Building a brand online can be done through multiple channels rather it being through search engines or online advertise, but let me give you some tips on where to market and why you should market there.

1. Search Engine Optimization (Organic Search): Optimizing a websites visibility through organic search is a *must* if you ask me. If you have a great visibility level through organic search then the chances are your going to drive some direct high quality leads, so therefore this gives you more room to build your brand (more clients the better).
2. Pay Per Click (Sponsored Listings):Pay Per Click can be quite costly, but honestly from our testing and from every one else I have talked to most generally you can drive better leads through pay per click then what you can through organic search which granted there is a lot of variables to this. The thing is with PPC is that you can manually edit all your descriptions, titles, and deep links accord lying to the way you want them. PPC also allows A / B testing on your landing pages and ads, so it can be a pretty powerful tool if you learn to use it to the fullest.
3. Online Advertising: Advertising through relevant channels can increase brand awareness dramatically. See the thing is with online advertising is that your traffic or ROI (Return on Investment) might not come back right off the bat, but if you keep pushing that image out there it will tattoo into the consumers head therefore it could create a word of mouth effect or even if there looking for certain services thats relevant to what you offer they might think of your brand right off the bat.
4. Blogs: User generated content in the web 2.0 space is highly important now and I see a lot of people lacking in this area. Generate link bait content can increase brand awareness through search engines due to the link popularity that it creates, but at the same time creating social networks that might create media.
5. Press Release: Submitting press releases can be very effective which granted this is probably something that we need to do more of for our clients and our own services, but you can use press release articles to create media speaking you have something that worth talking of.

There is so many ways to market online rather it being through PPC, Organic Search, Blogs, and you name it. The idea is to use numerous strategies combined and believe me you’ll develop new strategies on your own from experience. The best thing to do is think outside the box when you think outside the box or at least discover outside the box strategies you will drive leads like you never imagined.

Find your market segment and explode it, but keep in mind that segment will not always stay open specially if someone else finds out what your doing.

Being a brand leader is someone that is set in there direction with there believes. For example are you going to follow someone else’s ideas and do the exact same thing there doing if so then you would be better of working for them if you really think about it which don’t take me wrong replicating other ideas to your benefit can be beneficial by all means I mean you can learn a lot from what other people are doing, but at the same time you need to think of ways you can differentiate your self from the crowed market place.

What I am saying is to be your own brand and your own leader guide the consumers into your direction and how can you do this?

1. Trust: You must build trust with your brand rather it being through social networks, client lists, and anything similar to that. You have to have a way of making people feel confident into buying off you and that’s by treating the people right therefore ti will build an everlasting long brand.
2. Your Image: Promote a good image when I’m referring to a good image I’m referring to something that will make you stand out from the crowd in a positive way and always make people think of you.

Them are just a few tips, but out of all honesty building a unique brand is the way to go and that’s by doing something different such as using your own colors and logos give your brand a character.

For example, what does the consumers think when they hear the following names below?

Wal-Mart: Low Prices Everyday, right? I mean wal mart has done a good job at this they have branded there name as someone that will always have the best prices and customer satisfaction am I wrong or right?

I’d have to say Wal-Mart has done a great job of doing what they’ve done because honestly think of it would they continue to grow at the pace they are and did if they didn’t know what they was doing…

BMW: BMW has branded there name as someone who offers a classy car well to a degree lets put it this way when your buying a BMW you know your buying a good car right, I mean when any one hears the name BMW they automatically think an expensive car or at least a car that is more expensive, but why?

It’s because your paying for quality and BMW has branded there self as someone to make a well defined car that can drive forever because most generally BMW’s do hold up longer and they are better cars.

Conclusion: When your branding your basically engaging something into the consumers mind thats it nothing more and nothing less, but you have to find out what you want to brand into there mind I mean what type of consumers are you trying to attract or what do you want your brand to stand for.

Exposing a brand can be challenging specially if your not famaliar with the things such as SEO / SEM or just general online marketing, so let me discuss that and offer you some educational information that can help you expose your brand and I will even link out to a few sites that will give you a kick start into the right direction.
What Should You Learn?

