How about your brand name appearing in the Google autosuggest? The first and the most obvious reaction would be ‘wow.’ I mean in the context of SEO there is nothing greater than Google itself suggesting your brand name to your target audience. By the way, this entire process or practice is referred to as search box optimization (SBO.)
While search box optimization can potentially open the floodgate for organic traffic, it is also a controversial topic in the SEO world. Many consider it a black hat technique that can potentially put your website at risk of attracting penalty from Google. Is there really any element of truth in this hypothesis, or is it simply a myth that needs to be busted? Above all, is search box optimization really worth investing your time and effort?
You’ll find conclusive answer about this and much more in this comprehensive blog post.
What really is Search Box Optimization?
Search box optimization is a process or technique used to make your brand or website appear in the Google autosuggest.
Google autosuggest is a feature that provides real-time suggestions for search queries as and when users start typing in the search bar.
Autosuggest is an integral feature of Google and is also found in other search engines like Bing. Every user comes across this feature almost every time a search is performed on Google and Bing. Very rarely it happens that you type something on Google and autosuggestion does not get activated.
The below image serves as a good example for not only Google autosuggest but also SBO.
As you can see in the above image, typing the term ‘backlink tools’ has prompted several auto suggestions from Google including ‘SEMrush backlink tools.’ Apart from Semrush backlink tools, other auto-suggestions don’t include any other brand name.
It goes without saying that whenever any users will click on SEMrush backlink tools, it will potentially drive a good amount of traffic to SEMrush’s website. And this is by far the biggest advantage of SBO, the fact that it can literally open the floodgates for organic traffic.
Steps and tips for Search Box optimization
Discussed below are several simple methods and techniques that will allow your brand or website’s name to appear in the Google autosuggest.
- Using bots or automated tools:
Today the market is flooded with several automated tools that can be used for doing many unethical things, including searching your brand name in Google repeatedly. When these tools search your brand name repeatedly on Google, it invariably sends a signal to Google that your brand is trustworthy and deserves to appear in its autosuggest.
However, heavy usage of automated tools for manipulating search results is considered a black hat technique. You must, therefore, think judiciously or be aware of the potential risk before opting for this technique.
It is important to remember that if your website is caught using black hat techniques then it will be penalized by Google, leading to a significant drop in your website’s ranking as well as its organic traffic.
- Focusing on keyword research:
Conduct comprehensive keyword research to find relevant keywords (keywords with high search volume) and use them strategically across your website. This will help your website to rank higher on Google’s SERP, steadily increasing its reputation and trustworthiness and in-turn improving the chances of your website or brand name appearing in the autosuggest.
As an additional tip, along with keyword research you must focus on on-page SEO for increasing your chances of success.
- Conducting manual search through proxies:
This is another black hat technique and, therefore, ideally must be avoided. This controversial method refers to the practice of conducting a manual search through proxy servers. Due to the use of proxy servers, your manual searches will appear natural to Google, invariably sending strong trust signal to Google.
While this method clearly violates Google’s guidelines, it is also not scalable. To get desirable results through this technique, you will need a big team, which could prove immensely expensive.
- Focus on paid ads:
The best thing about paid ads like PPC (Google ads & Bing ads) and social media ads is that it brings instant traffic. It is widely proven that Instant traffic meteorically increases brand awareness and thereby increases your brand and website’s chances of breaking into Google’s autosuggest.
It is recommended not to use paid ads as a standalone strategy. You must preferably use it parallelly with a sharp focus on SEO for achieving more desirable results.
- Don’t forget to focus on backlinks:
All your efforts to increase your brand’s presence in the autosuggest will amount to nothing if your website does not have good number of quality backlinks. The more quality backlinks your website has, the more Google will trust your website and this trust will eventually help your website to earn a place in Google’s auto-suggest.
- Collaborate with social media influencers:
Nowadays there is lot of buzz around social media influencers and this hype is completely warranted considering their consistency in driving online visibility and brand awareness. However, make sure to collaborate only with those influencers who are relevant to your industry and niche.
Which important factors does Google Consider for including brands and websites in Autosuggest?
Google takes into account various parameters and benchmarks while determining which keywords or brands to include in its autosuggest as well as deciding its position in the autosuggest. This clarity will help digital marketers and companies alike in properly streamlining and optimizing their strategies
- Website’s overall good visibility on Google’s SERP.
- Website’s organic traffic should be on the higher side.
- It must have high click-through-rate.
- It must have more brand mention across the websites and social media.
- Organic traffic and search diversity is equally important, website must get traffic from several diverse countries and locations.
- The overall trustworthiness of the website. Your website should send strong trust signals to Google repeatedly.
Is SBO really worth it?
Yes, it is certainly worth it. We’ve already made amply clear that repeated appearance of websites and brands in auto-suggest literally opens the floodgate for organic traffic. And a sharp and sustained growth in organic traffic mostly always leads to improved brand credibility and increase in conversion as well as sales.
It is also important to remember that auto-suggestion is an almost unavoidable feature of Google. People including your target audience invariably comes across it whenever they start typing their targeted keywords.
Conclusion:
We would like to conclude that search box optimization should surely be in your priority list. However, it should not be your core strategy. Rather it should be part of your broad SEO strategy. Focus on keyword research, acquiring backlinks and increasing social media presence among other things will ensure your brand and website’s strong presence in auto-suggestion, without you having to make separate effort or strategy for it. It is equally important to avoid and detest black hat techniques. Black hat techniques can give quick results but this hardly compensates for the invariable risk of your website getting penalized and even blacklisted by Google. Search box optimization is worth all your effort and time, provided you stick to white hat techniques.