What Is Branded Search? — 4 Expert Tips to Increase Branded Search

Every September, in the bustling streets of New York City, there's an electric energy in the air. The same scene is mirrored in cities across the globe.

In cafes and offices, whispered conversations and speculative chatter can be heard: "I hope the camera is even better this year,” “Have you heard about the new features of iPhone 15?“ “I wonder what’s the starting price this time?”

Consumers head to Google for confirmation and more details. Post-launch, phrases like "Best iPhone 2023 cases," "iPhone 2023 compatible earbuds," "iPhone 15 reviews," and "iPhone 14 Pro Max vs. iPhone 15 comparisons" become popular search terms.

Many businesses capitalize on these branded search terms for iPhone by offering related accessories and optimizing content to capitalize on this trend and boost revenue. Sounds lucrative, right?

What if I told you that just like Apple and other big brands, you too can harness branded search to increase your website traffic and bolster your bottom line?

In this article, I'll cover how branded search can positively impact your bottom line and provide my proven tactics to enhance branded searches through SEO.

Branded search traffic occurs when potential customers use specific keywords that directly mention your company or product. In this context, branded search terms are used by people already familiar with your brand.

On the other hand, non-branded traffic comes from general keywords that people search when they are looking for a product or service that meets their needs.

Here's a non-branded versus branded keyword example:

Let's say you're seeking a free keyword research tool and are open to exploring options. You might search for "Free keyword explorer." In this instance, you haven't shown a preference for any particular brand.

However, if you specifically want to use Moz's tool, you would search for "Moz Keyword Explorer." This query mentions the brand "Moz" in conjunction with the product or service you're interested in.

Notice the vast difference?

When someone searches for your brand name directly, they're more likely to become customers than those who find your website by chance through a search.

A Statista report shows that 58% of searches for global brands are non-branded, with branded searches making up the remaining 42%.

This report reveals that searchers using branded keywords to find specific brand products are usually further along in their buying journey compared to those using non-branded keywords.

As a result, these searchers are more likely to become customers. However, it's important to note that many customers may initially discover your brand through non-branded searches.

These searches bring them into the sales funnel, and a targeted branded campaign can then convert their interest into a sale.

Apart from driving conversion, there are several ways branded search benefits your brand. Let's take a look:

1. Increase rankings:

Brand awareness isn't just about recognition; it's also a secret weapon in your SEO arsenal. Brands that are recognizable often capture more clicks in search results.

When many users are searching for a specific term, such as "3M chemical goggles," instead of just "chemical goggles," Google starts to show that particular term in its suggestions over time. If branded keyphrases become more popular, they move higher in the suggestions list.

As a result, Google is more likely to rank your content higher for branded keywords. This increase in organic click-through rates (CTR) sends positive signals to Google's algorithm.

Higher organic search rankings lead to more visibility and traffic for your website, which means more potential customers. This not only strengthens your brand's online presence but also drives tangible business growth.

2. Enhance user experience:

Branded searches often come with specific questions and queries related to your brand. By providing tailored and accurate content that addresses these inquiries, you enhance the user experience.

Try taking a content-first design approach to boost your audience’s content experience. Use qualitative and quantitative customer data to guide your decision-stage content experience.

When your website visitors find the information they seek, they will be satisfied with the experience and more likely to engage with your brand further.

Statistics by Emplifi state that the connection between a great customer experience and happy customers is undeniable, which eventually impacts the bottom line.

Hence, it's essential to present information that is easily accessible, well-organized and delivers an outstanding UX/UI experience.

When users can effortlessly achieve their goals without encountering hurdles, a sense of satisfaction and affinity towards the brand naturally blossoms.

3. Boost search personalization and brand reputation:

If someone searches for "baby crib brands" and visits “Babyletto’s” website, Google remembers this. The next time they search for a related item, Google might show Babyletto higher up because it knows the person has shown interest before.

When Google sees many high-authority websites mentioning two search terms together, such as “baby crib brands” and “Babyletto,” it starts to link them.

This demonstrates how people's searches can influence what Google suggests. Google recognizes the authority of your content when it consistently appears in searches related to your brand.

It’s a golden opportunity to guide the searchers toward positive reviews and content that highlights your brand's strengths. Consequently, you can improve your brand's reputation. This not only fosters trust but also increases the likelihood of turning potential customers into loyal ones.

The big question is: how can you increase branded search to reap all the benefits?

You’ve learned everything about branded search and its impact. Now for the meaty part: here are four tactics I highly recommend to increase branded search, which are also vetted by SEO experts like Brendan Hufford, Ben Goodey, and Usman Akram.

1. Create content around your brand

If you're not creating content to support branded keywords, you're leaving money on the table and missing a massive opportunity to dominate the SERP for those terms.

