When researching a business, people turn to search engines like Google.
They want to find out more about the company they’ll potentially be dealing with; do they have a website? Do they have positive reviews? Do they have a good reputation?
Therefore, when someone Googles your name or company you want to ensure the results are listings you control.
Why is this important?
Typically, there are 10 organic spots available on the search engine results page (SERP), although this does vary depending on the query.
This means when someone Googles your business you have 10 opportunities to impress!
It also means there’s a chance negative press, poor reviews or unfavourable comparisons could rank! Which could deter people from working with you.
Before I share how you can dominate the SERP, I quickly want to discuss the different types of results shown on Google.
Paid adverts are shown before organic results. People bid an amount for their ad to show for specific keywords and are charged each time their listing is clicked on.
There can be between 1 and 4 ads shown. This is commonly known as pay-per-click (PPC)
Organic results look like Ads but don’t contain ‘Ad’ next to the result. These results rank organically, usually down to SEO strategies.
Once upon a time, you would only see paid ads and organic results. Today, the SERP contains many other features.
Let’s look at the other features commonly shown.
Featured Snippets are organic results which are especially highlighted. They usually answer the user’s search intent, as their Snippet is more extensive and optically more significant (as text, picture, table, or list) than normal results.
These appear in what is commonly referred to as position 0 – before the 1st traditional organic result.
Google’s knowledge panel is the block you’ll find on the right side of your screen in the search results. Nowadays, you’ll see it for a lot of queries. It presents the results of Google’s Knowledge Graph, which can be seen as an engine connecting all kinds of data Google finds on the web.
Google Business Profile is a free business listing from Google. It allows you to provide details and photos of your business, including your location, services, and products.
Creating this free profile is a great way to increase your visibility across Google services. Information from your Google Business Profile may appear in Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping.
People Also Ask is a Google-rich snippet feature that provides users with additional information they may be looking for from their original search.
Top Stories contains the most recent news stories related to the search query. These are typically from big media publications, but lesser-known publications can also show here.
When displaying Twitter results, in many cases Google expands the organic result and shows the account’s latest tweets in a “Card” design. These cards usually take more place than classic organic results and can also show an image. For other social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram or TikTok there is no specific integration that we know of.
The video pack is a card-style feature that shows several links to videos relevant to the query. When the video pack was first implemented, it usually only appeared when the query named specific intent to watch a video, but now it increasingly shows relevant video content for a wide range of query types.
There are many other feature elements in the search results such as images, events, jobs, related searches, maps, and sports results.
Okay, here’s what you can do to get maximum real estate on Google for your business.
Let’s assume your company has a website and it ranks. If not, get in touch or read SEO tips for small businesses – there are some basic tips here to help rank your site. Providing your brand name isn’t a common phrase such as ‘travel company’ it should naturally rank with ease.
Social media profiles commonly rank for branded searches.
So, if you haven’t already, create a Facebook page, a LinkedIn company page, an Instagram account, Medium, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok.
You don’t need to create profiles on all these platforms. If you have the time to consistently create content on them then do it. If not, pick a couple perhaps Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or Twitter and be active.
A special mention for Twitter and YouTube. Twitter and YouTube results take more place than other social platforms so If you want more SERP real estate, it could be wise to create content for these two platforms.
Google Business Profiles are free to create and provide a fantastic opportunity to attract searches attention and provide helpful information.
You can add photos, and contact information, answer questions, showcase reviews and more.
I highly recommend you create a profile. If you do already have one, make sure it is up-to-date and fully utilised.
Set up a profile on review sites and industry comparison sites.
Review sites such as Trust Pilot rank quite often for company searches. Of course, you don’t want to attract bad reviews but if your company provides a good service then you shouldn’t be fearful of getting reviews.
Comparison sites such as Safari Bookings often rank. So, it is worth being featured on relevant comparison sites.
Creating an FAQ section on your website that addresses helpful questions about your brand is the way to dominate those questions. If you don’t even answer the question, then you aren’t even in the game for the PAA.
If PAA doesn’t show for your company, it is still worth having an FAQ section.
If you are a little-known company, it is very hard (almost impossible) to get a Wikipedia page.
I wouldn’t recommend spending time on getting a Wikipedia page but if you think your company warrants one then I recommend you read this blog by Ahrefs.
If you want to make sure searches are given the best impression when searching for your company, then you should implement the advice I have given to ensure you dominate the SERP.
This is particularly beneficial if there are negative results relating to your brand.
Virgin Holidays may have implemented this strategy following bad reviews on Trust Pilot. They have a 1.4 rating however the Trust Pilot result is on page 2 when searching “Virgin Holidays.
Page 1 consists of their website, PAA, Knowledge Graph, 2 more company sites, a Facebook profile, a comparison site, a partner site, and the Apple App Store (Virgin Holiday App). So if you really need to push bad reviews onto page 2 you may also consider developing an App!
If you need help dominating the SERP, book a 30-minute call or email me, and we can discuss your website needs.
