Branded vs. Non-Branded Keywords: What They Are + How to Use Them

Branded keywords include your company’s name in the search term and help fend off competitors. Non-branded keywords can help you scale when done right.

Ever searched for a specific product in Google, like “bluetooth keyboard?” Or perhaps you already had a brand in mind, so you typed in “Logitech keyboard.”

The first term is a non-branded keyword or general query. The second is a branded keyword since it includes the company name, “Logitech.”

The best keyword strategy combines both branded and non-branded keywords.

Steven Dang, VP of growth and strategy at HawkSEM, has spent the last decade leveraging both keyword types in successful pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies for our diverse clientele.

In this guide, he breaks down the difference between branded and non-branded keywords, when to use them, and how to sustain traffic and revenue with a strategic medley of both.

What are branded vs. non-branded keywords?

Branded keywords are keyword terms that include the name of your company or product, whereas non-branded keyword terms refer or relate to your company or products without using the proper company name.

Let’s take a hypothetical company, Skimmer Drones, as an example.

Skimmer Drones would be the branded keyword for this imaginary business. Other terms like “Sky Skimmer products,” “drones by Sky Skimmer,” or “the Sky Skimmer line of drones” also count as branded keywords.

On the other hand, non-branded keywords for Skimmer Drones might be “best-engineered drones,” “leading brands of drones,” and, more broadly, “airborne photography.”

But the differences between these two keyword types go beyond their phrases. They garner different results and exposure from different audiences, depending on which you rank for.

The differences between branded vs. non-branded keywords

Branded searches on Google typically target a narrower segment of potential customers than non-branded keywords.

However, it’s also the segment most likely to convert to a sale. That’s because branded keyword terms address audiences further down the sales funnel, who likely already:

• Have some degree of familiarity with your brand or company
• Visited your homepage or interacted with your content
• Want to make a purchase

Additionally, branded keywords often have less competition and lower cost per click (CPC).

Non-branded keywords have a higher audience reach in numbers but may not be ready to convert to a sale right away. These are top-funnel audiences that likely:

• Aren’t aware of your brand
• Haven’t visited your website
• Want to research before they make a purchase
• Are comparing you with similar companies and products

Since non-branded keywords target a broader audience, they also tend to have higher costs, specifically higher costs-per-click (CPCs), but more on that later.

So, if branded keywords garner more conversions, you should target ads and content to those exclusively, right? Not quite.

Dang advises that it’s equally important to consider non-branded search queries during  keyword research. This leverages a higher search volume and helps generate more organic traffic:

“While it’s still important to run brand campaigns for defensive purposes (if you aren’t bidding on your own terms your competitors gladly will), it is important to focus the majority of your energies on non-branded campaigns,” says Dang. “That is ultimately how you go after new opportunities and grab more market share.”

Over time, both will help you gauge your overall SEO efforts and maximize returns to target and attract new and existing customers.

Let’s look at how it works in action.

An example of using both

Our Idaho-based client CLK Supplies supports locksmiths professionals across the US and Canada with supplies and training.

We helped them boost year-over-year (YoY) conversions by 32% and overall conversion value by 42%.

The secret sauce? A mix of organic, non-branded keyword targeting and branded keyword PPC campaigns.

For instance, one of their services is a locksmith training program. Here’s how we advertised it with both branded and non-branded keywords.

When someone searches for “CLK supplies locksmith program,” you’ll notice CLK supplies appears second as a top result with this sponsored post:

Now, if you broaden your search to include topic and location, you’ll notice CLK Supplies comes up first in the organic search results. This is because we prioritized ranking for the non-branded keyword phrase “locksmith training program Hayden.”

This result appears for relevant audiences in the Hayden, Idaho area, but who aren’t as far along in the sales funnel as those who searched the branded keyword.

Now, is it as simple as reserving branded keywords for PPC search campaigns and non-branded keywords for SEO? Not really. Dang suggests this formula might be too simple:

“Whether to focus on non-branded or branded on SEO and PPC depends on a variety of different factors, and all of them need to be thought about in aggregate to come to some conclusion about focus,” he explains.

 

So, how does Dang strategize keywords for SEO vs. PPC?

