Marketing Guy
04-18-2005, 10:59 AM
Following on from this thread (http://forums.searchenginewatch.com/showthread.php?t=2590), I thought a new thread was warranted on the subject of the strength of a brand.
Branding is subjective, particularly online.
The list SEObook (and some of the others) posted (in the thread, above) reads like a list of regular posters and popular forums rather than "brands" (although some are no doubt both). No offence intended to SEObook or the folks on the list, it's just my perception of it. :)
Another point of view as well is how you define branding - simply a name or a sense of quality behind it? I could list a few names mentioned in the thread that until now, I considered (or perceived to be) spammers.
Which company is the most recognised brand? Recognised by who? Other SEO's (as the results in this forum suggest) or clients (who's opinion and perceptions I would personally be more concerned about)?
At the end of the day, the average consumer of our services (businesses) don't have nearly enough information and knowledge to judge one "brand" from another, and I think that's one of the most crucial failings of the industry so far. The SEO "brand" is at best vague in the eyes of the uneducated consumer (no, I don't mean they are dimwits - just that they lack information about our industry).
Every week I speak to new clients who have been burned by dodgy "SEO's". Doorway pages, link farms, hidden text, blah blah blah. We all find it easy enough to disassociate from the bad parts of the industry, creating our own convienent sub-brand of "white hat" and "black hat"...but do our clients distinguish between the two?
I'm sure every "white hat" in here has faced a client for the first time, who is uncertain about the services offered (once bitten...).
So what is the strength of an individual company brand? Can a SEO company realistically expect to develop a positive brand image **in the eyes of our consumers** while the rest of the industry has, quite frankly, a poor image (in the eyes of a lot of consumers)?
What's your thought of the SEO industry's brand? Does the average Joe distinguish between "white hat" and "black hat"?
MG
Branding is subjective, particularly online.
The list SEObook (and some of the others) posted (in the thread, above) reads like a list of regular posters and popular forums rather than "brands" (although some are no doubt both). No offence intended to SEObook or the folks on the list, it's just my perception of it. :)
Another point of view as well is how you define branding - simply a name or a sense of quality behind it? I could list a few names mentioned in the thread that until now, I considered (or perceived to be) spammers.
Which company is the most recognised brand? Recognised by who? Other SEO's (as the results in this forum suggest) or clients (who's opinion and perceptions I would personally be more concerned about)?
At the end of the day, the average consumer of our services (businesses) don't have nearly enough information and knowledge to judge one "brand" from another, and I think that's one of the most crucial failings of the industry so far. The SEO "brand" is at best vague in the eyes of the uneducated consumer (no, I don't mean they are dimwits - just that they lack information about our industry).
Every week I speak to new clients who have been burned by dodgy "SEO's". Doorway pages, link farms, hidden text, blah blah blah. We all find it easy enough to disassociate from the bad parts of the industry, creating our own convienent sub-brand of "white hat" and "black hat"...but do our clients distinguish between the two?
I'm sure every "white hat" in here has faced a client for the first time, who is uncertain about the services offered (once bitten...).
So what is the strength of an individual company brand? Can a SEO company realistically expect to develop a positive brand image **in the eyes of our consumers** while the rest of the industry has, quite frankly, a poor image (in the eyes of a lot of consumers)?
What's your thought of the SEO industry's brand? Does the average Joe distinguish between "white hat" and "black hat"?
MG