potentialgeek - 2:46 am on Nov 16, 2011 (gmt 0)

It's not really about being a big brand. The issue is trust and/or authority. Brands send serious trust and/or authority signals to Google. Google sees the trust/authority; they get a high TrustRank, and get high SERPs.

In my sector the top dogs are not "big brands"; they are ahead of the Fortune 500 companies because their sites have the right number of trusted links.

Don't waste your time trying to become a "big brand." That's a fool's errand. Spend it on trust and authority signals.