The one thing better than being seen? Being sought out

There’s one core data point that we aim to measure in all our work here at DigiDoc.

It’s the metric that can prove, beyond any doubt, that all the work you’re doing to deliver your product or service — and to ensure great customer experiences when you do — is paying off.

This applies to 99.99% of companies, big and small, no matter where you are in the world.

It’s not something you need to be checking every day or every week, but if you’re not keeping an eye on it over time, and seeing the direction the number is trending, then you’re missing a trick.

What is this data point?

Branded search.

Simply put: are people searching Google for your brand or business name?

Now, you might ask whether this is really important.

After all, you might say, if we’re going to grow, we need to be reaching new people, not those who know about us already.

Well, the answer to that is yes and absolutely f***ing no!

Yes, in that growth comes from new customers — or providing new products, services and value for existing customers.

Absolutely f***ing no, in that a core reason people even consider you in the first place, before they ever seriously think about buying from you, is knowing about you.

Early adopters are fine, but your business's core audience is probably not the early adopter. Most people walk where the grass is well worn.

Seth Godin, the marketing icon, once said that when you’re fed up hearing your own brand or message, you’re about 10% of the way to where you need to get to.

You have a hall of mirrors view of your own business.

You might be living and breathing it 24 hours a day, but no matter how well you’re doing, the chances are that there are lots of people out there — lots of exactly the right people, the people you’d love to buy from you, the people who want what you have to offer — who have no idea you even exist!

And one way to measure how many people are getting to know you exist is brand search.

The best way to measure brand search is with a free tool that too few business owners pay any attention to: Google Search Console.

Once set up and monitored — and it’s still surprising to find that many businesses either don’t have it set up, or don’t look at it when it is — Google Search Console is a treasure trove of important information about three critical things.

1. How people are finding your website in Google
2. What searches they’re keying into Google
3. Which pages on your website those searches are bringing them to

Despite the fact that social media is everywhere, despite privacy concerns which prompts some people — early adopters!!! — to shirk Google for other browsers and other search engines, despite the doomsters who say ChatGPT is going to kill search, Google is still the biggest driver of online visibility for most businesses, and will be for a few years yet.

And one of the most important numbers you should track on your dashboards, whiteboards or the back of the old envelope on your desk is: how many people are searching Google for my business or product?

Provided your brand name is easy enough to spell and not too generic, you should be able to track how it’s doing over time.

Because let’s face it, for most people, when they hear something that strikes their interest, what's one of the first things they do?

They Google it.