Branded vs non-branded paid search: what's the difference?

The difference between branded and non-branded paid search

Put simply, the main difference between branded and non-branded search is that branded search contains the name of your company, service or product. However, a non-branded search will only contain generic terms. For example, a branded search term might be “Ikea wardrobes” (which includes the company name) or “Kallax unit” (which includes a product name unique to Ikea). A non-branded search might be “wardrobes” or “flatpack furniture” (a company like Ikea might choose to target and bid on these terms).

Branded paid search involves targeting and bidding on branded keywords, whilst non-branded paid search involves targeting and bidding on generic, non-branded keywords relevant to your company, products, or services. 

Why is non-branded paid search important?

Targeting non-branded keywords is an essential part of any effective PPC strategy. This allows you to attract users interested in your company's products or services, even if they’re unaware of your brand. Non-branded paid search is ideal for targeting mid or top-of-the-funnel traffic. 

Pros of non-branded terms 

Non-branded keywords tend to have a much higher volume of searches than branded terms. This means that you can reach significantly more potential customers. By capturing top-of-the-funnel traffic, you’ll increase brand awareness leading to more searches for your brand over the long term.  

Another benefit of non-branded paid search is that you can create highly specific landing pages that match the users' search queries. Non-branded searches can often be much more specific than branded searches. 

For example, if a user searches for “Adobe”, it’s difficult to create a targeted landing page for that search or to know which products or services the user is looking for. However, suppose someone searches for “photo editing software”. In that case, it’s much clearer what that user wants; therefore, it’s easy to create a dedicated landing page highly relevant to the user and their search intent. This increases the likelihood of the user finding what they want and makes them less likely to leave your site.  

Cons of non-branded terms 

However, because non-branded terms tend to have a higher volume of searches, this makes them more competitive. There could be hundreds or thousands of companies bidding on popular generic terms. This makes non-branded paid search terms much more expensive than branded terms, so you might struggle if you don’t have a large PPC budget. 

Why is branded paid search important?

Some people think they don’t need to bid on branded terms because they already appear high on the organic search results page. So, they think, why spend money bidding on terms when you can get that traffic for free? 

However, Google ads earn more than 45% of page clicks, and people who click on ads are twice as likely to buy your product or service than those who click on organic listings. If you aren’t bidding on branded search terms, you could be missing out on bottom-of-the-funnel traffic ready to buy your products or services. This is especially true if your competitors bid on your branded terms; you could lose traffic to these competitors - not everyone will pay attention to what they’re clicking on. 

Pros of branded terms 

Because branded terms are unique to your company, products, or service, they are not very competitive. This makes them much cheaper to bid on than non-branded terms. So, bidding on branded terms can be a cost-effective strategy and ensures you capitalise on the users searching for your brand (whether they click on paid or organic results). 

Cons of branded terms 

Although bidding on branded terms is incredibly useful, it shouldn’t form the entirety of your PPC strategy. Branded terms can’t compete with generic terms when it comes to the amount of traffic, leads and conversions they have the potential to generate. 

Conclusion: which strategy is best?

An effective PPC strategy should ideally consist of both branded and non-branded terms. Branded terms will help you to capture bottom-of-the-funnel traffic, whilst non-branded terms will allow you to target mid and top-of-the-funnel traffic. Targeting both allows you to target and capture traffic at different stages of the marketing funnel. 

Because branded terms typically have low search volumes, you won’t need a huge budget. So, you only need to dedicate a small chunk of your monthly budget PPC towards branded terms, while most of your budget should go towards non-branded terms.

Need help with your paid search strategy?

So now you know you need to target a mixture of branded and non-branded terms for an effective and comprehensive paid search strategy. However, you still need to know precisely which terms you should target and what your budget should be for maximum return on investment. 

If you're not seeing progress with your PPC campaigns or need help figuring out where to start, it might be time to get some outside help.  At Logica Digital, we have over 15 years of experience running successful PPC campaigns for businesses of all sizes. We use branded and non-branded terms to ensure you see real results from your SEO campaigns!

We also offer a free marketing audit - our paid search experts will review your current PPC campaigns (and any other aspects of your marketing you would like help with). We’ll make some simple suggestions as to what you can do to improve your PPC and overall marketing strategy!

Contact the team today to find out more about what we do and how we can help you achieve results. Or take advantage of our 100% free digital marketing audit to find out what you need to do to increase your online presence and drive more sales!

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