What We’re Seeing
Recent algorithm updates have increasingly favoured brands that demonstrate both strong brand health and robust offsite authority, reshaping the SEO landscape to prioritise more holistic indicators of brand legitimacy and trust.
Brands with a healthy mix of positive brand perception, authority in offsite links, and active digital engagement are rising in rankings, while those lacking in brand health, despite good offsite SEO, are seeing diminished visibility. Google’s focus on content quality and relevance to user intent has been reflected in its recent updates, including the August 2024 core update, which also introduced more localised results.
As Moz recently highlighted, updates such as Google’s “helpful content update” (HCU) aren’t solely about content quality but also weigh a brand’s overall health, leading to more discerning search results that reward comprehensive brand signals.
Builtvisible’s own research confirms this shift; we’re seeing search results increasingly reflecting the prominence of brands that excel in both brand authority and user trust factors.
Additionally, leaked details from Google’s algorithm, like ‘chromeInTotal’, emphasise the importance of a multi-channel digital presence as diverse click sources (i.e. not just from organic search) enhance a brand’s perceived legitimacy.
Brand Performance Spotlight
Two UK brands successfully investing in brand-performance marketing today include the high street retailer, Marks and Spencer and retail building society, Nationwide. We’ll take a closer look at M&S here, but you can find more analysis of Nationwide in our full whitepaper, “SEO in 2025: What Marketers Need to Know”.
Marks & Spencer Brand Authority Boosts Organic Growth in 2024
Since 2020, M&S’s visibility has more than tripled, with its search performance significantly boosting its rankings for high-volume generic terms. For instance, “linen trousers” now ranks 1st (up from 6th in 2022, with 32,000 monthly searches), allowing the brand to quickly capitalise on trending demand through targeted product landing pages.
Four year Visibility Index for marksandspencer.com (Sistrix). Organic visibility triples during the observed time frame.
M&S now ranks 1st for the term “curtains” (up from 11th in 2022, with 80,000 monthly searches), demonstrating M&S’s strengthened position in organic search.
M&S has cut its paid traffic by over half compared to two years ago, demonstrating a strategic shift away from paid acquisition at the bottom of the funnel. Instead, the brand is investing in brand health and visibility at the top of the funnel, building a more sustainable presence and reducing dependency on paid search:
Search statistics for marksandspencer.com (Ahrefs) compared to 2022. Paid traffic is down 58% and spend on paid traffic is down 64%.
Interestingly, despite M&S’s significant improvement in search visibility and rankings, overall consumer interest in the brand itself has remained relatively stable since 2020, as seen in Google Trends data.
Search trend for the topic “Marks & Spencer: Retail company” (Google Trends) since 2019. Online interest in M&S is stable.
“Get on top of brand health signals now – some are easily measurable and cheap, like brand search volume trends and brand share of search, and there’s no excuse not to have a strategy in place to grow that.” – Harry Clarke, Head of SEO
Our Prediction
In 2025, brands will confidently measure and strategise for brand health, focusing on ownership of brand search results and implementing digital strategies that strengthen their online reputation. We anticipate a rise in digital PR campaigns centred around driving brand awareness and elevating brand perception through brand-specific searches. Technical SEO efforts will increasingly support Google’s understanding of brand entities, further enhancing brand visibility in search.
With increased investments in brand health, expect digita agencies to adopt more brand-focused performance tactics, capitalising on trends from recent algorithm updates, Google leaks and the success of brands (such as a M&S and Nationwide) that have shifted their focus from purely “performance” to a brand-driven approach. Digiday’s recent report further highlights this trend, where performance marketers are increasingly prioritising brand-building strategies to gain a competitive edge.
Dive Deeper
Brand SEO represents a shift from transactional strategies to meaningful engagement with your audience. For more examples and our recommendations on how to get ahead of this trend download our full whitepaper now.
Stay tuned for our next blog in the series, where we’ll explore the shifting dynamics of content strategy and its impact on search rankings.
