, “How does this design or searchability change match how we want the brand to feel for our audience?” Often, it can seem obvious to want to improve SEO for the sake of searchability, but this can come at the expense of the end user experience.
It’s important to balance language and design with the end-user experience to ensure SEO improvements are not impacting organic customer acquisition, retention and growth.
Driving Long-Term Loyalty
While it can be tempting to focus solely on short-term, paid performance-driven efforts to drive traffic, investing in organic searchability provides a short-term boost to traffic and longer-term impact on conversions. Improving memorability through language and design is equally important in creating a lasting impression that motivates customers to return and become loyal. By constantly improving and optimizing both searchability and memorability, brands can generate consistent traffic and sustainable growth, reinforce trust and recall, and raise prices without disenfranchising loyal customers.
Interested in figuring out the best balance of searchability and memorability for your branded web platform? As a full-service marketing agency, Trone can perform an audit of your website and content, providing both brand and SEO recommendations to improve visibility and brand awareness. Reach out to see how we can help.