Introduction: Why Bid on Branded Keywords?
Choosing to bid on branded keywords, which include your brand name or variations of it, is a highly effective strategy to secure prime visibility on the search engine results page (SERP). Although your brand may rank organically, competitors can bid on your brand terms and outrank you with paid ads. By running Google Ads campaigns to bid on your own brand keywords, you protect your brand’s presence, prevent competitors from diverting traffic, and improve your click-through and conversion rates.
What Are Branded Keywords?
Before we get started, what do we mean by “Branded Keywords”? These are search terms that include your company name, products or services that are unique to your brand. For example if your business is called “Algebra” a branded keyword could be “Algebra PPC Agency” or “Algebra Marketing Agency”. In contrast, non-branded keywords are generic terms like “PPC agency” that help attract new customers but are less likely to convert at the same rate.
Bidding on branded keywords means running pay-per-click (PPC) ads that target these search terms. It may seem strange to bid on your own brand name when you already show up in organic search results but businesses do it for a reason.
Benefits of Bidding on Branded Keywords
Control Over Your Brand’s Message
One of the main benefits of bidding on branded keywords is you have more control over how your brand appears in search results. With your organic listing, your meta description and title may not always be displayed as you’d like. But with a paid ad you can craft compelling ad copy that promotes, new products or important messaging. This will get more clicks and improve your conversion rate.
Protect Against Competitors
Another reason to run a branded campaign is to protect your brand from competitors who may be targeting those terms. If a competitor bids on your brand name and you don’t they could show up above your organic listings and capture traffic that would have gone to you. By bidding on branded keywords you ensure you’re at the top of the search results when someone searches for your brand, so competitors can’t steal your clicks.
Enhance Brand Visibility
When brand bidding, appearing in both organic listing and paid search ads reinforces your brand’s presence and builds trust with users. When your brand shows up in both organic and paid listings it reinforces your presence and credibility and makes it more likely users will click on your ad or organic result.
Improve Overall ROI
Brand bidding tends to have a lower cost-per-click (CPC) and higher return on ad spend (ROAS) compared to non-branded terms. In almost every case your Brand campaigns will have a high quality score from the very start. Since these users already know your brand, conversion rates are typically higher, offering a strong return on your advertising budget.
Drawbacks of Bidding on Branded Keywords
More Ad Spend
One of the biggest downsides of bidding on branded keywords is the cost. Since these are search terms that already rank well organically it may seem like paying for clicks is unnecessary. The budget spent on these brand campaigns could be allocated to other campaigns targeting broader terms or product specific keywords that you may not rank for as well.
Cannibalisation of Organic Traffic
Bidding on branded keywords can lead to cannibalisation where your PPC branded campaign take traffic that would have gone to your organic listings. So you’re paying for clicks that you could have gotten for free. While your brand visibility is increased it can still feel like you’re paying for something you would have gotten without the extra spend.
Negative ROAS
In some cases, if not managed properly bidding on branded keywords can lead to negative return on investment (ROAS). This is especially true if your CPC is high and your ads aren’t generating many conversions. This may be due to users searching on informational searches that aren’t really “money terms” for you. Things like “phone number”, “returns policy”, “office address”, “company registration number” etc. Tracking your branded campaigns is key to ensure they’re delivering positive ROAS as some businesses find the results don’t justify the spend.
Best Practices for Brand Bidding
Competitor Analysis
Before you bid on branded keywords you need to analyse your competitor activity. Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner or third-party platforms to see if competitors bid on your brand keywords. If you see high competition it may be worth bidding on branded keywords to maintain your market share. It’s also worth bearing in mind that competitors directly bidding on your brand are likely to have a very low quality score and so can be easily outranked.
Monitor Your Branded Campaigns Closely
To avoid overspending monitor your branded keyword campaigns closely. Track CPC, conversion rates and overall impact on organic traffic. This will help you see if your investment is paying off or if you need to adjust. A well optimised campaign can make a big difference in maximising the benefits of bidding on branded keywords.
Ad Extensions
Get more out of your brand ads by using ad extensions when you bid on branded keywords. Ad extensions allow you to show additional information such as links to specific pages, contact details or promotions. This makes your branded ad more informative and can increase the chances of clicks. By optimising your branded ads you can get more value from your spend.
Adjust Based on Performance
Regularly review your brand keyword bids and adjust based on the results. For example if you see a branded keyword is getting a high volume of clicks but low conversions consider refining the ad copy or adjusting the bid. Continuous optimisation will get you the best out of your branded keyword strategy.
How to Set Up Branded Search Campaigns
To bid on branded keywords, we recommend building out dedicated brand campaigns to keep your branded keywords separate from non brand. Performance is likely to be very different across the two groups of terms. You’re also going to want to control the budget for brand campaigns separately.
Remember to add negative keywords for undesired brand search terms, many users search for general information regarding your brand which you may not wish to bid on. As mentioned above, often people search for brand terms that include things like “phone number”, “returns policy”, “office address”, “company registration number” etc.
Should You Bid on Your Own Brand Terms?
The answer depends on your budget, competition and overall marketing goals. If you have many competitors targeting your brand name or you want to control your brand messaging then bidding on branded terms may be worth the spend. If you have a limited budget and see little competition then it may be better to focus on non branded terms.
But most businesses find a balanced approach works best. Testing out branded campaigns and comparing to your organic results will give you insights into what delivers the best ROAS. From there you can decide to continue, scale or reduce your investment in bidding on branded keywords.
Conclusion: A Must-Have Strategy
Bidding on branded keywords is an essential part of any PPC strategy, especially in competitive industries. By strategically bidding on your own brand terms, you protect your business from competitors, improve your SERP visibility, and ensure high-intent users land on your site. Branded keywords not only reinforce your brand recognition but also provide a strong return on your advertising budget, making them a valuable investment.