First things first: once you notice searches centered around your brand name, product, or service, it's crucial to focus on crafting content that's rich in value, targeting high-intent, branded keywords.

At its core, great content is crafted for users. Setting a high-quality content bar for your website is the most effective way to reap all the benefits Google offers.

To provide higher value with content, you must have a quality-first mindset, ensure the content spikes emotional resonance with the readers, and engage them by answering their intent right away.

Take Leadfeeder for example. Throughout this article, they have demonstrated Leadfeeder’s unique approach to demand generation and leveraged their brand name to establish authority.

Similarly, Moz has made a name in the SEO space as a thought leader by creating comprehensive SEO resources and engaging the audience with educational content that makes SEO strategies accessible and implementable.

The result?

By nurturing a community and consistently delivering top-notch content, Moz cemented its authority in the SEO space and witnessed remarkable growth in its customer base.

2. Make branded backlinks work for you

As part of your well-rounded SEO plan, you should invest more effort in obtaining high-quality backlinks.

Backlinks serve as trust signals for search engines like Google, indicating that your site is a credible source of information. When a high-authority website links to your content, Google sees it as an endorsement and might rank your site higher in search results.

While obtaining branded anchor backlinks (backlinks that contain your brand name in the anchor text) is crucial, ensuring these links come from credible sources is equally important.

Associating with websites known for link-selling can damage your website's reputation. You can try out tools like Linktegrity and Moz’s Spam Score to check if a site is known or suspected of engaging in link-selling and to decrease spammy links pointing to your site.

For most link-building campaigns at Jolly SEO, we implement two services:

1. Journalist outreach: One of the core services we focus on:

• Pitching stories or content to journalists.

• Earning high-quality backlinks from reputable publications using Connectively (formerly HARO), ProfNet, Featured, and Help A B2B Writer.

• Boosting the client's Domain Authority

2. Whitehat link building: Backlinks should be earned, not bought. In doing so, we rightfully obtain branded anchor text backlinks. With the right effort, this strategy proves exceptionally effective.

Over the past year, the Jolly SEO team has sent over 75,000 tailored email pitches. We've reached out to publishers who recognize and value the Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) of the content we create. As a result, our clients have achieved increases in organic traffic ranging from 250% to 1,200%.

3. Put more effort into brand marketing

To attract more people to your site and have them recognize your brand, it's essential to utilize all your marketing methods.

Since people engage with various types of media, it's crucial to promote your brand across platforms where your audience is active.

“Branded search is the byproduct of word of mouth, so the real opportunity is increasing all of those touch-points that digital attribution software doesn't catch,” emphasizes Brendan Hufford, from Growth Sprint.

Regarding investment in brand marketing, he adds, “Talk to customers to find out where your audience hangs out online and show up there. Sponsor their favorite podcast. Run ads before their favorite YouTube videos. Be active in their favorite subreddits.”

Ben Goodey, the founder of Goodey Marketing agrees and adds, “The best way to increase branded search is to invest in brand marketing.”

“For brands with a budget,” Ben continues, “that might mean national advertising campaigns. For most of us, that means investing heavily in quality organic content on social media, podcast appearance, and content marketing."

Your audience engages with various types of media, so you should use different methods to boost your branded search traffic. Why?

When your brand is visible across various platforms like the SERP, forums, social media, and podcasts, people will likely search for your company on Google to learn more about your offer.

Brendan suggests the following tactics to bring your brand in front of the target audience:

1. Talk to customers to find out where your audience hangs out online

2. Show up on those platforms to connect with them

3. Sponsor their favorite podcasts

4. Run ads on their favorite YouTube channels

5. Be active in their favorite subreddits.

4. Capture demand to spark brand interest

Driving branded search and creating branded keywords is like generating demand for your product.

When people are already aware of a brand, they are more likely to search for it directly. The real advantage is broadening the brand's reach and penetrating a larger market.

To capitalize on this opportunity, you need to create new demand.

Usman Akram, Head of SEO growth strategy at Flying Cat Marketing, shares, “Branded search can only be amplified with activities that create new demand. SEO can be used for this if you approach it with a demand creation mindset.”

“For example, if I offer a plugin for ChatGPT, nobody knows about my plugin, but everyone knows about ChatGPT. I’d be creating content around topics such as: Can ChatGPT do X, Can ChatGPT do Y, etc. This will help me gather an audience looking for their own solution, and then I can present my plugin as an add-on, thus creating demand for my product and increasing branded search,” adds Akram.

Following Usman’s unique stance on demand creation with SEO, here are three ways to capture search demand.

1. Nurture customer relationships

When businesses use strategies like personalized messages, loyalty rewards, and providing great customer service, they build lasting connections with their customers.

These loyal customers often interact more with the brand, tell others about it, and keep coming back, which leads to steady business growth.

2. Leverage social media for demand capture

Using social media as part of your strategy to attract customers can increase your visibility and bring in important leads.

