Trigger Words – When Branding and SEO Collide
Many consultants I work with dislike referring to themselves as consultants. They think the word consultant has a bad connotation and furthermore, does not accurately describe their services or methodology.
In terms of consultant being a trigger word, they are absolutely correct, at least in my experience. When I was in the corporate world and a consultant contacted me, I thought -
- Expensive
- Unfamiliar with our needs
- Theoretical
- Long meetings
- Loss of control
- No results
Not exactly the kind of thoughts that would warm me up to hiring this person. But here’s the rub. Whenever I was looking for outside assistance, what word do you think I used in my online and offline search?
You guessed it – consultant.
And this is the problem. Consultant is a popular search term. When consultants describe themselves differently, they inevitably use terminology people are not familiar with. Since people are not familiar with it, they don’t search for it. If a consultant’s website is not optimized for any keyword phrases that include the word consultant, they may very well be invisible on Google. Yet, if the website is full of consultant terminology, it undermines branding, which is also critically important. What is a consultant to do? I’d love to hear from you, because I don’t have a precise answer – there may not be one. Here are a few thoughts, though.
Branding has to take priority over search engine optimization (SEO). You can trust my sincerity on this point, since I provide SEO copywriting services. So why do I say this? A person has to be true to his brand, otherwise the brand is just so much hype. If you position yourself as a consultant on your website, you may attract lots of search traffic. But what happens when the searchers get to know you? They’ll see that your website and you don’t mesh, and that will be the end of that.
How anti-consultant are you? Some business services professionals are truly and deeply committed to a non-consultant brand. I don’t think they should make compromises. Other consultants, however, are less deeply committed. If they view the internet as a viable means of attracting clients, they should consider optimizing their site for one or two keyword phrases that include consultant.
Find a different SEO strategy. If you don’t use consultant as part of your keyword strategy, we need to work extra hard to find other keyword phrases that will attract qualified search traffic. The good news is, there are plenty out there. Finding the right fit … not always so easy. What you should never do is abandon your website as a source of qualified search traffic. You’re doing yourself and your potential clients a serious disservice by making your unique value invisible.
How have you overcome the consultant problem?
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Brad,
I guess the best thing that firms who dislike the word ‘consultant’ can do is hire the services of a branding ‘consultant’ to provide independent advice on how to handle the dilemma you refer to above.
Seriously, I agree that the word has a negative connotation, and do not feel that the vagueness of the term helps a great deal in this regard.
What to do? I would be somewhat stumped by this question, and like you, I would certainly not attempt to provide a definitive answer.
I would agree with your comments that branding is more important than SEO, although this is not to downplay the importance of SEO for businesses whose web site offers considerable potential in terms of sales or lead generation. I see no point in generating all the traffic in the world unless you project consistency in terms of your branding identity.
I also like your third point, although as you say, there are no easy answers to finding alternative SEO strategies, especially when prospective clients are searching for a consultant.
Hmmm. I’m stumped on this one, and unfortunately, I am sorry to say that I don’t have any form of original suggestions which I can think of at the moment.
Andrews last blog post..Four rants about AIG’s ‘poor performance’ bonus
Hi Andrew, Your honesty and humility are refreshing, so don’t worry about not being able to solve every problem. These are qualities that would make you an excellent “consultant”! Despite the richness of our language, English can be rather imprecise at times and this is a good example. It’s tough for these folks to always have to begin a business conversation by explaining what they do – and in some cases, defending it against misconceptions.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Should Consultants Call Themselves Consultants?
Brad, excellent topic and you raise valid points. The trend to creative titles is “cute” but not effective. People try to differentiate themselves by coming up with alternative labels but it is confusing to consumers and as you pointed out does you disservice in search. I work with a number of consultants and yes there is a negative connotation with the word. However, it is a word that prospects understand so my clients use the term on their site. They differentiate themselves with their branding and a clear articulation of their value proposition. White papers, case studies and their methodology all show clients what they offer, and of course an elimination of junky jargon that is common to that industry.
Karen Swims last blog post..Sharing the Love
Karen, We seem to be leading parallel lives! If a consultant has an industry specialty or does a very specific and commonly understood type of consulting, such as “turnaround specialist”, that helps a lot from an SEO standpoint, don’t you think?
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Should Consultants Call Themselves Consultants?
This has taxed my brain. In a previous life I was a tax consultant – and I guess that fit with the profile we all recognise. Now my portfolio of work means that I describe myself as a coach and speaking trainer – but I refer to Cameron Consulting ( it’s in the title) as a consultancy. Hmmm
Will follow this thread with interest
Jackie Camerons last blog post..Next time you say you can’t do something..
Brad, what a neat post, and I do like how you’re subtly promoting your business at the same time as provoking conversation and giving us ideas. Lots to learn in your approach!
Back to the question – if there’s no credible alternative, and it doesn’t sound as if there is, you’re better sticking with a known term. You can always acknowledge some of the common (mis)perceptions about consultants too.
Would you get good hits on ‘why consultants need to have long meetings’ for example?
Joanna Youngs last blog post..Writing With Rapport on the Web: Spider Plant Babies and Sticky Writing
True that “consultant” has negative connotations, but so do a lot of the possible substitutes such as “coach.” Coach was a good title for what some of us do early on, but now for many people carries a negative image. But I agree with the flow so far: use whichever term best describes what you do, and then differentiate how you do that so you don’t seem “consultanty” or “coachy.”
