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8 Reasons to Bid on Branded Keywords in PPC

Protect and optimize branded keywords. Enhance visibility, control messaging, and achieve better ROI in your PPC campaigns.

Samuel EdwardsSamuel Edwards1 min read
8 Reasons to Bid on Branded Keywords in PPC

If you manage a pay-per-click (PPC) account, you may always search for ‘the best way’ to increase ad performance.

Many different strategies work for various companies, but one surefire way to get better PPC performance is to bid on your branded keywords.

At first glance, this sounds like a waste.

Why should you run ads on branded keywords that already give you a high organic Google/search engines listing?

We’re glad you asked because the reasons we offer in this article should convince you that spending money on branded keywords offers excellent PPC ROI.

Control The Marketing Message

Use Seasonal Ad Copy,different search intent and such keywords

Want the best strategy to control the message of your own brand Or brand keywords? Bid on it! The landing page and advertising copy you want prospects to go to when they look for your brand name can be highly controlled with pay-per-click advertising.

If you don’t use branded clicks and the prospect puts your company name in search, they usually go to the home page/search engine results page. That’s fine but it probably isn’t the page that is most likely to make them take action.

If you can control the message the prospect sees – such as highlighting your most popular product – it’s more likely they will take the action you want.

Say your company sells regulatory webinars and it’s currently offering a discount on an annual pass. When a prospect looks for your company name, you need to be sure they are aware of the discount in the advertisement copy.

When they click the ad, they will be sent to the landing page to learn everything about the yearly discount, which will include a call to action to get them to purchase.

Improves Your Account Grade

Review Recommendations Inside Your Google Ads Account and branded phrase

Let’s say you decide to use a branded keyword campaign and it’s doing very well. That’s awesome and it comes with another benefit: It enhances your account’s/social media accounts Quality score.

Having a branded keyword part of your PPC campaigns means the account gets a better Quality Score, and having a higher grade is very important for search placement.

Takes Real Estate

If you own a home or investment properties, you know their location is often more important than anything. Even if the home is really attractive, you could have problems if the neighborhood is so-so.

In a similar vein, using track-branded keywords helps you to own as many of the SERPs as possible. You want to do so with your regular Branded keywords ads, but it’s very difficult to show up in paid search ads and high organically for every Branded keyword.

Spending on branded keywords gives you a bigger boost. Your site will be high in the rankings organically. And, the branded ad also will appear.

A visitor may click either one, but it always helps to occupy more SERP real estate. The more of that space you occupy, the more likely the customer will wind up on your site.

Compete With Partners And Affiliates

Does it seem like your partners and affiliates present your brand and products well? Great! But don’t take that to mean you should never bid on your brand. The opposite is true, actually.

Working with partners and affiliates is worthwhile; it increases your market reach and potential revenues. But it’s understandable that you probably prefer to sell to your prospects directly.

When you bid on branded keywords, this makes sure the ad shows alongside ads that your partners and affiliates placed.

If you see bidding on your company brand by competitors, then you really need to start doing it.

Less Expensive Traffic

non branded search Ad Group Quality Score,search volume and generate sales

Using branded keywords means raising your CTR and Quality Score. After all, branded keywords are highly relevant to your landing pages and ads.

Once you lock in that higher Quality Score, you get a lower CPC, too! Branded searches will automatically put branded ads at the top of search results.

You Could Spend Less On Ads

No one can guarantee that getting branded clicks to your site is cheaper than others. But many in the industry say this is often true.

Also, the price for non-branded Keyword and branded keywords can be really different. There are some companies that pay up to $20 per click for non-branded keyword but only $2 for branded keywords!

Collect Valuable Data

You can track organic searches with a search console, but the functionality is limited. With a paid search/digital marketing campaign and branded keywords, you will gain valuable information about your customers.

You’ll collect branded keyword data from ad licks but you can take advantage of ad extensions to get even more insights and data.

Conversion tracking with a PPC ads campaign also lets you collect information on demographics, and you can find out the days and times you get the most site Organic traffic. With this critical data, you will be able to make improved decisions about your ads and SEO or search engine optimization strategy.

Find New Customers

If you try various versions of branded keywords Or Find branded keywords, you could discover search results that give you more insight into your customers.

Some companies say they found new target markets they can target with unique landing pages. And it all comes from just using branded keywords as part of your Digital marketing efforts.

If you aren’t convinced to bid on your branded keywords after reviewing our list, your reluctance is understandable; who wants to spend unnecessary money on ads? However, experience shows that bidding on branded keywords could give you some of the best ROI in your Digital marketing spend.

Bottom Line

ad budget to separate campaigns branded keywords,branded queries and more traffic

If your company is operating a pay-per-click or PPC campaigns, you should spend some of your ad budgets on branded keywords. Some experts say you should dedicate about 15% of your ad budget to branded keywords.

This is an effective strategy because it’s some of the least expensive web traffic you can get. Also, by targeting branded search terms:

  • Give you a higher Quality Score.

  • Offer more SERP visibility.

  • Ensure you appear as often as possible for your company’s brand (this is even more important when your competitors bid on your brand).

  • Give you total control over the message for your brand.

  • Provide you traffic that converts.

Samuel Edwards
// written by
Samuel Edwards
Chief Marketing Officer
Throughout his extensive 10+ year journey as a digital marketer, Sam has left an indelible mark on both small businesses and Fortune 500 enterprises alike. His portfolio boasts collaborations with esteemed entities such as NASDAQ OMX, eBay, Duncan Hines, Drew Barrymore, Price Benowitz LLP, a prominent law firm based in Washington, DC, and the esteemed human rights organization Amnesty International. In his role as a technical SEO and digital marketing strategist, Sam takes the helm of all paid and organic operations teams, steering client SEO services, link building initiatives, and white label digital marketing partnerships to unparalleled success. An esteemed thought leader in the industry, Sam is a recurring speaker at the esteemed Search Marketing Expo conference series and has graced the TEDx stage with his insights. Today, he channels his expertise into direct collaboration with high-end clients spanning diverse verticals, where he meticulously crafts strategies to optimize on and off-site SEO ROI through the seamless integration of content marketing and link building.