Wakefly BlogAre You Protecting Your Brand with Paid Search?

Should I bid on my own branded terms? This is a question I get asked by almost every client at one point or another. It is also a question that is hotly debated amongst digital marketing experts everywhere. A simple Google search will provide you with articles in support of both sides of the argument. Here at Wakefly, we believe PPC brand bidding is important. Even if you believe people already know your company’s name the benefits of bidding on your branded keywords are too good to pass up. Let’s discuss why Google Ads brand protection is so beneficial.

Bidding on your branded search terms helps you cover more area on the search engine results page. This is always a good thing. The more room you occupy on the SERP the less room your competitors have. There are numerous statistical studies that demonstrate if you show in both organic and paid positions on the same SERP then you typically generate a higher CTR.

Bidding on your branded search terms helps you prevent competitors from stealing traffic that is rightfully yours. You have worked hard to build your brand name and the web traffic that comes from that process. Don’t let your competitors come in and steal that hard-earned traffic out from under you. If a competitor is bidding on your branded terms and you are not, their paid ad at the top of the page will certainly stand out from your organic listings. Here is an example of 1 Google Ads account that is targeting the branded keywords of 3 separate competitors.

The data above is from Q3 2017 and it demonstrates that competitors can easily steal your branded traffic with just an average campaign setup. For example, these particular campaigns make no actual mention of the competitors in their ad copy and have an average Quality score of only 5 out of 10, but they are still able to produce a 4.82% CTR.

Bidding on branded search terms helps you get quality traffic for cheap. In the PPC world, we are always looking for cheap keywords that actually have search volume. The cheapest keywords available might be your own branded terms. Not only are they cheaper, but they also convert at a higher rate! Let’s take a look at some more Q3 2017 data.

In the Google Ads data pictured above, you can see that the average CPC of the branded search terms is 67% cheaper than the average CPC of non-branded search terms. In addition, the conversion rate of these branded terms is 193% higher than that of the non-branded terms! Granted this only one example, but we consistently see the same type of results throughout all of our client’s accounts.

Bidding on branded search terms can help you improve the overall health of your PPC account. Want to boost the overall quality score of your account? From the examples above you have already seen that branded campaigns typically have higher conversions rates, higher CTRs and lower average CPCs. So adding in all the positive metrics of a successful branded campaign will help out the overall standing of your PPC account. Think of it like the old expression a rising tide lifts all boats. A quality branded campaign is the rising tide and it can lift the performance of the other campaigns (boats).

Don’t miss out on cheap and easy conversions. Start bidding on your own branded search terms and begin to reap the benefits. Just remember to keep those branded terms in their own separate campaign to better monitor their performance. Need some more help with your PPC account? Schedule your PPC audit here and gain insight into some additional easy wins!