“For SEO, we need to consider where our ranking needs are, and which opportunities are easier to exploit in terms of competitiveness,” he shares. “As for SEM…it’s a good rule of thumb to always have a good stable of branded, non-branded, and competitor campaigns.”

Bottom line: Branded and non-branded keywords aren’t a one-or-the-other marketing solution.

How branded and non-branded keywords work together

In PPC marketing, non-branded keywords are a big factor to attract more traffic and improve your paid search ROI. However, without branded terms, it can be hard to dominate the search engine results page (SERP) and stay ahead of the competition.

As Backlink.io reports, branded keywords in top SERP results have more than double the clickthrough rate (CTR) compared to non-branded keywords. In other words, these audiences know what they want (your products) and are eager to get them!

However, they didn’t reach this level of hype on their own — you nurtured them when they initially researched your industry and products, often through non-branded keywords.

Simply put, branded and non-branded keywords complement each other well by targeting prospects at different stages of the sales funnel.

Think of it this way: ads with non-branded keywords help you appeal to top-funnel audiences, while branded keywords help drive the sale through. It’s a synergy that’s similar to the combined efforts of your sales and marketing teams.

As for how to use them…

When to use each keyword type

If you compare the use of branded and non-branded keywords on SEO tools like Google Search Console and Google’s Keyword Planner, you may find that there are more searches for non-branded terms than branded ones. Still, branded keywords belong in your SEO strategy, too.

Let’s analyze when to use branded and non-branded keywords to meet each brand’s unique marketing goals.

When to use branded keywords

Branded keywords help you convert people familiar with your brand, among other benefits. Here’s when to use them for optimal efficiency:

1. When you want to increase conversions with lower spend

Branded traffic is typically lower than non-branded traffic because it targets a narrower audience. However, this can be a good thing, too.

For one, advertising to people who are already searching for your products increases your chances of conversions because they’re already interested in making a purchase.

Additionally, branded keyword terms generally cost less than popular non-branded terms. They offer a lower cost-per-click (CPC) while being more relevant to your intended audience, which leads to potentially significant ROI.

When you run branded campaigns and bid on your branded terms, you spotlight your brand while targeting a more relevant audience. So, essentially, by targeting bottom-funnel prospects, you get more by spending less.

2. When you want to protect your online reputation

Heads up: your competitors may use your branded keyword terms in their ads.

How’s that possible? Dang explains:

“The Google platform is a bit of a free-for-all and branded terms aren’t exempt from being a usual target or tool of conquest among competitors,” he says.

This is especially common in highly competitive industries or when you offer a very similar product or service.

Your competition’s objective is to attract people that search for your company and brand by name, so they can divert them to their brand instead.

Of course, you don’t want to make it easy for competitors to poach your prospects when they search your company name.

While Google doesn’t strictly prohibit others from using your brand name in their PPC campaigns, here are a few ideas to limit stolen market share.

• Play their bidding game: Experiment with this tactic if you have the budget and want to recover your target audience while attracting part of theirs.
• Increase branded ad spend: While not the most budget-friendly solution, it can be effective. Your competitors are unlikely to spend heavily on your branded keywords. By increasing the bid, you may be able to kick them out of the saddle.
• Improve your Quality Score: Since Quality Score helps dictate your ad rank, you can improve it to place your branded ads above your competitors. This also benefits your overall paid search ad campaign.
• Optimize your landing pages: Competitors probably won’t invest too much time and money optimizing their landing pages for your branded keywords. A landing page optimized for branded keywords can boost your Quality Score and improve your ad’s visibility.

Overall, Dang recommends a fulsome marketing strategy that covers branded, non-branded, and competitor campaigns:

“The idea is not to leave any gaping openings for our competitors to exploit, and to play both offense and defense,” he says.

3. When you want to improve your Quality Score

Google defines Quality Score as a diagnostic tool used to give you a sense of how well your ad quality compares to other advertisers’.

It’s also used to measure how relevant your ads and keywords are to your brand. So, what could be more relevant to your brand than, well, branded keywords?

