Branded vs Non-Branded Traffic: What’s More Important for SEO?

4 months ago 27
ARTICLE AD BOX

Not each integrated postulation is created equally. 

Often, integrated hunt is criticized for taking recognition for branded postulation that different selling channels influenced. 

Since SEO is already an often misunderstood channel, it’s important to person a wide strategy for the contented and assemblage you’re targeting and study accordingly. 

This station discusses the quality betwixt branded and non-branded keywords and traffic, and what they mean for your SEO strategy. 

After all, a marque hunt query whitethorn person intent to sojourn your website, wherever non-branded keywords person the accidental to present oregon power a idiosyncratic to prime your website.

Side note: You tin inactive power branded postulation done integrated hunt contented to thrust much request to branded queries. More connected that later…

Table of Contents:

What are Branded Keywords?

Branded keywords are hunt presumption that see the sanction of your brand. 

The hunt query “Apple iPhone” oregon “Nike shoes” are some branded keywords due to the fact that they explicitly see the marque name. 

Traffic from branded keywords tends to beryllium much transactional. The idiosyncratic is usually person to the bottommost of the funnel and looking to marque a circumstantial purchase.

Why is Optimizing for Branded Keywords Important

Below, we'll dive into 5 antithetic reasons wherefore SEOs should optimize their website for branded keywords.

1. To Optimize for Other Branded Queries Your Website Sells

This besides applies to queries that see the marque sanction and words similar “reviews” oregon “discounts”.

Since branded keywords awesome a precocious intent to acquisition and convert, and usually effect successful a higher CTR, it’s important to optimize for each variations of the branded query.

Branded queries similar “lulu leggings” and “lulu loop bag”, for example, are astir apt evident and Lululemon apt ranks precocious for these queries. 

Taking a look astatine lululemon.com successful the Research Grid shows that the Lululemon website relies connected branded traffic: 

Research Grid Lululemon(Rankings betwixt positions 1-10 that see branded keywords.)

More than 50% of their online postulation results from keywords that see their brand. 

But, queries similar “lulu reviews” and “lulu discounts” person different websites that fertile for these terms. 

Companies apt don't person visibility into each of these variations of marque hunt queries without the assistance of the SEO team.

Here’s a real-life illustration of this with H&M — wherever they don’t adjacent fertile supra the archetypal fold!

Contrast this to Dick’s Sporting Goods, which ranks successful the archetypal presumption for branded queries related to coupons:

2. To Invest successful Non-Transactional Branded Queries

It’s besides important to beryllium mindful of non-transactional branded keywords, similar “Lulu lawsuit service.”

These queries let you to ain that speech successful hunt results, becoming the authoritative dependable connected questions astir your marque and offering invaluable insights to customers.

For example, galore airlines don't fertile successful the apical spot for inquiries astir their own formation rules, missing the accidental to usher customers and reenforce their marque authority.

Screenshot 12-5-2023 astatine  15.31

3. To Create a Positive Online Search Experience

Optimizing for branded keywords besides creates a affirmative idiosyncratic acquisition online.

If an concern is made successful offline selling oregon different integer channels without optimizing for the online hunt experience, this is simply a missed accidental to seizure the online assemblage wrong the search. 

After all, you privation to optimize your concern successful your paid channels to optimize your integrated visibility connected the SERP. 

Here’s different illustration of what happens erstwhile you don’t optimize for branded keywords.

Black & Decker sells a portable washing machine, but look who is winning for that Black & Decker keyword: Amazon!

Brands that leverage different integer and offline selling channels to physique their marque similar Lululemon thrust a batch of branded keyword traffic. 

Albeit easier for Lululemon due to the fact that different retailers don’t merchantability their products, this inactive demonstrates the value of SEO to seizure those branded queries’ postulation and conversions. 

4. To Dominate the SERP with Paid and Organic

Boosting SERP visibility requires a astute premix of integrated and paid strategies. Optimizing for cardinal branded presumption enables the paid squad to prevention the wealth they would person spent connected those keywords successful paid ads.

When SEO and paid teams enactment together, they're besides capable to predominate hunt results much effectively. This agreed beforehand not lone strengthens marque beingness and visibility but besides drives up engagement and conversions.

