The goal of brand recognition has been the main objective in search engine optimization (SEM), over the last few years. Consumers today want to know the brands they are dealing with. Therefore, brand recognition has been an important focus for every successful search engine campaign. Marketing to the Boomers was all about value and deals. This is a big departure. Millennials and Gen Z however want more from their brands.

Younger generations care about conservation and sustainability. SEM is now focusing more on brands, and how they are helping the common good. Google (NASDAQ) created a brand new algorithm to address this consumer demand. It’s called “Brand Mentions” and the concept is amazing when it comes to SEO, Search Engine Optimization.

The Break From Tradition

According to Boris Dzhingarov, CEO of ESBO Ltd, “Brand Mentions is a concept totally unique in that there is no need for backlinks which has been the foundation of any marketing strategy up until now.” What he is referring to is the fact that Brand Mentions work whenever a brand is mentioned within copy on the web. There doesn’t need to be a backlink to the site because the crawlers will find names and begin ranking based on the visibility and number of times a brand is mentioned. It’s a break from tradition because there is no laborious backlinking to undertake. Google will simply ask for the name of your brand.

SEO, brand mentions, and building rank

ESBO ltd CEO explains that Brand Mentions are a silent component of SEO. Google ranks a site that mentions a brand as if it were a search engine result page.

“It has always been our goal to use SEO effectively with the intent of moving our clients to page one of the SERPs and as close to the top as possible,” Boris Dzhingarov continues, explaining that the average person searching for a product or service will typically only click through to the first few entries on page one of the SERPs.

Rarely will a consumer scroll to the third or fourth page of search results. Brand Mentions can help you build rank along with more conventional SEO strategies. You will see a better ranking for your website due to both Brand Mentions as well as SEO. They both improve rankings. When they work together, the results go beyond anything most marketers would have expected.

SEO: Another View

Link building has been the cornerstone of any successful SEO strategy for as long as we can recall. Google placed them within site content, so every time someone clicked through, Google awarded it a score. It helped increase rank. Over time, the site was able to climb to the top of the SERPs. SEO specialists had to make it happen. Although brand mentions do not function in the same manner as links, they are still considered to be links.

For all intents and purposes it is a link, but not a hyperlink! Each time you mention your brand, particularly on social media, or in blogs, you earn a point/mention/link. It’s what Google refers to as an ‘implied link.’ So, when is a link not a link? You got it! When it’s a Brand Mention, and this is especially going to come into play when your brand becomes a buzzword.

Talk to the Town!

“This is why we find influencers who will promote your products, your brand, just by mentioning you,” ESBO CEO Boris Dzhingarov says. “There is no longer a need to build a link back to your website or product pages because just the fact that an influencer is talking about you online works as a link. Google sees it as an implied link, and you get the credit.”

This does not mean that SEO has gone extinct. They are necessary, in fact. He wants us to understand that the reason Brand Mentions build rank is that they work in the same way as a link, thus an “implied link.” In other words, Brand Mentions work like a link but are not a link. What is the difference between a link and a link? When it’s a Brand Mention, of course!

Let’s get to the bottom

It’s still the early days of Brand Mentions and there are still marketing pros out there who haven’t yet mastered the concept. It can be a bit confusing because of the fact that a Brand Mention isn’t really a link but works like a link, and so how do you employ the two together? Remember to also use the rank-building strategies. Brand Mentions is perhaps one of the easiest.

Only high authority websites need to mention your brand. You will quickly see the momentum build in your Brand Mentions snowball as it climbs up the mountain collecting buzz. Your brand will be mentioned on high-authority sites by crawlers every single time. Perhaps even more, it may also get noticed on other websites of high importance. It’s a matter of trust and if you earn that trust from one influencer, their audience will trust you as well.

Yes, it’s totally confusing but as long as you remember that no links are necessary as long as you are getting talked about, Brand Mentions have done their job for you.

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