SEO Serves All Product Segments
I have heard that if you’re a major recognizable brand name such as Nike, Levi Straus, Honda, etc. that you don’t need to be concerned with SEO or SEM. This is a huge assumption. Sure any consumer who is already in the camp for a particular brand can find that site regardless of SEO.
What SEO and SEM does for you is assure you rank well for those who are using generic terms such as t-shirt or running shoes etc. It also assures that when consumers are searching for a product and are open to any brand; that your bran will show up in their search. If my wife wants a purse for her birthday and I am searching on the generic term “purse”, I guarantee that Coach would like to show up first in my search. If they aren’t performing SEO or SEM, then they missed an opportunity.
It is also valuable if your brand has many products that consumers search for once on your site. If the visitor can’t find what they want, they will go where they can, and you don’t want to miss that opportunity for a sale. For example, the company ACCO has a retail site where you can purchase office supplies direct from them as well as going to Staples.com etc. Their online catalog is quite extensive. If I am looking for the “Rio Red” Swingline Stapler on the ACCO site, I should be able to find it with that term, assuming proper SEO was performed on the page for the internal site search engine to find it. However, If I don’t know the exact product term and just type in red stapler in Google, and SEO was not performed on the product page, then my chances are pretty low of finding that exact product. Other examples are Nike and Under Armour. They have many products for sale direct from their site. They also use an internal search engine. Many times I am looking for a product and don’t know the exact product name, so these companies had better perform SEO on their product pages to help me find that product I am ready to purchase otherwise, I will go to a different brand.
Now what do you do when the actual product isn’t sold direct from the manufacturer?
Many brands don’t sell direct from their site, they use other online retail channels. Target.com competes with Overstock.com and Amazon.com competes with Barnes&Noble.com and the list goes on. These sites need to optimize their product pages so consumers can find the exact product they are looking for, regardless of brand name recognition. Again, if I can’t find it on your site, I’m leaving. If what I’m looking for isn’t on the first 3 pages of a search engine, I’m moving on.