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - Knowing how to use SEO to your advantage is a plus plus by all means and you can learn a ton about SEO through forums and blogs.
2. PPC (Pay Per Click) - Pay Per Click can be better then SEO or just about the same just depends on what your better with working with, but keep in mind when using PPC have a little money to play with because you’ll have to invest some money to find out what works, but then again if you think about it thats about like anything your either investing your time or money to learn something well speaking its something thats going to make you a *good living (or investment)*.
3. Social Networking and Blogs - Learn more about social networking and blogs. Blogs are highly important to have if you ask me out of all honesty the reason being is because you can build content around your brand which will result in more exposure, so therefore it will drive more leads.
4. Learn To Build E-Mail List - Building e-mail list can be used to your advantage if done properly and you can use Pay Per Click to build e-mail list the great thing about this is that when you turn PPC on you will automatically start getting traffic therefore you should start getting sign ups through your e-mail list just make sure you build a good landing page that will get people to sign up.

Where to Find This Information At?

Most of this information can be found through social parts of the web such as blogs which granted you can learn a little from forums, but out of all honestly I would suggest checking out blogs and trying to communicate with other SEO’s and SEM’s so check out placed like SEOMOZ, V7n Blog, and SEOBook.

Which of course you should subscribe to our blog too because you will learn a lot from reading our blog, but the ones I suggested are just a few places to give you a kick start in the right direction and then you can start to explore on your own, but keep in mind all the information you find on the web is not 200 percent accurate specially older articles, so try to stay up to date on reading stuff that is more accurate or at least use your best judgment you can’t believe everything that every one writes about, but I will tell you this reading this blog and the few I suggested are pretty accurate in the information that is provided.

Branding an online business is something that takes time I would say that is the biggest strategy out of everything when starting a company and its a constant strategy if you want the company to continue to grow or I should say look good.

Currently we are working on a new site thats going to have more of a brand approach which I can’t discuss full details, but were going to start investing into pay per click each month and not get so caught up on organic search (along with many other things, a complete site remodel), but back to what I was saying the whole reason I decided to write this post up for was because some of the sites we work on lack in brand awareness and these sites probably would have a hell of a lot higher conversion ratios.

When someone visits your site and its well geared towards your targeted consumers the chances of them converting will be a lot higher thats just how it works. For example would you go get your car fixed by someone that is working out of there garage that you didn’t know or go to a real shop thats more reputable looking?

Makes a lot of sense don’t it…

Anyways read some of the following things below that can increase your brand awareness.

1. Recent Client List: This is highly important if you do not want to show your recent client list due to competitors or maybe you don’t discuss your client details which there is companies like that for example they will not reveal there clients and want to keep it confidential such as marketing companies, but most generally you need some resource of experience to provide for your business for example if a prospect ask us about our service and what we have achieved we would be more then happy to show them and when they see the results we have gotten and gave for our clients they know who to go with (I mean it would only be common sense).
2. Online Advertising: You know this is another vital factor of branding a lot of people want more awareness, but they don’t ever do any online advertising even though they have the money they still fail to promote there brand through other sites makes no sense to me what so ever.
3. Design and Usability: This can be another vital factor you could have a very recognized name in your particular industry, but if someone visits your site and really don’t know who you are and your site is very unorganized and cheap looking then the chances of you doing well with that site are low (back to conversions ).
4. Company Certifications: Does your company have certain certifications it has earned if so list them and try to list them in the most appropriate places. If you write a paragraph up on a certain service you offer and have earned a certification for that particular service then list your certification image there to show your the recognized leader or whatever it is you do :).
5. Company Memberships: Do you have memberships to relevant organizations if so list them on your site this can make you look more involved and believe it or not people look at that type of stuff.

The above recommedations is just to give you an idea of what you can do.

Branding is something that takes time and a lot of effort thats why a lot of business fail for or never really take off well I should say thats one of the important factors anyways a lot of people think there going to jump into something and make a lot of money in there first year when building a new brand and the chances of that happening are next to none (unless you create something very innovative) which granted there is things you can jump into and start making money instantly like affiliate marketing and things like that, but when your building a brand its something that takes a lot of skill, effort, and dedication.

Conclusion
The whole reason I decided to write this post up was remind you or give you ideas on what you can do to create a better image for your company, so therefore your traffic will have a lot higher conversion level, so in other words you could more targeted traffic then your competitors, but your competitors could still have a 5 percent higher conversion level due to brand awareness.