One little-known benefit of branded campaigns is that they enhance your Google Ads’ and social media’s Quality Score, which also impacts your CTR and conversion rates as follows:

• The higher your Quality Score is, the lower your CPC will be
• As your ads increase in visibility, you’ll likely receive higher CTRs
• Higher CTRs further increase your Quality Score

Best of all? With lower CPCs, your cost per conversion decreases, which translates to a more profitable PPC campaign. Cha-ching.

When to use non-branded keywords

Non-branded keywords are just as important in your content marketing strategy as branded ones. Here’s when to use them:

1. When you want to raise brand awareness and bring in more traffic

Let’s use Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer tool to look at specs for the search term “Nike basketball shoes:”

With its high search volume and relatively low keyword difficulty, this branded keyword has the potential to bring in tons of traffic for the shoe company’s domain.

Now, let’s try another branded keyword search for a different shoe brand. For this example, we’ll use the sports brand Li Ning and the search terms “Li Ning basketball shoes:”

Spot the difference? Looking at both results, it’s clear that Nike boasts more traffic from their branded keywords than Li Ning, which means the strength of your brand matters, too.

If your brand isn’t well-known yet, fewer people might search for your branded keywords on search engines. This means the likelihood of attracting new customers from those keywords is significantly low.

Instead, you can focus on generic keyword terms to attract non-branded traffic, which often has significantly higher search volumes. For example, consider the non-branded search for “basketball shoes” below:

With a monthly search volume of more than 452K, a non-branded search for “basketball shoes” offers significantly more opportunities to attract your target customers.

Although it’s true that these keywords face more competition, they can still help you secure valuable top-of-the-funnel traffic to boost brand awareness.

2. When you want to attract new customers

Does your business already have a sizable loyal customer base? Sweet! That’s an excellent kickoff point. But if you want to scale your brand and revenue, you’ll need new customers, as well.

The best way to do that? With more non-branded traffic.

If you target non-branded keywords in your PPC campaigns, your brand will appear in front of potential customers who may still be unfamiliar with your business but are on the hunt for similar products and services.

Take this example from our ecommerce client, Swimsuits Direct. The company had a loyal customer base, but an existing buyer can only buy so many swimsuits.

With an ambitious marketing goal to improve YoY revenue by 100%, we knew we had to attract some new audiences and buyers.

As part of our strategy, we targeted non-branded keywords in our PPC ads to reach more potential customers, while using branded keywords to remarket to already-familiar audiences.

The result? We surpassed our client’s revenue goal while boosting return on ad spend (ROAS) from 250% to more than 400%.

3. When you want to capture top- and mid-funnel customers

Did you know you can use non-branded keywords to target prospects at different stages of the funnel? The secret lies in two words: search intent.

By identifying search intent and using keywords to target that match that intent, you can tailor ads to people at different stages of the funnel while hitting your lead-generation and brand awareness goals.

Let’s use the following table as an example for TVs, showcasing relevant keywords for each type of intent:

Top- and mid-funnel customers aren’t ready to convert right away. However, they’re more likely to make a purchase later if you cater to them with content that meets their intent over time.

5 tips for branded and non-branded keywords to work in harmony

One thing’s for certain: both branded and non-branded keywords can bolster your digital marketing campaign.

Here’s how to ensure they continue to work well in tandem:

1. Know when to start with branded keywords

One of the first things to do when you set up a campaign is to run a keyword search.

At this point, you may not need to opt for branded keywords. Otherwise, it might slow down your advertising efforts and reduce marketing ROI if you spend too much too soon.

Aside from those given above, it might be a good idea to use branded keywords together with their non-branded partners if:

• Your business is well-known: It doesn’t have to be a renowned global name like Nike or Apple, but should already have a solid customer base.
• You have a popular product: A product (or product line) you sell gains popularity quickly.
• The head of your company is an industry thought leader: If the business owner’s name is easily recognized, the brand and products can benefit from his or her popularity.

Another upside of bidding on your own brand? You can retain the ability to protect your online reputation. You control the first impression that searchers get about your offerings and brand image.

Plus, if your competitors are the only ones that bid on your brand, you risk those ads appearing above organic results. This translates to the competition’s ads appearing first, so they control what gets said about your brand. No, thanks.