By interacting with people on social media, posting content they find interesting, and joining in conversations, you can grab their attention, make your brand more known, and get more people to visit your website.

3. Innovate new products and running experiments

Innovating, launching new products or services, and teaching the market about what makes them special can help you generate new demand that will be easy to capture as you’re the category creator here.

But keep in mind that gaining authority and boosting branded searches takes time. The results of your SEO efforts will only show after you've put in a good amount of time and work on marketing your brand.

While we’re on the topic of branded organic search, it’s worth noting that in tough competition, your rivals might bid on your brand name to rank higher than you.

We see SEO as the tortoise and paid search as the hare. So why not pair them together?

It can be tempting to bid with branded keywords from a high conversion standpoint. I get it; we all want fast results.

However, there is a debate on the profitability of running ads on branded keywords, leaving marketers wondering whether they should bid or not.

When to bid on branded keywords?

Bidding on your brand name might not make sense at first. But it's important to weigh the pros and cons before deciding if you should bid on your brand terms.

1. Stand out in competitive markets

In areas where competition is fierce, bidding on branded keywords of your competitors is often crucial to keep your place in the market and stop competitors from taking your customers.

Here are two examples — Amazon bidding on Walmart’s branded keywords to stay ahead in a busy online market. Monday.com is capturing Trello's audience by running ads on Trello's branded keywords.

2. Protect your brand

If you're dealing with challenges to your reputation or want to respond to negative opinions, bidding on your brand lets you control the story and highlight positive points.

You can also run ads on social media to drive branded searches on Google. Make sure your ads highlight what your brand stands for and its unique character. Rather than simply selling a product, share a story.

For example, if being eco-friendly is important to your brand, design an ad campaign that shows how your products help make the planet healthier.

Similarly, if you care deeply about gender equality, ensure your ads reflect that.

3. Meet specific marketing targets

When you have particular marketing objectives like promoting a special offer, an event, or a new product launch, bidding on brand-related keywords can help you reach users who are looking for those exact things.

Using brand-specific keywords in your marketing campaigns can attract users directly interested in these promotions.

This approach helps in filtering the audience to those who are more likely to engage with your brand, thereby increasing the chances of conversions, be it in sales, event attendance, or other forms of engagement.

When not to bid on branded keywords?

Despite the faster results and other benefits, bidding on branded keywords can also have its downsides. Here are some scenarios in which it may not make sense to run paid campaigns around branded keywords:

1. There are little to no branded search queries

If your brand is new, it's likely that you won't see many branded search queries for it. In that case, jumping in and running a paid search is like flushing your budget down the drain.

When potential customers don't see your website organically at the top of the SERP, displaying your branded ads might not seem credible to them, as customers tend to prefer familiar brands over unfamiliar ones.

Therefore, to establish a foundational layer of trust, you need to have a strong presence in the SERPs first and make your brand more recognizable to them.

2. There’s not enough competition

Running paid ads becomes a logical choice when you're contending with competitors striving to outpace you in the SERPs. However, in situations where there's little to no competition, why pay for clicks when you can get them for free?

Brendan Hufford says, "No one likes to see competitors showing up above you in search engines, but I've never seen a brand fall off by not running them."

Usman Akram agrees, adding, "In my opinion, bidding on branded keywords makes the most sense when there's a threat of other companies stealing your branded keyword spots by bidding against them."

"If you have no such threat, then most likely, bidding on your own branded terms would be a waste since you'd be eating up the same search potential with paid ads that you could've generated organically."

In this case, instead of bidding on your branded terms, focus more on strengthening your organic SERP presence.

3. The investment isn’t relatively affordable

Paid search isn't a cost-effective alternative to SEO. Unlike SEO, you're charged for each click. When some companies stop their paid search marketing campaigns, they see a drop in traffic.

A better approach?

I suggest focusing on creating impactful content. With more people now using image searches, it's wise to include branded images and infographics in your content.

Keep a finger on the pulse of website ranking, seasonal trends, and content quality updates using Google Trends.

Investing in influencer marketing is an effective strategy to get your brand name in front of the audience you want to appeal to.

You can build brand recognition by actively participating in your community, such as by sponsoring events, making company donations, or encouraging your employees to actively build a presence on social media and familiarize their networks with your brand.

As customers become accustomed to seeing your brand in other channels and the SERPs, they'll begin to include your brand name in their search queries.

The impact of branded search on a company's bottom line is undeniable.

It extends beyond mere visibility, playing a critical role in enhancing search rankings, improving user experience, personalizing brand interactions, and building a solid brand reputation.

Once you drive branded search, however, your job doesn’t stop there.

Driving branded search is only the beginning. Optimizing the search to capture a larger portion of the SERP real estate is equally important, leading to increased customer conversion.