Keywords are an essential part of any digital marketing strategy. Users type these words and phrases into search engines like Google to find content that’s relevant to their queries. Including them in your content improves your ranking on Google and, in turn, your conversions and sales.
Yet keywords come in many different varieties to suit your strategy and the needs of your users. Behind every keyword is the reason a potential customer uses it; this is known as its “search intent”.
Search intent can be informational (seeking answers), navigational (seeking a specific destination) or transactional (seeking a particular purchase). Keywords can fall into any of those categories or be low-competition, niche, customer-defining or product-defining. They can be short or long-tail depending on how many specifics they include. But two types that you’re bound to come across over and over again are branded vs. non-branded keywords. Branded and non-branded keywords are useful for search engine optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click advertising (PPC). Branded keywords target users who are actively seeking your brand, while non-branded keywords target those in more fluid stages of the sales funnel.
As a full-service creative marketing agency, Anchor Digital can help you use non-branded and branded keywords in your SEO and PPC strategies. We’ll help you get the most out of your marketing budget and only bid on the keywords that will pay off in terms of results.
Here is our guide to branded vs. non-branded keywords and how to decide which one your campaign calls for.
What Is the Difference Between Branded and Non-Branded Keywords?
To put it simply, branded keywords are keywords that include your business name or some variation of it. Non-branded keywords are general search terms that don’t mention you specifically. Branded keywords are phrases like “Apple iPhone” or “Hungry Jacks near me,” while examples of non-branded keywords are “second-hand smartphones” and “burgers in Brisbane”.
Branded keywords are also called “navigational keywords” because people who use them know what they’re looking for, even if they don’t know which URL will take them there. Branded keywords have a higher click-through rate (CTR) and the benefits of less competition.
Non-branded keywords are more competitive but necessary to attract fresh leads to your site. 80% of all online searches are informational in nature, driven by web users seeking solutions to their problems or products that meet their needs. If you can stand out from the competition by providing helpful and relevant information, people will come to trust you, increasing your brand authority.
While each kind has pros and cons, both branded and non-branded keywords are important for your SEO strategy. You can’t have one without the other. The key is to know when and how to make both work for you.
When Is It Best To Use Brand or Non-Branded Keywords?
There’s a time and place for both non-branded and branded keywords in both PPC and SEO strategy. Here’s when to use them.
PPC
You’re the only brand with your name, so you may wonder if bidding on branded keywords in PPC is necessary. The truth is that your branded keywords are not even off-limits for your competitors. In highly competitive industries, your rivals will bid on your branded keywords to try and outrank you. If your competition can appear next to or above you in the search results, it’s a win for them. Bidding on your branded keywords gives you the edge over your rivals, means high relevance for your bids and helps maintain your control over your brand messaging.
Non-branded PPC campaigns are perfect for when you want to expand your reach. If you’ve only just started your SEO campaign and you’re still months away from achieving the results you want, PPC with non-branded keywords can take you to the top of the search results in a relatively quick timeframe.
SEO
In SEO, branded keywords take searchers directly to particular websites even when they don’t have the URL. Branded keyword SEO can take users to a dedicated product or landing page, help build your brand awareness in search results, and lead to a higher click-through rate.
Non-branded keywords in SEO help you expand your reach and get through to customers who aren’t yet aware of your brand but are looking for the product or service you provide. Through mediums like informational blog posts, in-depth guides and FAQs, non-branded SEO keywords educate the public and help them develop trust in your brand.
Targeting Users at Different Stages of the Marketing Sales Funnel
The buyer’s journey starts when your potential client realises they have a problem they need to solve. It can be broken into three stages: awareness, consideration, and decision. These stages reflect the move towards making a purchasing decision. Branded and non-branded keywords play a part in each stage of the sales funnel, from awareness of your product to the decision to make a purchase.
Branded keywords are most effective at capturing potential buyers in the decision and purchase stages of the funnel when they’re actively looking for your brand. During this stage, they have high intent to purchase and are already interested in your brand.
Non-branded keywords are most effective in the awareness and consideration phases when users are evaluating all of their options. Informational content with the right non-branded keywords helps your brand appear more credible and compelling and guides users closer to the purchasing stage of the funnel.
Of course, creating a comprehensive keyword strategy that targets every stage of the buyer’s journey isn’t easy. That’s where a good digital marketing agency comes into the picture.
Get the Most Out Of Your Keywords with Anchor
Whether branded or non-branded, short-tail or long-tail, Anchor Digital can develop the strategy that gets you the most out of your keywords.
PPC can double every dollar you invest, but you need to approach your campaign with the right keywords, ad copy and bidding strategy. Anchor’s PPC strategy services take the guesswork out of pay-per-click so that you only invest your money where you will see results. Anchor focuses on the four key platforms for PPC success: Google Ads, Facebook PPC, LinkedIn and Bing. We provide you with a dedicated account manager, comprehensive monthly reports in plain English and full transparency while helping you strategise for success.
Anchor’s approach to SEO is to keep up with the trends and stay current without losing sight of the timeless principles that have always worked and always will. Rather than optimising anything and everything, we’ll help you determine what your customers are looking for and how to be the answer to their problems. If you need deep-level strategy work done, we have the skills, the experience and the techniques for the task. Our strategy services include identifying your unique selling proposition (USP) and showing it to the world through effective brand strategy and positioning.
If you want to know more about how brand keywords and SEO connect or how to bid on the brand keywords best suited to your business, drop us a line.
