Storybrand vs SEO: Do You Have To Choose?

Many fans of the Storybrand framework love the simplicity and small word count for their website. The problem is though is that Google doesn't think like humans and as a result, removing key SEO words from your website could negatively impact your ranking in search results.

This article will explore 5 steps you can take so you can still use Storybrand 100% and keep your SEO optimized without taking a negative hit after you clarify your message.

The key with Storybrand is to let your brandscript do its job. Follow the Storybrand framework as close as you can. Whether you're in the workshop or with a Storybrand guide, get it done right. That comes first and foremost.

After you've created your brandscript, brainstorm keywords that you would like to rank for. Once you have about 30-40 keywords that support your brandscript, prioritize them into your top 3, 3-10 sub-keywords, and everything else.

Use your brandscript as a guide for your keywords, but also do your research to learn what your customers are searching for. The litmus test is what customers are actually typing in on Google, Bing, and Yahoo when they are trying to solve their problems.

When you carefully script the landing page per the Storybrand framework, use your keyword plan to pepper in and repeat your main keywords. 

As Donald Miller says, your main landing page can be long, but it needs to be clear and with as few words as possible "in the above the fold". Once you have all 8 parts of the Storybrand landing page in the upper part of your landing page clarified, then you can reintroduce any longer-form text content lower down the page.

Just remember that people won't read it at first, that's why you don't want lots of text to be visible in the first part of your landing page. But, as you scroll, you can add more text, keeping your SEO optimized and working for you instead of against you.

The reason your website is ranking well on Google (pre-Storybrand) is because of your SEO efforts. If your website really needs to be cleaned up and have lots of text removed, think about and plan how you can still keep in your old keywords, putting them in your headings, alt text, schema, etc. It's about "smart" clarity as you use Storybrand.

Your website doesn't need to take an SEO hit after you clarify your message with Storybrand. Talk to your Storybrand guide as you go through the process. And, if you've only read the Building a Storybrand book, creating a keyword plan is going to be important for your website SEO.