Brand keywords
Brand keywords are searches that contain your company name, such as the name of your business with “reviews” or “phone number” after it. Anyone who searches like that already knows you and is often close to an enquiry.
- 2 min read
What are brand keywords?
A brand keyword is a keyword with your own company name in it. Think of your name alone, your name with the town, or your name with words like “experiences”, “opening hours” or “contact”. Misspellings of your name count too.
Set against that are non-brand keywords, such as “dakdekker Arnhem” or “airco laten installeren”. Anyone who searches like that does not know you yet. The distinction matters, because the two groups behave very differently.
Why brand keywords matter
People who search for your name have already heard of you. Through a neighbour, a sign in a garden, a van on the road or an earlier job. They are often already far along in their choice. Searches on your name are therefore a gauge of your awareness and your word of mouth.
It is also wise to look at them separately in your figures. Anyone who adds brand traffic and other traffic together sees an overly rosy picture. Brand searches usually convert well, but you might have got those customers without an ad too.
Whether or not to advertise on your own brand
This is a frequently asked question. If you already appear at the top of the regular results for a search on your name, why would you pay for it?
There are good reasons to do it anyway. If competitors or lead platforms advertise on your name, they appear above your regular result. With an ad of your own you keep that spot. You also decide the text and the page people land on. And clicks on your own name are usually cheap, because your ad is very relevant.
There are also reasons not to. If nobody else advertises on your name and you are clearly at the top, you may be paying for clicks you would have got anyway. So test it. Switch a brand campaign on and off for a while, and compare the total number of enquiries.
Competitors advertising on your name
A competitor may bid on your company name as a keyword in Google. What is generally not allowed is using your brand name in the ad text if it is protected. If you come across a competitor on your name, a brand campaign of your own is often the quickest answer. Your ad is more relevant and therefore usually gets a better position.
An example from installation
Say an installation business sees in Google Ads that the campaigns are doing well. On closer inspection, a good share of the enquiries turn out to come from searches on its own name. The business splits brand and non-brand into separate campaigns. It then turns out that the campaigns on non-brand keywords deliver less than thought, and the business can work on them in a targeted way.
Common mistakes
Mixing brand and non-brand. Then you do not know which part of your result is new.
Seeing brand traffic as growth. More searches on your name is nice, but it says something about your awareness, not about your ads.
Not checking who bids on your name. Search for your own name now and then, or look at the auction insights report.
How to approach it
Put brand keywords in a campaign of their own and exclude your name in the other campaigns with negative keywords. Report brand and non-brand separately. Decide on the basis of a test whether a brand campaign adds anything for you.
Frequently asked questions
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Should I advertise on my own company name?
It depends. If competitors or platforms bid on your name, an ad of your own is often wise to stay at the top. If nobody does, test whether the ad brings in extra enquiries compared with your regular search result.
Can a competitor advertise on my company name?
In Google Ads a competitor can usually bid on your name as a keyword. Using your protected brand name in the ad text is generally not allowed. A brand campaign of your own is often the quickest way to win your spot back.
Why should I measure brand and non-brand separately?
People who search for your name already know you and usually convert well. If you add them to new traffic, your campaigns look better than they are. Measuring separately shows how many new customers your ads really bring in.
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