Jim Hughess last blog post..Chances Are Your Organization is Not Focused on It’s Mission
Hi Jackie, Do you see “coach” as becoming a trigger word? I’m hearing a lot of people express concern about being lumped into the category of “coach”. Do you describe yourself as a career coach/career consultant? “career coach” and “career consultant” might be useful search terms for you.
Joanna, For search purposes, unknown terms are pretty much useless. The challenge is finding the niche – terms that are searched, but not too generic. Smaller companies/entrepreneurs should focus on terms with medium search volume.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Should Consultants Call Themselves Consultants?
Oh help – both coach and consultant in my descriptions! Any suggestions for changing them welcome
Jackie Camerons last blog post..Next time you say you can’t do something..
Hi Jim, Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience. You anticipated my question to Jackie about “coaching” just as I was typing it. It’s easy for me to sympathize with your plight, having been a salesman for a good part of my career. Nothing sends someone running the other way like hearing, “There’s a salesman on the phone.” Unfortunately, the “bad actors” in the sales professional stigmatize the entire profession. I get the feeling something similar has happened in the coaching and consulting field. It is a huge challenge for message strategy and content development, for sure.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Should Consultants Call Themselves Consultants?
Hi Brad, Your question raises the issue – When some have poisoned a term due to poor execution, should you run from it or use those negative experiences as points of competitive advantage. Lawyers, dentists, car salesfolks all face the same quandary – But the truth is, when you need a dentist, you want a dentist…. preferably a nice pain free one.
In my mind the term consultant has a different meaning from agency, supplier, freelancer and employee. It accurately describes the kind of working relationship you are looking to have with a customer – a relationship which may include discussing difficult issues and disagreement as well as the fact that you are bringing a specific set of practiced skills to the party that would be difficult to hire any other way. It is up to us as individuals (and groups) to both protect our clients from poor practice as well as separate ourselves from that poor practice.
Brad, in addition to your points about becoming invisible SEO-wise, alternative terminology can actually focus attention on all the negative attributes you are trying to avoid. (For a while every agency and consultant I spoke to was going to be my ‘partner.’ All that term brought to mind was two things – I was billed in 6 minute increments for this partnership and their full risk was the 30 day payment cycle….. not quite a ‘through thick and thin partnership’ in my mind.
There are ways to not be a consultant. But if you are one – don’t hide, compete.
Sorry, I think this turned more into a post than a comment. Must be some deep fear of consultants I didn’t know about.
Fred H Schlegels last blog post..Fear, Banking and Bring On The Wolves
Hi Fred, Wow, you have an incredibly insightful perspective on this issue. Thank you for sharing your comments here and enriching this particular conversation. It’s funny – as I was reading your comment, I thought, Fred should write a follow up to this post on his blog. Or, you’re welcome to write a guest post here at Word Sell. I love your point about partnership – a cure that is worse than the disease! The whole concept of “partnership” can blow up in your face so easily. Great observation!
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Should Consultants Call Themselves Consultants?
Brad,
I’ve worked with many salesmen. They often don’t want to be associated with the connotations “salesman” can conjure up. So guess what word they choose to rebrand themselves with? Consultant.
And consultants want to be coaches. And coaches want to be professional friends. And we all want to be something other than [insert horrible label here] and would much rather be thought of as [insert warm and fuzzy label here]. We call marketing “bigification” and we call self improvement “destuckification” and everyone is totally confused about who does what.
Maybe that’s because we’re more worried about selling ourselves by using labels that we are about focusing on how those who already know and love what we do, and how they could tell someone else about it. Maybe we’re asking some label to define us to the world because we are afraid of being who we really are and allowing that authenticity to come across. Maybe we’re just afraid and we think words are the solution.
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Don’t say things. What you are stands over you the while, and thunders so that I cannot hear what you say to the contrary.”
Let’s use the words that people will understand, and concentrate on how we do our business.
Terry Heaths last blog post..Synergy and Three Little Maids From School
Terry, So true – you make some incredibly important points. I remember having a real battle some time ago, when there was a movement afoot at my company to change the titles of sales people to something like Sales Consultant or Account Manager or some such thing. The change in words never made any difference in performance. perhaps we should have left the titles alone and put Emerson’s quote on the back of everyone’s business cards. From a search standpoint, whether people want a Professional Friend or a Business Journey Guide, they search for a consultant. Maybe Emerson’s way is the best strategy … it’s certainly the simplest SEO strategy.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Should Consultants Call Themselves Consultants?
Hi Brad – I’ve avoided it by not becoming a consultant
I did think about it but I’m working on developing a product & I think I’d struggle to do both.
I don’t like the word consultant, or coach. so if I was offering this type of service I think I’d need to find some different SEO keyphrases.
Cath Lawsons last blog post..Do You Give A Toss If You Offend People?
Hi Cath, If your main business is selling a product, people will probably not think of you as a coach or consultant. I’m curious about your reaction to Terry’s comment to embrace your “label”.
Brad Shorrs last blog post..Should Consultants Call Themselves Consultants?
Hi Brad, I took your suggestion and got to writing. Ended up posting it at my home. Thanks for the fertile idea. Fred
Fred H Schlegels last blog post..Should You Brand By What Prospects Look For… Or By What You Want To Stand For?