5. To Monitor the Health of Your Brand

Finally, monitoring branded keywords tin radiance a airy connected the wide wellness of your brand. For example, you tin analyse postulation and hunt measurement trends to spot if request has risen oregon fallen year-over-year.

What are Non-Brand Keywords?

Non-branded keywords are hunt queries that don’t notation your brand. Most likely, they see the sanction of a generic product, similar “running shoes.”

However, sometimes "branded keywords" that aren't your brand are inactive important to optimize for.

For example, a section store that sells aggregate covering brands would privation to optimize for presumption that see marque names specified arsenic “Nike shoes” oregon “levi’s jeans.”

Even though these are "branded" keywords, they would inactive autumn wrong your site's nonbranded traffic. Meaning, you tin inactive pull users to your website to bargain Nike shoes oregon Levi's jeans if you transportation those brands.

Traffic from non-branded keywords tends to beryllium much informational. The idiosyncratic is inactive doing probe into assorted types of products and services. 

Recommended Reading: Using Keyword Mapping to Visualize the Buyer Journey and Improve Your SEO

Why is Optimizing for Non-Branded Keywords Important?

Non-branded keywords are usually a captious portion of your website's traffic. Most sites thrust acold much postulation from non-brand keywords than branded keywords.

Non-brand presumption tin beryllium large to spell aft due to the fact that it means the assemblage is inactive researching and wants to recognize what products and services are available. This tin beryllium a large mode to exposure your marque to the user.

However, non-brand keywords besides mean much contention due to the fact that the searcher is casting specified a wide net. This is an accidental to capitalize on! 

Lululemon has overmuch less non-branded keywords ranking.


Screenshot 12-5-2023 astatine  16.34

Athleta, connected the different hand, does a large occupation of ranking for non-brand keywords. 

Here is their full domain performance:

Athleta Research Grid

They person astir 52,000 ranking keywords. 

Here’s wherever it gets interesting. Let’s filter retired each marque keywords (i.e. Athleta and Gap). 

Screenshot 12-5-2023 astatine  16.29

Even without the marque term, Athleta inactive ranks for astir 44,000 keywords. 

They recognize that optimizing for non-brand keywords is important due to the fact that you tin present caller users to your website and marque who don’t needfully person the intent to acquisition that day. 

You’re creating touchpoints betwixt you and your aboriginal customers.

It’s adjuvant to people non-branded keywords to physique visibility. That way, you’re moving to summation the magnitude of branded hunt queries, which successful clip volition pb to much branded traffic.

How Much Branded and Non-Branded Traffic Should You Have?

Your cognition of your concern and wide selling strategy volition assistance you find however to compile your keyword portfolio.

The determination volition travel down to things similar wide institution objectives, and what products you sell.

Recommended Reading: Create the Best Keyword Portfolio With This Acronym

How to Segment Branded and Non-Branded Keywords

Keeping your branded and non-branded keywords and postulation organized tin assistance you find what needs to beryllium prioritized. 

The customizable hunt intent filter successful seoClarity lets you specify parameters for categorizing queries into applicable categories. These nested filters tin beryllium arsenic elaborate arsenic you request them to beryllium to conception your keywords.

Recommended Reading: SEO Segmentation to Scale For SEO Success

For example, if you wanted to make a non-brand filter, you could bespeak that by utilizing the "does not contain" <brand name> and immoderate variations. Here is however that would look successful the platform.

 

(Filtering retired branded keywords successful seoClarity.)

Once you’ve acceptable up the filter, you tin portion and dice your information to constrictive successful connected the keywords and postulation that matches those parameters. This tin beryllium utilized passim the level excessively successful places similar Rank Intelligence.  

This way, you tin usage the hunt intent filter to spot wherever astir of their clicks are coming from. 

(Filter by hunt intent to spot wherever your postulation comes from.)

For a nonstop examination betwixt marque and non-brand, power to the “By Search Intent” tab successful Search Analytics to spot a trended presumption of clicks, impressions, CTR, and weighted mean presumption categorized by intent

(Compare the show of marque and non-brand keywords successful a azygous view.)

This presumption tin beryllium added arsenic a widget connected your seoClarity dashboard for easier reporting and customized alerts. 

Conclusion

The quality to conception retired branded and non-branded keywords (and their respective performance) lets you get a amended thought of what the champion attack volition beryllium for your business.