Brand reputation is by far the most important thing in marketing, I mean honestly no one can out beat a strong brand. When a consumer sees a brand that there famaliar with and they’ve heard nothing, but good words about that particular brand it builds there confidence and thats what you want.

The facts are if your good at what you do and people like you there going to refer you, come to your site, use your services, and etc.

Whats builds your brand?

1. The People, one thing I’ve always learned in business is that the people build your brand and no one else which don’t take me wrong there is numerous things that come into effect when building brands rather it being online or offline, but the main idea about building a strong brand with then the people is to offer quality service and to actually give results in other words keep your people happy.
2. The Image, Building an image into the consumer mind is very vital. You will need colors, logos, so in other words you need to give your brand a character, give it a look and feel that people will remember.

If you can manage and build your brand better then any one else then your heading in a positive direction. You ever bumped into something or though about using someone services or something to that, but then you got to thinking of it one of your friends or associates told you not to use them because they did not have a good experience with them and then you all suddenly changed your mind.

Which granted we know as CEO Of Companies, Business Owners, and etc its hard to keep every body happy, but the facts are you have to manage your brand properly so it builds your reputation :).

Anyways guys I’m out of here I had to make this post sweet and short I have some important things to take care ;).

Article promotion is not a super effective way of promoting your name, but it is a way to maybe get people aware of your name. I was setting here thinking and I notice no one has done it yet, or well I don’t think any one has done it yet, and that is promoting articles through search engines around your brand name.

For example say you write up 25 articles of things your company has successfully done. Let’s say one of them was bringing your company or a client into the top 5 for internet marketing why not write up an article about it and the techniques you used to do this with, but at the same time promote these articles in other words have your friends link to them with your desired anchor text which can be your brand name so for example say your brand name is DeWitt’s Media which is ours I’m just using that for an example well if your friends link to that with that anchor text then people will find it.

The idea behind this is to build brand awareness because most generally when someone calls a company after they get off the phone with you they might search your brand name I know a lot of people do it with our company because they say hey we looked your name up and etc.

I think this could be very effective if done right, and at the same time it is completely ethical if you ask me. Speaking the articles are legit and something you’ve really done. I would hire a content writer to produce these articles and then go from there. If done right this could build a more of a brand specially when your clients are searching for your name on the web because believe me I think a lot of people do this after they get off the phone with someone and if they see your articles and the stuff you have done you will leverage them in more.

Another thing that can be really effective is viral marketing of course to create buzz and get people talking about you, or you could create controversy, but be careful with doing that you don’t want to create any negative vibes through the web, or you could build links into someone else’s site that has said positive things about you I’m sure they wouldn’t mind :).

Why not build a ever lasting brand like I’ve mentioned many times. The benefits of having a strong brand name are ever lasting for many reasons. For example I was just over at v7n.com and someone was worried about hiring a SEO company because they didn’t offer any guarantees which is cool and everything, but if that company had enough brand exposure the individual probably wouldn’t be asking that, but then again that could depends maybe the individual is new to the search marketing industry, but either way having a strong brand has its benefits.

When your out building your brand keep in mind such as things as 200 percent customer satisfaction, when I mean 200 percent your clients should be leaving with a smile on there face, thats what you want. The reason being is because it will lift your brand and give you exposure if you have someone talking highly about your product and referring people you will grow very fast for many reasons 1. you can charge what you want to charge in a manner, 2. People will have trust in your brand because they know of people thats already dealt with you and you’ve gave them results.

Believe it or not I’ve talked to a lot of search marketing companies and not to down talk any one, but I think any SEO guru would know this some SEO companies out there really don’t even give results they might optimized your page content, header tags, and etc then send you on your way and here at DeWitt’s we would never treat a client like that we would much whether be honest with them and tell them there looking at 50k plus for one years of work instead of charging them 5k for onsite optimization that don’t give them results.

When you have brand and people are referring you clients specially bigger players in the industry you know your doing something right.  Some other helpful tips that will help make your brand stick out is things such as listing certifications on your site, testimonials, and similar things to that nature which you don’t have to list that exact stuff, but think of stuff that will make you look like a recognized leader in your field, so in other words take control, be honest, and give results to your consumers.

