SEO: Search Engine Optimization

Semiconductor marketing strategies always rely on branding and name recognition to increase sales. Yes, personal relationships are important, but for the most part a company’s reputation and brand play an integral part of an overall marketing strategy for most semiconductor companies.

Today, managing that name recognition and the overall brand has moved to the Web. After all, pretty much any information is accessible via a quick search. Finding positive or negative narratives about any company on any Web site, forum or discussion board can be found rather easily. Furthermore, search engines play a vital role in assisting prospective customers to find a company’s offerings. Looking for an IP? Most of us today tend to search for it online.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Branding
Branding is a companywide exercise in marketing. Customer service, manufacturing, finance and pretty much every other department help in building the company’s image or brand. How that image is portrayed is the “enviable” job of the marketing team, and particularly in the semiconductor industry for the reasons mentioned above, it is not to be taken lightly.

If you are in marketing then ask yourself, “What it is that you want your company or brand to be known for?” Then do a company search on Google (or your favorite search engine). If you don’t find all those desired attributes in the search results but find unrelated, unflattering or out of context results, then you have some work to do.

This is what your potential customers and competitors see every time they search for your company. Much the same way that you wouldn’t want your company to be portrayed in a negative light in casual conversation, an unflattering depiction of your brand online can have similar and severe consequences.

Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to bolster branding is both challenging and long-term. After all, this is what Google (or your favorite search engine) thinks is most relevant about your company. Modification of both the order and importance of those results must be done via a grassroots effort to change such perceptions, both organically and ethically. For example, if reference to poor customer service is what shows up when you search for your company, then the most effective method to correct this is to first address the customer service issue internally, resolve it and then work hard to earn positive reviews for your company online. There are no shortcuts here.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Company Offerings

1. Semiconductor companies traditionally entrusted personal networking and branding to get the word out about a new product or service, as well. There are two problems with this approach:
   In terms of personal (sales) skills, product knowledge and individual reach, personal networking varies from individual to individual.
2. The transfer of knowledge from sales or marketing folks to prospective customers happens in stages and therefore requires an easy-to-access, readily available and detailed library of information such as a Web page or presentation file as a companion.

Most semiconductor companies have understood the value of having comprehensive, informative and thorough Web sites to showcase their offerings for all to see. The challenge is that simply creating a Web page does not in any way guarantee inclusion in search engine results. The Internet is a noisy place. It takes effort and careful planning to create content that rises above the noise level.

A good content marketing strategy begins with a careful analysis of target and related keywords. In fact, building an online presence in a way that encompasses those keywords tells the search engine “bots” that your content is important and deserves being included in the search results. The goal is to create content that is deemed so important and high quality by search engines that it gets presented in results for both the targeted keywords and related keywords.

Final Word
Search engines will continue to serve as our gateway to billions of Web pages. They are the initial source of information for most of us, and they deserve a solid place in any company’s marketing plan.