SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, a fancy term that means “making it easy for people to find you online.”
Believe it or not, SEO is actually one of the best ways to promote yourself and your brand.
In this article, we’ll explain exactly why this is.
Every day BILLIONS of searches are made on Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go, and other search engines.
By making yourself Search Engine Optimized, you’re basically setting up roadmaps on the information superhighway that lead people to your brand.
As people surf the web and read articles related to their searches, they may come across an article that has you in it.
If you’re appearing in the content that people find via Google, you’re getting eyes on your name, ears on your music, clicks on your website, etc. It’s that simple.
Let’s go over exactly what SEO looks like in practice, why it’s important, and why it’s a FAR better investment in your career than traditional advertising.
So what does SEO actually look like? How can you make sure that your brand is Search Engine Optimized?
While SEO contains a bunch of technical ingredients, from your perspective as a professional creative, there’s really only one ingredient you need to know: content.
If you and your brand appear in specialized SEO content, you’re
1. Significantly improving your online visibility, and
2. Enhancing your online reputation.
Let’s tackle the first bit in an example.
Let’s say that you’re a professional musician seeking to promote your upcoming release.
A writer at a music blog may have just finished up an article about useful tips for electronic music production.
With Promo Panda’s help, this blogger knows that his article is search engine optimized and likely to get clicks.
To make her article even better, however, the blogger may decide to include quotes from qualified music producers who can help give context to the tips she writes about.
This is where Promo Panda comes in – our software uses cutting-edge technology to review your profile and learn what makes you and your music unique and compelling.
Now, this example applies to musicians. But the same principle applies to nearly every profession in existence – entertainment, technology, business, food/hospitality… professionals and businesses in these industries can all benefit from improving their SEO.
When you order mentions with Promo Panda, our platform finds the best opportunities for you to share your ideas with bloggers covering topics related to your industry.
With Promo Panda, that blogger looking for sources to improve their content can easily hear what you have to say.
The result is a win-win – the blogger has better content, and you appear in a search engine optimized article. For every reader that the blogger’s article gets, that’s one more reader who is made aware of you and your brand.
Now that we’ve gone over what SEO actually looks like in practice, let’s discuss the 3 main reasons that SEO is WAY better than advertising when it comes to marketing and promoting your brand.
When professionals reach the point in their careers when they begin actively promoting themselves, they typically start with advertising.
To get clicks and >build a brand<span style=”font-weight: 400;”>, the thinking goes, why not just put money into Google, Facebook, or YouTube ads? After all, putting together an ad is a quick and easy way to generate impressions.
Yes, simply throwing up a sponsored post might get you impressions quickly, but as we’ll see, ads don’t generally allow for the kinds of impressions that you want to make.
In a lot of ways, ads are like fast food.
Sure, it tastes good to scarf down that greasy burger and fries, but it’s hardly nutritious and isn’t doing your body any favors.
And while eating it may have felt substantial at the time, you’ll probably feel hungry just a couple of hours later.
If all you eat is fast food, your body isn’t likely to be the healthiest it can be.
Similarly, if the only way you promote your brand is with ads, you’re not giving your career the boost it deserves.
Mentions and other media coverage offered by Promo Panda are the equivalents of meals that are both tasty and nutritious.
There are 3 main reasons that media coverage opportunities you get with Promo Panda are better than advertising.
Reason 1: People are less likely to trust ads than original blog content or editorial news coverage.
Reason 2: Media coverage offers awesome branding opportunities that ads just can’t
Reason 3: Ads are temporary and disappear as soon as you stop feeding them money. Organic media coverage is forever and becomes a permanent fixture of the internet.
Let’s break down each of these reasons in more detail.
A big reason that SEO is a better option than advertising is that, generally, ads may not be the best way to communicate your brand message.
A Nielsen study from a few years back concluded that organic media coverage may be up to 90% more effective than paid ads when it comes to building trust with audiences.
The reason is straight forward:
Paid ads are, well, paid.
When you buy ads, you’re paying for the pleasure of singing your own praises. With earned media coverage, your praises are being sung by bloggers and digital publishers.
Another huge reason why organic media coverage is a wise investment? There are few better ways to communicate your brand messaging.
With mentions, you’ll be appearing in articles that people want to read.
After all, with organic media, no one is ever forced to see you (like they would be with ads). Any readers who come across your articles are there voluntarily, which automatically puts them in state of mind to absorb your brand message.
The final (and maybe most important) reason that media coverage trumps advertising is that media is forever, whereas ads are temporary.
When you run advertisements, your ads will stop being shown to people the second you stop feeding money to the advertiser.
On the other hand, blog and news outlet articles are almost always permanent fixtures of the internet. The right articles will be read for years and even decades to come.
Organic media coverage creates long-lasting, effective opportunities for telling your story and furthering your brand’s impact.
We hope this article has helped you understand why SEO is important, and how it can be harnessed by all professionals to effectively market their skills and value.
With that – quit waiting around to start getting attention. Register for Promo Panda and start getting seen today!
