Leveraging Branded Searches: Top Ways To Use Branded Keywords

Less sophisticated practitioners of search engine optimization (SEO) believe that keywords are one of the most important ranking factors. A company’s marketers may try to find the most searched terms their business can rank for, with the aim of driving traffic to the website. Usually, they’ll come back with an exhaustive list of industry-specific keywords, none of which include the company’s brand name.

Branded keywords can be forgotten during keyword optimization. But a talented, experienced SEO agency knows their importance. Branded keywords can be used strategically to further enhance ranking performance, drive more traffic, and increase conversions. Read on to find out why branded search terms can be so valuable.

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What Are Branded Keywords?

As you might expect, a branded search term contains your company name.

Believe it or not, this is great progress for your company. You’re in a position where a user is typing your brand name as a search engine query, which means they know who you are and they’re deliberately seeking you out.

When someone uses a branded search term, they’re usually hoping to land on your website. If it weren’t for search engines preferring to show results pages, these people would be direct traffic to your website. Plus, we know that direct traffic is considered warmer and more likely to convert, so the more branded search volume and site visitors you have, the better.

However, there’s something you need to be aware of – your competitors. Other businesses will attempt to rank for your brand name or get their pay-per-click (PPC) ads positioned on your brand search terms. We’ll talk about how you can leverage content and branded keywords to ensure you’re dominating search engine result pages (SERPs) when people search your company name.

Branded Vs. Non-Branded Keywords

Non-branded keywords are terms not including your company name, whereas branded keywords do include your brand name.

Usually, non-branded terms are relevant to your industry, product, or service. This mixture of high-volume short-tail keywords and low-volume long-tail keywords is what most SEOs target to improve traffic and SERP rankings.

Branded terms are easier to rank for, but they often have a much lower search volume than industry keywords. However, when someone is using your company name as a search query, they’re usually highly engaged and ready to convert.

How To Optimize for Brand Name Keywords

You now know branded search terms are important and the difference between non-branded and branded. Let’s discuss how you can optimize them to improve your SEO performance.

We’ll discuss three main areas of optimization and improvement:

• What happens when you search for your brand name on Google
• Branded Google suggestions as keyword inspiration
• Expanding your reach and what to look out for

What Happens When You Search Your Brand Name In Google?

When users type your brand as a keyword, they are highly engaged users and looking for specific information about your company. But what do they see?

Well, rather than showing every page on your website in results, Google tries to give a balanced view of your business, with different content types from multiple platforms and websites. You’ll see a variation of web pages, videos, images, “people also ask” questions, knowledge panels, and social media posts.

Go ahead: search your brand name and assess the results page. This is where your to-do list will come from. Here’s how you can dominate results for your brand name:

• Create content and articles that answer the “people also ask” questions
• If you aren’t seeing social posts, link your website to them so Google knows they’re connected
• Claim your Google knowledge panel, if you haven’t already
• Optimize brand-heavy pages, such as About and Careers

Branded Search Suggestions

What are Google’s suggested searches when someone types your brand name as a search query?

These suggestions are incredibly important because they tell you what your target audience most wants to know about your brand – either before or after making a purchase.

You can learn a lot from these suggestions. For example, your website may have a navigation issue. If many users are going to Google to search for your login page, it suggests you haven’t made it easy enough to find.

Second, perhaps new or existing customers are potentially looking to buy from you. An example of this type of search would be someone looking for coupons or discount codes.

Finally, there are those who want to do further research before making a decision. Mostly, these people will be looking for reviews.

    How Can I Rank for Branded Search Suggestions?

• Create landing pages or articles on your website that target each of the suggested brand keywords
• Write content that targets featured snippets
• Produce a variety of content, including videos, images, and infographics
• Include FAQ sections wherever suitable on your website and use schema markup
• Promote and link to third-party content that speaks highly of your business

Expanding Your Reach and Things To Look Out For

Now you’ve conquered the main points and it’s time to broaden your search. Take a keyword research tool such as Semrush and examine all the branded search terms people are using. This will give you more options for targeting branded search terms beyond Google suggestions.

Furthermore, do additional analysis of what appears when you search these branded terms. If users are looking for reviews, are these search results full of positive or negative reviews? If negative, you need to address this.

In Summary

Give yourself a big pat on the back. People are searching your brand name so much that it’s become a keyword. This is a testament to all the hard work you’ve put in establishing your company and growing brand awareness – congratulations!

Branded search term optimization enables you to take it to the next level, controlling what content people see in their run-up to making a purchase. If you do the research and implement the changes discussed above, you can ensure users get a positive experience and find exactly what they’re looking for when searching for your brand. Also, you increase your chances of driving website traffic and conversions.

For more information on branded keyword optimization and expert assistance, Digital Authority Partners can provide you with the guidance you need to get to the next level.