You know I have wrote about this many times on the blog, but I don’t think a lot of people really understood where I was coming from, but John Scott (v7n.com) wrote a post called Tips on Advertising take a moment to read that and I have referred to similar things a ton of times on our blog.

The thing is with advertising it can be costly and sometimes you might want to keep that money for your self specially in your beginning stages when your budget is small, but anyways advertising might not create leads right away or get a automatic ROI (Return On Investment) right away, but then again you are getting your monies worth you might not see it right away, but what your creating through these market channels is brand awareness an image for your consumers.

Your creating an image in the consumers head, so in other words your getting them famaliar with your brand such as who you are  and what you do. This can be a very powerful technique if used right (promoted properly). For example if someone sees your ads here and there there going to get more comfortable with your name and yes believe it or not it works like that.

People get connected with your brand with out even realizing it I have caught my self getting too connected to other peoples brands to be honest, but I’ve learned a lot from it. Its hard to explain what I’m talking about and where I’m coming from, but the bottom line is that advertising does work and creates brand awareness, so learn to connect people with your name.

Improving brand image is pretty important, I mean think of it does someone decide to hire your company because you have no experience or do they decide to hire your company because they know your an expert. I have manage to bump into a few sites or have had a lot of questions from newer people wanting to get into the search marketing field or web development, but it never fails I see a weak image being promoted.

For example have you ever shown up to a site that just basically says hey my name is David and I’m a PHP programmer and here is my resume I mean come on think of it what reputable company or high paying client is going to hire another company when they show there resume.

Which granted don’t take me the wrong way if your just an individual freelancer type guy then go for it or if your applying for jobs, but if your wanting to build something such as a reputable brand a more corporate look then you must give your consumers a corporate image of you and your company.

Your probably asking me how can I do this well take your time out to read the following below.

Certificates: Show your certificates on your website for example if your in the PPC game and your company is a qualified Google Adwords Professional Team then use the badges / images they provide and put these on your site. Also be sure to put any other certificates on your site you have earned this will brand you a little better.

News Sites: Have you been mentioned on numerous news sites if show then brag about it on your website. Well I probably shouldn’t say brag about it, but promote it for example if your company has done something that created buzz across news sites then promote it.

Memberships: Show all your memberships such as BBB (Better Business Bureau), Sempo, and any other professional organization your part of. Be sure to list only professional organizations that are very well known this will greatly help you and make you look more conducted towards your company and what you have to offer.

Recent Speaker: Are you a recent speaker in trade shows such as search marketing or anything related to your company if so put your badges on your screen. I think Jim Boykin did a very good job at this.

Client List: This is highly important show what type of clients you have worked with in the pass or are working with this gives your consumers an idea of what type of organizations you have worked with. I know before I go make a sale to an SEO company I always check to see who there working with.

Testimonials: If you have testimonials be sure to show these on your website this always draws clients attention quite honestly I don’t pay much attention to them I always just check to see what companies my clients are working with and etc and go from there, but then again I don’t always depend on that either, but either way this will help :).

The idea behind promoting a strong brand is to promote a image that will hook people into calling you and hiring your company. Make your website different from the other 1000’s of websites in your field and promote your self as the best and let people know why you are the best.

Building brand is vitally important specially if your really trying to move your company to the next level. The thing is a lot of people are probably good at what they do, but they never put the full effort into what there doing if that makes any sense, so in other words they don’t apply there self.

The reason brand building is so important is because its whats going to take you to that next level possibly millions, but a lot of people fail at this. I’ve seen some people even start to move into a positive direction with there business and they give it up when its actually working, but they don’t realize it because there not making much money at first, but the facts are you won’t make much money at first when your building a brand unless its something very innovative, but most generally even if it is innovative I’m sure you’ll have to put sometime in somewhere before you actually release your ideas.

Another thing is some people will depends on search engines which is fine and dandy, but if people are no talking about you virally then what the hell. I mean you could constantly generate leads, but if people are not talking highly about your brand and referring you then there is something wrong you should have a brand that is so strong that it will virally spread through social networks and word of mouth thats what you need right there.