2. Don’t use broad match type for branded keywords

Broad keyword match types mean that your keyword targets could appear in larger search queries with additional keywords. Dang prefers to target branded keywords exclusively in exact or phrase match types:

“Broad keywords are a poor targeting mechanism to begin with,” he says. “Additionally, sometimes your brand name, unless totally unique, can have similarities with other terms, and run a risk of aligning with the wrong traffic.”

Here’s an example:

Ecommerce giant Amazon might run the search term “Amazon” on a broad match type. Sure, people who want to navigate to Amazon’s website will see the ad. However, those who want to learn about the “Amazon rainforest” might also see the ad. Hence, the ad spend is squandered on irrelevant traffic.

3. Use branded keyword data to adjust non-branded keywords

Let’s say the majority of your traffic comes from branded keywords, which means your company has already established a reputation. You likely have a formidable customer base that prefers your brand over others.

Sounds great! However, the reality is that the overwhelming success of branded keywords could also hinder your results.

If your branded keywords are doing too good of a job, it likely means most of your traffic originates from your loyal fan base. What about potential new customers though? You still have room for growth, so you may want to adjust your non-branded tactics.

Our advice? Expand your non-branded keyword campaigns and create content that caters to a broader audience. This can help boost your brand awareness efforts and maximize your growth potential.

Here’s an example of how to leverage traffic data from branded keywords:

Suppose you’re an ecommerce brand that sells smart locks to open doors with electronic combinations. You notice your branded traffic comes heavily from these branded search terms:

• [Your brand name] electronic lock for Airbnb
• [Your brand name] Airbnb security lock
• [Your brand name] smart locks for short-term rentals

See a trend? These are the ways your existing customers associate your brand name. In this case, if you notice a large subset of search terms attributed to short-term rental owners (not just homeowners or people living on-site), you might target new non-branded keywords like:

• Electronic lock for Airbnb
• Airbnb security lock
• Smart locks for short-term rentals

Of course, you might not always have a clear picture of ranking and conversion data from individual keywords. They might be buried across multiple analytics platforms and historical periods.

That’s why we rely on our proprietary tech, ConversionIQ, which attributes revenue to every morsel of your marketing strategy, including assets, channels, time periods, campaigns, keywords, and more.

4. Keep them in separate campaigns

While branded and non-branded keywords work cohesively, it’s wise not to include them within the same campaign.

Why? Because it can be hard to gauge the success of each keyword type and set realistic conversion goals if you mix them together.

Plus, you run the risk of keyword cannibalization, as well as minimize rank potential for both types within your campaign.

For higher conversion rates, keep these two keyword types in their own separate campaigns.

5. Don’t wait too long to use branded keywords

We know audiences convert easier with branded keywords if they already know your brand. Does that mean newer businesses shouldn’t bother with them? Absolutely not, according to Dang:

“While you may not get as much branded traffic at the beginning, it is still important to have some sort of branded campaign to take advantage of any awareness you do have, even if it’s very little,” he says.

And if you’re worried about your budget? Remember the nature of PPC campaigns:

“It is worth noting that with PPC campaigns, we only pay per click, so the overall cost of your branded efforts will track the amount of traffic you are receiving, no more and no less,” explains Dang.

Still, it’s hard to know just how much money to dedicate to PPC campaigns versus SEO, or how much you should bid for branded keywords. That’s when an award-winning digital marketing agency becomes invaluable.

The takeaway

So, which keyword type gives you better ROI: branded vs. non-branded keywords?

Non-branded keyword rankings boost brand awareness and visibility with their broader reach, while branded keywords ramp up your conversion chances with less competition and lower costs.

But our take? For a successful, well-rounded marketing strategy, you need visibility, brand awareness, and affordable conversions. That means balancing both types of keywords and meticulously monitoring performance to optimize for greater revenue.

As experienced marketing strategists, HawkSEM has a proven track record of an average 4.5X ROI across our client base. If you’re ready to create a diversified campaign that sustains ROI in the long run, we’re on deck to make it happen.

This article has been updated on June 19, 2024, and was originally published in March 2020.