One of the most common questions from our clients about branded keywords is, “Why should I spend part of my budget on something I am already showing up for with organic listings, which are free?” This is a pertinent question because even if your organic listing is showing prominently, using part of your budget to bid on branded keywords has a multitude of benefits that are not as obvious as bidding on non-branded keywords.
Messaging
You have no control over your messaging in organic listings. Search engines, like Google, choose what kind of messaging and links to show. Having a healthy site and a good SEO strategy solves some of that but at the end of the day, you have no say in what shows up. Branded keywords gives you the control you need, from deciding what kind of brand messaging you want to show up for each keyword to supplemental links that may be of interest to your current or potential customers. Purchasing branded keywords also helps with conversions as you can choose to send them to landing pages with the highest conversion rates.
Competitors
Competitors can bid on your branded keywords, giving them the opportunity to poach your customers. When a competitor bids on your branded keywords and your company is searched for, there will be a plain organic listing of your company with your competitor’s best ads preceding or following it.
Also, be aware that competitors can elect to not have ads show up in certain areas. They can choose to not have ads appear close to similar business establishment locations or close to particular offices. Additionally, not having competitors currently bidding on your terms doesn’t impede them from bidding at any time. This can lead to lost time — from the moment they start bidding to the moment someone notices it and then the normal ramp up time to set a campaign live.
Incremental Clicks
An assumption that can arise from having a prominent organic listing is that those clicks would’ve happened regardless if there was an ad or not. Both Google and Bing have researched this in depth and have found that overall clicks increased when Brand ads supplemented organic listings.
Google reported that“On average, 50% of the ad clicks that occurred with a top rank organic result are incremental, i.e, they would not be recovered organically if the ad campaign is paused.” Similarly, Bing reported that having an ad and an organic result at the top of the search results drives on average 91% of all clicks while having no ads drives 60% of total clicks. The conclusion is that having a brand ad makes organic click share drop but the total number of clicks to the site rises overall.
Branded keywords can increase conversion rates and engagement while giving you control of your company’s messaging. While strong SEO and other factors can help your general cost per click and conversion rates, other potential ways to increase your listing should be taken into consideration. For help determining the best keyword strategy for your business, set up your free consultation with Workhorse.
